If you have an Instagram account where you share or look at coffee, you've probably come across Origami Dripper . It's a really hard piece of equipment to ignore as it's aesthetically beautiful and eye-catching. Origami made from Japanese Mino porcelain is actually an Instagram phenomenon for many because of the strikingly beautiful colors it contains. That's why we reviewed this eye-catching dripper and wanted to discuss whether it's worth buying.
While the Origami Dripper is aesthetically pleasing, is it actually good coffee equipment compared to the Hario V60 and Kalita Wave? At this very point, those who said that some were exaggerated silently criticized Origami Dripper. We do not think it is exaggerated.
Origami Dripper review
We have been using the rigami Dripper equipment for a long time as a team and we are very satisfied. In fact, it has now become a favorite coffee brewing equipment. We can say that we stopped using the V60 just because of Origami . At the same time, many respected people in the coffee community use it quite often. With all that said, it would be wrong to say that it only looks good on social media. If Origami is only aesthetically pleasing, then why has everyone started brewing with it?
In this article, we will give you a very honest assessment of the Origami Dripper. Perhaps after this article you can decide whether this great piece of equipment is worth buying.
How is the design?
As we mentioned, one of the biggest appeals of Origami is its visual vision. But before we move on to the good and bad aspects of Origami design, let's talk about what you need to know in the pre-purchase section. First of all, you may need to buy the wood holder or plastic resin separately. The wood holder looks much better than the plastic, so we recommend it.
Along with all these, there are two sizes as medium (M) and small (S) sizes. Medium size can brew up to 4 cups, while small can brew up to 1-2 cups. We recommend you to buy size M as there is no price difference. We really can't comment on which is better because we make small brews even in M size.
good aspects
Origami Dripper has a unique design. Inspired by Japanese origami paper, Origami draws attention with its 20 folded inner ribs. This provides a clog-free brewing experience and also creates air channels. Besides the aesthetics, another selling point comes from the folded ribs. Because it allows you to use both conical and flatbed filter papers. This is kind of crazy because conical papers are the recommended choice and there are even conical filter papers made by Origami. But the flatbed Kalita Wave papers fit perfectly into the folded ribs. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is another matter of debate. But we can say that it looks great, especially when brewed.
Another aspect of the design that helps is the large diameter above and below the coffee equipment. Did we mention that the large dimensions help with the flow rate? For some, this is desirable because with V60 papers it is really slow and we can even say that we have problems with clogging with Kalita papers.
bad aspects
A striking issue is that the large size and porcelain material of this coffee equipment can affect heat retention. Therefore, the heat of the water is not retained during brewing and may not remain consistent within Origami. Consistent warmth aids even extraction and Origami, which can be a problem. If you consider the more closed Quality Wave, Origami's openness can mean you lose heat faster.
Another problem with the design is that there are no handles in Origami. When we think about how sensitive this dripper is, we can say that you should be careful when using it. So if you're a clumsy person, we don't have much hope of keeping your Origami safe. Therefore, when you place it on a jug, start brewing after making sure that it is flat. As we mentioned before, don't forget to use a wood holder.
Which paper should be used?
The fact that a coffee equipment can handle both tapered and flatbed paper is a very unique situation. In fact, is this in-between situation a good thing or a bad thing?
The fact that you can get different brews from a simple paper change makes a big difference. This gives you many more options to try more methods. It is quite wonderful that you can brew the same coffee in the same equipment but get different results from the paper change. In this way, you can decide whether the coffee you buy likes a conical or flat bed by experimenting yourself. We can safely say that conical papers give you more consistency and produce coffees similar to the V60. Flatbeds still make great coffees, but the right methods and techniques need a lot of research.
Another benefit of Origami Dripper is what we mentioned earlier, more control over your brewing. What we mean is that if you're having clogging issues with the Kalita or slow flow rate with the V60, then Origami does a better job of keeping the water flowing through the coffee bed. Another big advantage is that there are many new conical filter papers on the market like Sibarist that produce faster flow rates and slow things down like Kono. All these papers are perfectly compatible with Origami.
the taste of coffee
As you can use two different filters, you can capture different flavors with Origami. So what types of coffee flavors does it offer?
With a consistent and fast flow rate, the Origami Dripper delivers truly sweet and beautiful coffees. It offers more acid and cleaner glasses compared to the V60. You will be happy to achieve these clarity and flavor notes. We usually brew coffees for 1-2 people in Origami, since we think that we get very delicious coffees.
Since you have complete control in origami, you can make great coffees by thinking outside of the ordinary and using different methods, making brews that are a little more bodied and very aromatic.
Pros in a nutshell
- You can use both conical and flatbed filter papers.
- You can capture photogenic sweet Instagram photos, eheh
- Faster flow rate
- Fewer clogging issues
- More sweet and juice-tasting coffees
Brief cons
- Requires greater precision and brewing skill
- Dry aftertaste when brewing larger volumes on flatbed papers
Is it really worth it?
In this review, we have tried to present all the good and bad aspects of Origami Dripper. Regardless, frankly, we love Origami as a team. We love its color, its look, and infusing it with it. We also think that coffee brewed using Origami tastes better.
In fact, you can avoid the problems we present by changing your methods. For example, you can grind your coffee finer for insufficient extraction and increase your pouring time to continue brewing. This will also help conserve heat inside the equipment.
