This will be good: SIMPLIFY the Brewer
Image courtesy Bathtub Coffee
I always wanted to back up something on Kickstarter, found many things that piqued my interest from watches to art to tech. But, when I received a message on Instagram from Ryo John Ito, the founder of Bathtub Coffee - Japan, about the launch of the new Simplify the Brewer on Kickstarter, I knew I had to get on it right away as there were only a few days remaining for the campaign to end. It was also a no-brainer since the campaign was a success and fully funded.
My daily brewer is the V60 and on occasion I’ll use the Chemex, I was also looking at something like the Kalita or the Origami dripper to brew alongside the V60, just to note the nuances between the two. A lot of people prefer the Kalita for it's consistency but I prefer a more brighter-cleaner cup resulting from the V60. There's only one way to find out which I prefer - by brewing them side by side using the same variables such as coffee, grind size, pouring technique, time, water and ratio. Perhaps, a separate post on this.
The simplicity of Simplify the Brewer is why it got my attention. 15 grams of fine grind coffee and 230 grams of water, 1:15 ratio. Pour water in the coffee bed for 30 seconds and then wait 60 seconds for it to drain. No blooming, no stirring, and no swirling. The brew recipe is so simple, I'm expecting my 2 year old daughter to brew me some coffee when I get my hands on it. The aim - to brew a consistent cup every single time.
The Simplify is a flat bottom brewer similar to the Kalita Wave and uses the Kalita 185 filter. Some interesting design elements Ryo has employed for maximizing the flow rate: minimizing the contact between the filter and the brewer at exactly three points; air vents between the brewer and the server that allow hot air to escape and help increase the flow rate; the bottom hole is also the largest of any brewers - 40mm, for need-for-speed brewing.
The estimated delivery of this brewer was in May 2021, but hiccups are normal when building a product from scratch and looks like there might be a delay. The latest update from them is that the finished product is not yet ready after carrying out multiple moulding tests. What I can’t wait for are the in-depth reviews and testing of the brewer once it starts shipping to the backers, how it compares to the other brewers and if it can deliver the said extraction rates. At the end of the day, it’s still exciting to be part of something new and I hope it does well and becomes a mainstream brewer much like the V60 and Kalita.
