My ORIGAMI after three months: rinsing Wave papers and choosing cone filters

How many of you, like me, bought the ORIGAMI dripper because it was the same one used by a champion? Collecting the same gear can make me feel as if I’m compensating for a lack of skill with too many tools.

1. Buying it:

   I bought it at the Fellow booth on the last afternoon of a coffee expo. It was a little cheaper than buying it during a Taobao sale, but because I bought it at the last minute, there were fewer colors to choose from.

2. Choosing filters:

   As most people know, the ORIGAMI dripper can be used with both flat-bottom and conical filters.

   I recommend large flat-bottom filters and small, one-to-two-cup V60 filters.

   I use Kalita bleached flat-bottom filters. The advantage is that water runs through quickly; the downside is a papery smell. After talking with friends and testing it myself, I found it best to rinse the paper with 200 g of hot water, then grind my beans by hand. By the time I finish grinding and smell the paper again, the odor is gone. If I add the grounds immediately after rinsing, I can still smell it.

   For conical filters, I chose a Sanyo filter intended for medium-roast beans. Its ridges are more numerous and deeper than those on ordinary filters, and it has no papery smell at all.

3. Different filters, different flavors:

   With the grind size, amount of water, and pouring technique held the same, I didn’t expect the flat-bottom filter to drain faster than the conical one. I’m not sure whether that’s because my conical filter is for medium roasts. But even the Phoebus variable-speed V60 drained faster than the ORIGAMI with a conical filter. I don’t understand it, but I was amazed.

Most of the time, to control brew time, I use circular pours with the flat-bottom filter. With the conical filter, I usually pour in a few circles and then pour steadily into the center. I usually finish brewing light-roast beans in 1 minute 45 seconds to 1 minute 55 seconds.

At the same grind size and brew time, I personally find that the ORIGAMI with a flat-bottom filter gives the coffee noticeably more sweetness and a fuller body, with a lingering, weighty sensation on the tongue. Lately, when I brew La Mula Geisha on a flat-bottom filter, I feel as if I’m drinking rose-flavored brown sugar water. A coffee expert said, “Doesn’t that mean you brewed it really well?” I said, “...But I want something sour!” The expert replied, “Maybe what you’re missing is an EK43.”

Coffee brewed with a conical filter has much brighter acidity, more layers of flavor, and more changing aromas, but less sweetness and a less persistent finish than coffee brewed with a flat-bottom filter.

Based on my experiments, I’d use a conical filter for beans with rich aromas and plenty of natural sweetness, such as Panamanian Geisha. Brewing those with a flat-bottom filter can make them taste like sugar water and mask changes in acidity. I’d also use a conical filter when I want to highlight acidity, such as with Kenyan or Yirgacheffe beans.

For everyday beans that aren’t especially distinctive, I’d choose a flat-bottom filter. I’d also use one for beans where I’m after a rounded, full mouthfeel rather than aroma—such as Blue Mountain, Mandheling, or Brazilian coffee.

I’m still learning more brewing approaches. There are plenty of videos from Douzi that I can learn from.