Tip for filter collapsing in on Orea. Pour just onto the bottom first. Wait a few secs to let the water rise up the sides a bit. Then rinse sides as usual and it will stay in shape and not fold in
I saw this dripper briefly mentioned on some other channel and have been waiting for its release. A quality stainless pour over is just what I've been wanting. I currently use a stainless V60 and an April. Both are fine but the April is plastic. Another thing I like about this one is that it has so many filter options; essentially providing multiple brewers in one unit ! I was wondering how good it really would be so your review is very helpful. And thank you for the tip about the filters. I never would have figured out the issue with the filter bottom not sitting directly on the bottom..and yes I pull filters from the bottom of the stack !
Great review, I am using the Orea with the Negotiater and really like that I don't have ripples on the sides. I would consider this dripper if it had a similar device to make the inside of the filter smooth.
Just yesterday I was thinking about flatbed brewer designs and how cool it would be to have a flatbed brewer made of double-walled stainless steel. And guess what came up on Instagram today. I impulse bought it within the next few hours and now am reading everything I can find about it (not much really, thankfully). One thing you didn't mention about Flo's design is that there's a silicone O-ring in there to prevent leakage. This is basically fine (and IIRC it ships with a spare one) but it's still something to think about - eventually those will get lost or chewed by a cat or something else, and by that time a spare could be hard to come by. That's my only gripe with the design of this brewer which otherwise looks perfect on paper. Can't wait to receive mine. I'll try to update here in the comments when I receive and test it.
So it’s been quite some time I’ve received my Varia Flo. Meanwhile I’ve also got Orea V4 so I can compare them. Now, I didn’t do any blind tests (yet) so these are just my experiences with these brewers. I’m using fast filter with the Flo, and Fast with the Orea. Light roasted coffees, ZP6 (5.0 give or take usually) at home and Q2 (almost fixed at 54 clicks both for flat-bottomed and V60) at work. The water is filtered tap at home, around 300 ppm (yeah I know), and remineralised RO at work at around 130 ppm. I usually get roughly 2:30 TBT with both, sometimes quicker. But as for the taste, I’ve noticed Flo sometimes accentuates that chocolatey taste (or is it body?) which I don’t like very much. I didn’t notice that with Orea. To be honest, there’s not THAT much difference in taste for me between these flat-bottomed brewers and a V60. Yes, maybe the Flo is a bit heavier or chocolatey, maybe both of them are a bit rounder than the V60 - but are they or is it my bias because everyone is saying so, I’m not quite sure. As for ergonomics and other stuff, I lean more towards Orea now because the bottoms are easier to change, it has a carrying bag (I often bring it to the office), and I very much like that the filters are all purposed for one type of coffee or another. So Orea just feels like a slightly better made product. Flo is great too, don’t get me wrong. Very solid build, no play, doesn’t heat up very much because of the double wall. Also, and that is completely different topic, I’m starting to think maybe I’d better just go back to the V60 and master it rather than trying all these different brewers. Although they are definitely nice objects to have, zero regrets here!
The Lip on the bottom is my only massive issue....lol ...when you pulled out the exact carafe I have I was like DAMN IT ...but I guess I could just brew into the mug i'm gonna use anyway.
Would have liked to see a more in-depth breakdown of the temperature retention. The fact that it's dual walled should greatly help with that, and I feel like it was glossed over a bit. Thanks for the great video!
Orea V4 wide fits the 185 wave filter perfectly. Four bottoms and with the interchangeable bottom Negotiator, a choice of Sibarist Fast Filters filters
I actually tend not to use waves with the orea. I enjoy aftermarket filters for their taste and simultaneously despise them for the fact they tend to only fit a couple brewers well!
I don’t see any vent holes on the base plate flange that rests on a cup. If you have the right size of cup where it is able to get a good seal around the rim of the cup, it could lead to pressure build up and flow problems. I’ve experienced this on other Drippers with a flat round flange.
I think stainless is an excellent option! I wish someone would come out with a larger batch option for groups of people that wasn’t plastic. There is the big Joe but I don’t love the plastic.
Something I've noticed while using mine, I need to seat the filters against the bottom of the dripper or didn't get any effect. Edit: I just got to 8:10 and you had the same issue. I was jumping the gun writing a comment before finishing your video.
Definitely interested in this! dual wall stainless steel apparently has better thermal stability than plastic! so as someone who would rather not use plastic all the time this is great. I also like that the base in connected to the dripper for more practical and smooth workflow. Ill definitely try to pick one of these up soon. One question, do you think it necessary to unscrew the base after brewing coffee to dry everything inside? does water get into where the threads and bottom piece are?
In my testing it’s about comparable over the length of a typical brew. Any longer and I think you would absolutely see performance increases! If you’re keeping the same screen, I wouldn’t bother unscrewing every time
It’s not quite a v60 vibe, more similar to an orea. The taste of bottomless was very close to the fastest flowing screen. I’m not sure I could tell the difference blind
Hey love your videos! Maybe smile more and take things more lightly, as it is it seems I’m watching a class in college with a not very approachable teacher! But I love your content!
Not at all. The double wall stainless keeps the outside cool and makes it shockingly easy to handle after a brew. It’s a little warmer than a double wall stainless mug filled with coffee, but definitely not hot to the touch
It's a cool idea but the fact that the filter has to be consciously pushed down to make contact with the screen is definitely a downside. It's an item that would be fun to play with for a week or so but for me, I think after that the novelty of switching out the screens would wear off. $60 is a lot of money but to be fair, I think the price / value for the Flo is not out of line considering the materials used in manufacturing. But the question is would YOU pay $60 ( plus another $39 for the extra screens you have on the bench)? As always I enjoyed the video very much as I'm sipping my coffee made with a $12 plastic V60 dripper. lol
@@DaddyGotCoffee They are to me not so different, and i want fast flow as i do light roast too. But this is a buy because its bling bling shiny shiny, and i like to fiddle as well. We all need the v60 and i like my Switch too. But price is steep but all fancy ones are up there, Orea is to expensive to me ( with it being just plastic) tho the bigboy seems nice as a side option..
@@DaddyGotCoffee The B75 is the best flat starter option eventho its plastic. Tho the more pours clogging occurs quite easy to me. I use 185 and use it mostly for testing. V60 and Switch are main drippers i use..
I almost bought the Orea V4 in both narrow and wide, but always was annoyed that I would want the negotiators as well for the recommended best brewing workflow. It gets very expensive to buy into the entire system. If I could test and try and return if the results didn't justify then I probably would have done so. This Varia Flo looks interesting, $60 is a more palatable price, but will it be worth it over my V60s and Kalita Tsubame?
Have you tried V60 filters without a bottom screen in it to see if it works? Also, any idea on min and max dose size (roughly)? Thanks! Heads up: I had a VS3 gen 1 and 2. Both had the gears shred (moderate use, cleaned often, and the gen 2 broke on medium roast beans slow fed). It’s a known issue but reviews never talk about it. It also sounds horrible with the high pitch sound on gen 2 increased rpm.
they also use silicone seal on it, its contact with your coffee when brewing then its little too tight and sharp enough to cut your fingers skin, using kind of kalita wave paper very annoying its difficult to take a filter out of from the bottom, do u have any tricks ? 😅
That’s the VS6! Yet to be oficially released and with a swappable burr so you can go between flat/conical. Would love to review that one too - super cool!
@@DaddyGotCoffee INN-teresting…. I’m quite torn between the Varia VS3 with the Ultra Hypernova burrs vs the DF54 and the possibility (but not certainty) of further burr upgrades. I have a J-MAX but am looking for a little more clarity in the cup. Particularly with my Pulsar and Aeropress.
What are your thoughts of this versus Sworksdesign Bottomless Dripper especially since they very recently released the glass cone variant instead of plastic?
I would love to try the Sworksdesign dripper. A couple thoughts - it’s 155 size vs 185 of this one. It’s screens look much more suited to faster flows and less suited to slower, so there’s probably less flow variance as it comes to the screens themselves, however you could modulate flow somewhat with the valve. Also, it can kinda function like a switch with more of an immersion style brew. Also more plastic! Still, looks great too
@@DaddyGotCoffee there is a price difference as well since the glass varient is $95 vs 85 for plastic cone vs $60 for this one. The valve on the Sworksdesign one I think would allow even more flow control/immersion opportunities than the FLO. I wish the Sworksdesign one had the potential for larger capacity than 10-18 grams and the 155 filters.
@@bitcoins3212I brew 20g in my Sworks with ease pretty much every day, you can use filters that are taller than what a 155 would be and allows for a bit more headroom, just have to be conscious of how fast you pour and how high the water goes up
@@DaddyGotCoffeewith the Sworks, you can modulate the flow a lot with the valve; it would be worth checking out for sure especially as they now have glass cone options if you don’t want the tritan version. Also if you have an Orea negotiator already it works to negotiate both wave or say sibarist/Orea flat filters
I have the Sworks and absolutely love it. The quality is second to none. I use the V60 for dialing in new coffee, and use the Sworks for experimentation and have a great experience. My only real issue with the Sworks is consistency. I've used Sibarist fast flow filters, all the different screens, vastly different grind sizes, different pouring structures, multiple valve adjustments, melodrip lift etc, and I still can't get consistent results brew to brew. All that said, I love the Sworks. It's just fun.
Tip for filter collapsing in on Orea. Pour just onto the bottom first. Wait a few secs to let the water rise up the sides a bit. Then rinse sides as usual and it will stay in shape and not fold in
I do this and still get this issue, but usually only with bottom-of-the-stack waves, which is not what I use with orea most of the time
I saw this dripper briefly mentioned on some other channel and have been waiting for its release. A quality stainless pour over is just what I've been wanting. I currently use a stainless V60 and an April. Both are fine but the April is plastic. Another thing I like about this one is that it has so many filter options; essentially providing multiple brewers in one unit ! I was wondering how good it really would be so your review is very helpful. And thank you for the tip about the filters. I never would have figured out the issue with the filter bottom not sitting directly on the bottom..and yes I pull filters from the bottom of the stack !
Great review, I am using the Orea with the Negotiater and really like that I don't have ripples on the sides. I would consider this dripper if it had a similar device to make the inside of the filter smooth.
I am sure someone will make one at some point!
Just yesterday I was thinking about flatbed brewer designs and how cool it would be to have a flatbed brewer made of double-walled stainless steel. And guess what came up on Instagram today. I impulse bought it within the next few hours and now am reading everything I can find about it (not much really, thankfully).
One thing you didn't mention about Flo's design is that there's a silicone O-ring in there to prevent leakage. This is basically fine (and IIRC it ships with a spare one) but it's still something to think about - eventually those will get lost or chewed by a cat or something else, and by that time a spare could be hard to come by. That's my only gripe with the design of this brewer which otherwise looks perfect on paper. Can't wait to receive mine. I'll try to update here in the comments when I receive and test it.
So it’s been quite some time I’ve received my Varia Flo. Meanwhile I’ve also got Orea V4 so I can compare them. Now, I didn’t do any blind tests (yet) so these are just my experiences with these brewers. I’m using fast filter with the Flo, and Fast with the Orea. Light roasted coffees, ZP6 (5.0 give or take usually) at home and Q2 (almost fixed at 54 clicks both for flat-bottomed and V60) at work. The water is filtered tap at home, around 300 ppm (yeah I know), and remineralised RO at work at around 130 ppm. I usually get roughly 2:30 TBT with both, sometimes quicker. But as for the taste, I’ve noticed Flo sometimes accentuates that chocolatey taste (or is it body?) which I don’t like very much. I didn’t notice that with Orea. To be honest, there’s not THAT much difference in taste for me between these flat-bottomed brewers and a V60. Yes, maybe the Flo is a bit heavier or chocolatey, maybe both of them are a bit rounder than the V60 - but are they or is it my bias because everyone is saying so, I’m not quite sure. As for ergonomics and other stuff, I lean more towards Orea now because the bottoms are easier to change, it has a carrying bag (I often bring it to the office), and I very much like that the filters are all purposed for one type of coffee or another. So Orea just feels like a slightly better made product. Flo is great too, don’t get me wrong. Very solid build, no play, doesn’t heat up very much because of the double wall.
Also, and that is completely different topic, I’m starting to think maybe I’d better just go back to the V60 and master it rather than trying all these different brewers. Although they are definitely nice objects to have, zero regrets here!
The Lip on the bottom is my only massive issue....lol ...when you pulled out the exact carafe I have I was like DAMN IT ...but I guess I could just brew into the mug i'm gonna use anyway.
Would have liked to see a more in-depth breakdown of the temperature retention. The fact that it's dual walled should greatly help with that, and I feel like it was glossed over a bit. Thanks for the great video!
Orea V4 wide fits the 185 wave filter perfectly. Four bottoms and with the interchangeable bottom Negotiator, a choice of Sibarist Fast Filters filters
I actually tend not to use waves with the orea. I enjoy aftermarket filters for their taste and simultaneously despise them for the fact they tend to only fit a couple brewers well!
@DaddyGotCoffee What Filters are you using?
I don’t see any vent holes on the base plate flange that rests on a cup. If you have the right size of cup where it is able to get a good seal around the rim of the cup, it could lead to pressure build up and flow problems. I’ve experienced this on other Drippers with a flat round flange.
I think stainless is an excellent option! I wish someone would come out with a larger batch option for groups of people that wasn’t plastic. There is the big Joe but I don’t love the plastic.
You should check out the Etkin Design porcelain batch dripper - may be exactly what you're looking for!
I actually like how it looks, thought he double-wall heat retention seems like a great feature. If I had a decent income I'd pick it up.
Something I've noticed while using mine, I need to seat the filters against the bottom of the dripper or didn't get any effect.
Edit: I just got to 8:10 and you had the same issue. I was jumping the gun writing a comment before finishing your video.
Definitely interested in this! dual wall stainless steel apparently has better thermal stability than plastic! so as someone who would rather not use plastic all the time this is great. I also like that the base in connected to the dripper for more practical and smooth workflow. Ill definitely try to pick one of these up soon. One question, do you think it necessary to unscrew the base after brewing coffee to dry everything inside? does water get into where the threads and bottom piece are?
In my testing it’s about comparable over the length of a typical brew. Any longer and I think you would absolutely see performance increases! If you’re keeping the same screen, I wouldn’t bother unscrewing every time
Hey stumbled across Walmart Hoffman *edit Sorry great review btw, we need more UX reviews
Great review mate. As always
Did you compare the taste between a V60 and the bottomless option? I wonder how close it would get to not being a flat bottom taste Profile anymore
It’s not quite a v60 vibe, more similar to an orea. The taste of bottomless was very close to the fastest flowing screen. I’m not sure I could tell the difference blind
Hey love your videos! Maybe smile more and take things more lightly, as it is it seems I’m watching a class in college with a not very approachable teacher! But I love your content!
Hahahaha, thank you - I think? 😂🤷♂️☕️
Thanks for the review! Im just worried about the cleanup, will it not be scorching hot once im done with a brew without a handle?
Not at all. The double wall stainless keeps the outside cool and makes it shockingly easy to handle after a brew. It’s a little warmer than a double wall stainless mug filled with coffee, but definitely not hot to the touch
It's a cool idea but the fact that the filter has to be consciously pushed down to make contact with the screen is definitely a downside. It's an item that would be fun to play with for a week or so but for me, I think after that the novelty of switching out the screens would wear off. $60 is a lot of money but to be fair, I think the price / value for the Flo is not out of line considering the materials used in manufacturing. But the question is would YOU pay $60 ( plus another $39 for the extra screens you have on the bench)? As always I enjoyed the video very much as I'm sipping my coffee made with a $12 plastic V60 dripper. lol
I only have a B75. This and Orea. This is much nicer, don't care it's stainless, screens and design is the nice feature to me..
I haven't yet tried the B75 - I do have the Orea and I enjoy it very much. This one is great too!
@@DaddyGotCoffee They are to me not so different, and i want fast flow as i do light roast too. But this is a buy because its bling bling shiny shiny, and i like to fiddle as well. We all need the v60 and i like my Switch too. But price is steep but all fancy ones are up there, Orea is to expensive to me ( with it being just plastic) tho the bigboy seems nice as a side option..
@@DaddyGotCoffee The B75 is the best flat starter option eventho its plastic. Tho the more pours clogging occurs quite easy to me. I use 185 and use it mostly for testing. V60 and Switch are main drippers i use..
I almost bought the Orea V4 in both narrow and wide, but always was annoyed that I would want the negotiators as well for the recommended best brewing workflow. It gets very expensive to buy into the entire system. If I could test and try and return if the results didn't justify then I probably would have done so. This Varia Flo looks interesting, $60 is a more palatable price, but will it be worth it over my V60s and Kalita Tsubame?
Have you tried V60 filters without a bottom screen in it to see if it works?
Also, any idea on min and max dose size (roughly)?
Thanks!
Heads up: I had a VS3 gen 1 and 2. Both had the gears shred (moderate use, cleaned often, and the gen 2 broke on medium roast beans slow fed).
It’s a known issue but reviews never talk about it.
It also sounds horrible with the high pitch sound on gen 2 increased rpm.
they also use silicone seal on it, its contact with your coffee when brewing then its little too tight and sharp enough to cut your fingers skin, using kind of kalita wave paper very annoying its difficult to take a filter out of from the bottom, do u have any tricks ? 😅
When you were showing the Varia table, I saw that they had large and small “VS3” grinders. If one was a VS3, what was the other?
That’s the VS6! Yet to be oficially released and with a swappable burr so you can go between flat/conical. Would love to review that one too - super cool!
@@DaddyGotCoffee INN-teresting…. I’m quite torn between the Varia VS3 with the Ultra Hypernova burrs vs the DF54 and the possibility (but not certainty) of further burr upgrades. I have a J-MAX but am looking for a little more clarity in the cup. Particularly with my Pulsar and Aeropress.
Great review, when are you going to review orea v4 😢
I need to get one!!!
Wait… I had thought that you want a faster flow for dark roast vs light roast because dark roasts are generally more soluble….. but am I wrong?
Yes you are wrong
Does the V3 Negotiator work with this one?
It’s a little too narrow!
Does the V4 wide negotiator work with it?
I have not tried this (don't have one... yet!)
What are your thoughts of this versus Sworksdesign Bottomless Dripper especially since they very recently released the glass cone variant instead of plastic?
I would love to try the Sworksdesign dripper. A couple thoughts - it’s 155 size vs 185 of this one. It’s screens look much more suited to faster flows and less suited to slower, so there’s probably less flow variance as it comes to the screens themselves, however you could modulate flow somewhat with the valve. Also, it can kinda function like a switch with more of an immersion style brew. Also more plastic! Still, looks great too
@@DaddyGotCoffee there is a price difference as well since the glass varient is $95 vs 85 for plastic cone vs $60 for this one. The valve on the Sworksdesign one I think would allow even more flow control/immersion opportunities than the FLO. I wish the Sworksdesign one had the potential for larger capacity than 10-18 grams and the 155 filters.
@@bitcoins3212I brew 20g in my Sworks with ease pretty much every day, you can use filters that are taller than what a 155 would be and allows for a bit more headroom, just have to be conscious of how fast you pour and how high the water goes up
@@DaddyGotCoffeewith the Sworks, you can modulate the flow a lot with the valve; it would be worth checking out for sure especially as they now have glass cone options if you don’t want the tritan version. Also if you have an Orea negotiator already it works to negotiate both wave or say sibarist/Orea flat filters
I have the Sworks and absolutely love it. The quality is second to none. I use the V60 for dialing in new coffee, and use the Sworks for experimentation and have a great experience. My only real issue with the Sworks is consistency. I've used Sibarist fast flow filters, all the different screens, vastly different grind sizes, different pouring structures, multiple valve adjustments, melodrip lift etc, and I still can't get consistent results brew to brew. All that said, I love the Sworks. It's just fun.
can you use this without the paper filters?
Amazon link isn’t working
The amazon link just goes to Amazon's home page as this dripper is not on Amazon :) I added the link to Varia's web store!
some people eat stinky beans and cooked jengkol sir
2nd!😊
I love it 🤣☕️
First?
Hahahah you win! ☕️☕️
Happened to be up late. Was just finishing another video.