Closed: Bonavita Porcelain Immersion Brewer Traveling Road Show

[bekeld]

I am very much OK with the ease of use thing. I may never have to figure out how to do a drinkable pourover.

[headchange4u]

Anyone that is a fan of the Clever will absolutely love the Bonavita. It like the Clever's much classier cousin. I love the porcelain upper. I do wish that the entire unit was made of porcelain, but everything that touches the coffee id porcelain, so I can live with the plastic base.

I tried the Bonavita using the Kone v3, a nylon filter, and a Melitta #4 paper filter. The Kone produced IMHO an excessive number of fines, and there was quite a bit of sediment in the bottom of my cup. I probably could have adjusted my grind to reduce the number of fines, but I just moved on the to the paper filter. I had a similar problem with the nylon filter.

The Bonavita produced a most excellent cup. It was similar to a CCD, but I think that the BVID was better, probably due to the fact that the preheated porcelain cones had better heat retention through the 4 minute steep time.

Cons:

No major flaws that will keep me from buying one.

One weird quirk is that when initially releasing the valve to drain the coffee, it has a tendency to spray out sideways. The first time I made coffee in the unit, the cup was too large for the BVID. I was holding the brewer above the cup, and when I released the valve, it sprayed a little coffee onto my counter.

The plastic bottom has lots of nooks and crannies could be hard to clean.

A coworker made the observation that the very tip of the porcelain cone, the part that valve in the bottom seat against, looks to be unglazed and could pick up coffee stains. This part is hidden in the bottom so it;s not a big deal.

[BoldJava]

...The Kone produced IMHO an excessive number of fines, and there was quite a bit of sediment in the bottom of my cup. I probably could have adjusted my grind to reduce the number of fines...

What are you grinding with and did you use a medium, pourover grind or finer?

[headchange4u]

Grinding with my Mazzer Mini. Using the same grind setting I normally use with the Kone in a pour over setting. The BVID drains fast with the Kone. Maybe that force is pulling extra fines through.

[BozemanEric]

I just got a message from Soapbox that he dropped it in the mail today and it is on its way to MT.

[BozemanEric]

Is in Montana. Any suggestion on grind size other than what headchange4u had?  I am not saying his are wrong, I just don't have a lot of time to experiment this week.

[BozemanEric]

After one morning of use, I don't like this thing. I do not like the position of the valve release below water line and see it as a design flaw. Let me explain. I was preheating the BV this morning. I reached over with one hand to release the valve. The valves stuck just enough that when it did release it jolted the BV and splashed boiling hot water all over my left hand. You could call this a rookie mistake, that I am sure will never happen again, but it might have jaded me enough to never be able to give a fair review to this thing. I always think devices that are used first thing in the morning should be engineered to be idiot proof. Apparently this one was not. Heed my warning, when using the BV, make sure you hold it firmly with both hands to release the valve.  My hand hurts like hell.

I do think that the BV did makes a good cup of coffee though. It was on par with the Brazen and not quite as good as what I get from the V60/Kone or the Espro Press. I did have some trouble keeping my water temp above  195°. It dropped below that point about a minute into the brew cycle. Keep in mind at my elevation the highest I can start with is 203°

[BozemanEric]

I made a cup for lunch using the same bean and the grind I use for the Brazen with gold filter. I thought it was a little more balanced.  I also did it without burning my hand. I like the cup it makes. For a quick 1 Cup, it works well.

[BozemanEric]

After making eight or ten cups I have come up with my preferred parameters. I made the first six differently but have settled on a grind and ratio I like.

Grind: Brazen, Gold Filter, Perciso around 17 (it is hard to tell with all the guidance labels for R on the Perciso)
Ratio: 23g to 12 oz
Water temp: 203°, full boil
Time: pull the plug at three minutes, it takes about another minute to drain for a total brew time of four minutes
Agitation: one stir at about 30-45 seconds

I am sure it will be a little different with different beans. I was using the Honduras, Catalina Rodriguez for all these.  I really kind of like this thing when it does not scald me. It does make a good cup of coffee. I do not like it as much as my V60 but I do like the ease of use for a single cup. There might be one in our cupboard in the future. My only complaint is, I still cannot hold temperature above 195° throughout the brew. I think I need a constant pour, or more mass to do that. I think I will keep this one for my full week before sending it on.

[BozemanEric]

I like this thing. I like it better than the CCD but that just might be the porcelain as opposed to plastic.  It made a real good cup of coffee with ease. There might be one in our cabinets in the future although I am not placing the order right now. We have too many unused coffee gadgets in there already. I do not see this replacing my V60 as my primary one cup Brewer.  The things I really did like about it was that it was easy to clean and I could do something else while my coffee brewed instead of just pouring. It is now boxed up and by the backdoor and should be on its way to Alan tomorrow.

[BozemanEric]

The more I think about it, the biggest hurdle I have with this product is me. I just do not make many one cup batches of coffee. If I do it is usually when I come home for lunch. On those days I usually flip the espresso machine on and have a double before I leave. On the rare occasion that I do make a one cup serving the V60 has always served me very well.

It makes a great cup of coffee and is very forgiving. While some cups were better than others, I do not remember a truly bad cup from it.  I think it would be a great product for a newbie's induction into single cup pour overs. If this is a legitimate pour over?

[fffolks]

I got the BVID today just as I was ready to brew a cup of coffee, so I quickly put it to use. I enjoyed the cup, but didn't notice any significant difference in taste between it and the CCD. I will do a side by side test tomorrow and try to get some slurry temps as well.

[rgrosz78]

Just a heads-up, since it looks like the BVID won't arrive anytime soon. It may end up stranded on my doorstep, since I will be on vacation from 05/21 through 06/05/2013.

[fffolks]

Like a lot of people here, I already own a Clever Coffee Dripper so it’s hard not to compare this Bonavita dripper to it because they are so similar.
I tried them side by side, using the same parameters:
Both drippers were pre-heated with 206F water
El Salvador Honey Bourbon at a drip grind – 25g
Water just off boil (water boils for me at 206F) – 400g
Steep for 3 minutes, drain for 1 minute for a total of 4 minutes in contact with water.
Both slurries maintained a temperature of 192F which surprised me. I was expecting the ceramic bowl to do better. I ran the test two more times and got the same result.
There was also no noticeable difference in the cup, I could not tell them apart.
I am not a heavy user of the CCD, maybe once or twice a month and even though I don’t think the BVID is a big improvement over the CCD, when my CCD dies I may still pay the extra just to get rid of some of the plastic in my life.
It will be moving along shortly to the next on the list.

[peter]

Thanks for making the temperature measurements.  I'm also surprised that the results were so similar.

I guess the heat has no more reason to migrate through the plastic to the surrounding environment than it does to migrate through the porcelain.