• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Coffee Compass

Your Guide for Craft Coffee

  • Home
  • About
  • Archive
  • Map
  • Contact
  • Shop

Hario V60 vs Kalita Wave: Who Wins in a Brew to the Death?

May 21, 2013 By Michael 16 Comments

Hario-V60-editJapanese Invasion

Over the last six years, the Hario V60 has become the industry standard pour-over dripper. In some circles, “V60” is practically a synonym for pour-over coffee. The Japanese-made cone dripper, complete with custom paper filters, is a highly functional and yet aesthetically pleasing piece of coffee design. Spiral ridges help ensure extraction along the sides of the coffee bed (in contrast to a Chemex), and face it, they just look sexy. The 01 is perfect for brewing straight into a 10 oz mug, while the 02 can make more than enough to share (upwards of 1 liter).

The New Wave

Kalita Wave Stainless Box

Photo from www.prima-coffee.com

Recently, however, Hario’s stranglehold on the by-the-cup coffee market has been challenged by another Japanese company, Kalita. Their dripper, the Kalita Wave, has surged in popularity, particularly among the coffee cognoscenti. Erin McCarthy used a Kalita Wave to win the 2013 US Brewers Cup. Legendary Danish roasters The Coffee Collective recently switched to Waves in their three Copenhagen cafes. The dripper even snagged it’s own article in the New York Times magazine.

Kalita Wave Stainless Steel

Photo from www.prima-coffee.com

The Wave features a flat bed, which is supposed to extract more evenly than the V60’s conical shape. Three small holes in the bed of the Wave control the flow rate, which means there’s less room for user error. This also allows for longer dwell times, which lends itself to more complexity in the cup. Sure, the stainless steel model looks a little chintzy, but it has better heat retention than the ceramic V60. (Glass models, however, are available for both drippers.)

Hario V60 vs Kalita Wave: The Pros and Cons

So which one is better? That question can only be answered by turning to the world of hi-def brew videos. In defense of the V60 we have a video from former World Brewer’s Cup Champion, Matt Perger. Perger, who is two-time Australian barista champ to boot, employs a radical pulse-brew method that disregards conventional techniques and ratios. The video also features a banging sound track and some classic Antipodean wit. His method is tricky to master, but yields some delicious results when properly executed.

Conversely, the best video we’ve seen for the Wave is by Nick Cho, who is the man responsible for importing the dripper to the States in the first place. What it lacks in soundtrack or humor it makes up for in mind-blowing extraction theory. Watch and learn.

Kalita Wave Coffee Brewing : Intensive from nick cho on Vimeo.

And the Winner Is…

So where does the Coffee Compass land? Call it a cop-out, but we’re on the fence. We’ve had too many great coffees from both brew methods to rule either out. The consistency of the Wave lends itself to busy cafe environments as well as to novice home brewers. The transparency of the V60 means that it will always have a place in on hearts and on our carafes. Any coffee nerd would do well to have both (along with a good kettle) in their arsenal.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit

Related

Filed Under: Brewology Tagged With: coffee, Hario V60, Kalita Wave, Pour Over

About Michael

Michael Butterworth is a coffee educator, consultant, and writer. He cofounded the Coffee Compass mostly as an excuse to visit more coffee shops. For consulting enquiries please visit butterworth.coffee.

Previous Post: « Learn How to Brew an Aeropress with Koppi
Next Post: How to Drink Espresso »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bob says

    August 16, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    Why is the Hario video private now?

    Reply
    • Michael says

      August 16, 2013 at 5:45 pm

      Not sure what happened to the vimeo version of Matt Perger’s Video. I updated the post with the youtube version embedded.

      Reply
      • B. says

        May 21, 2015 at 6:13 am

        The “banging soundtrack” you spoke about is copyrighted by UGM (“Thinking bout you” by Frank Ocean). I think this link will work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bcwuBgyr1E

        Reply
        • Notimportant says

          May 15, 2018 at 1:39 pm

          Nope. Not anymore. The link you (B.) provided just goes to a staticky screen that states that’s been taken down by the same clowns.

          Makes me want to never buy anything from UGM again, and take the effort to know which fat, arrogant, overfed, overindulged, overprivileged, jerks are behind any and everything I buy, to ensure I’m not rewarding behavior like this.

          Reply
          • Michael says

            May 16, 2018 at 2:05 am

            Hello Notimportant,

            Sorry about the dead link. This post is 5 years old– and honestly our thoughts on this subject have evolved since we published this. Probably worth a revisit.

  2. Michael says

    May 26, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    Eager to hear the thoughts that evolved since the original post. Any idea when the revisit will happen? One over the other now?

    Reply
    • Michael says

      May 28, 2018 at 4:26 am

      We’re working on a longer post, but I need to run some experiments first. Stay tuned!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Cafe Review: Quills Coffee New Albany, IN | The Coffee Compass says:
    September 17, 2013 at 9:19 am

    […] would be to offer a single origin espresso as well. The drip coffees, brewed on Fetco, Chemex, or Hario V60, are tasty and consistent. The barista team at Quills consistently pushes other shops in the area […]

    Reply
  2. The 3 Best Coffee Accessories You Need To Have | The Coffee Compass says:
    September 23, 2013 at 7:01 am

    […] is a full immersion brew method that lends itself to full-bodied, complex brews. However, like a Hario V60 or Chemex, the Clever uses a paper filter, leaving behind the unpleasant sediment of a French […]

    Reply
  3. Cafe Review: Madcap Coffee in Grand Rapids, MI | The Coffee Compass says:
    October 15, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    […] La Marzocco GB5 cranks out shot after shot of espresso while manual pours-overs are brewed with Kalita Waves (versus the Hario V60). Everything about the interior clicked when I read how Co-Founder Ryan Knapp recently delved into […]

    Reply
  4. Pour-overs vs Autodrip: Which one is Best? | The Coffee Compass says:
    November 25, 2013 at 7:59 am

    […] Third Wave coffee movement coincided with a renewed interest in manual brew methods. Chemexes, V60s, and Aeropresses came part and parcel with lighter roasts, traceability, and smaller sizes. […]

    Reply
  5. Interview: Founders of Lineage Coffee in Orlando, FL | The Coffee Compass says:
    August 18, 2014 at 7:30 am

    […] This is a really good question actually. I would have to go pour over. I love our Kalita waves. […]

    Reply
  6. Collective Espresso Opens Second Location in Cincinnati | The Coffee Compass says:
    March 10, 2015 at 10:35 am

    […] Chemexes and Hario V60s are still the brew method of choice in OTR, but Northside is riding the Kalita Wave. Both shops feature a minimalist menu, grass-grazed milk, and high standards for beverage […]

    Reply
  7. Gear Review: Ximeno by Long Beach Dripper | The Coffee Compass says:
    December 1, 2015 at 8:00 am

    […] and has all of the benefits and draw backs of that design (for more on flat-bottem drippers read here and here). One advantage of the Ximeno’s design is that it allows for long brew times with a […]

    Reply
  8. Cafe Review: Store Street Espresso in London | The Coffee Compass says:
    January 12, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    […] also enjoyed a V60 of Square Mile’s La Bolsa, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. I have had coffee from this farm roasted […]

    Reply
  9. How To Make Japanese Iced Coffee - My Coffee Tips says:
    August 20, 2018 at 3:32 am

    […] influential persons in the industry). Peter’s method is simple: Japanese iced coffee is brewed like any other pour-over, only half of the hot water is replaced with ice cubes, which the brewed coffee immediately drips […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Get Fresh Content

Sign up for Free Updates from
The Coffee Compass.

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021