Rivers Hoop Mono Coffee Press (from Japan)

[Jingthing]

Never heard of it? Neither had I.

 

A little background.

I recently read a study associating unfiltered coffee brewing methods (such as French press) with higher risk for cardiovascular problems.

Well, I've been using a French press at home for many many years and I like it. Very simple to brew, very rich taste, fitting with the darker roasts that I prefer.

But the filter thingie does tend to get funky and a mess to clean.

Anyway my current famous name brand French press had seen better days, so I started researching other brewing methods.

 

Standard drip automatic machine is out for me. Too boring. Too much like American office coffee.

 

Manual pour through method like Chemex. I've been exposed to that method and although it uses a paper (or metal) filter it's slow and technically kind of a pain in the butt. Especially first thing in the morning which is when I drink coffee. So that was out.

 

Aeropress! A newer and exciting method. Technically a little tricky but I was willing to try it until I found out that the volume you can produce in one brew is so small. I like a bigger dose! If I was into making espresso at home (I'm not) I would consider it though as it's quite flexible and you can make espresso with it. Uses a paper filter.

 

Then I discovered something unusual. A somewhat different kind of French press MONO brewer. I think they intended to spark a French press revolution but it didn't happen! I'm wondering why. Is there a flaw that I don't see yet? If not, I don't understand why this isn't much more well known.

 

So what's different?

 

Instead of the three part metal filter there is a only one specially made metal filter. Thus mono.

 

There is also a fine metal filter at the pour zone. It seems to be removable. Not clear why you would want to. 

 

The instructions came in Japanese. I translated them with google but lots was lost in translation.

 

So what's maybe better?

 

The one part filter much easier to clean.

 

Apparently because of the qualities of the filter the filtering is more effective than standard French presses -- there are less coffee oils coming through and also fewer fine grains into the cup. That may be somewhat of an improvement health-wise over the standard French press though I am not sure.

 

Normally French press grind is medium but I seemed to glean from the instructions that you can use a finer grind as well for this brand of press. So just got the thing and tried a finer grind. They instruct to leave a finer grind brew for an extra minute AFTER you do the press after four minutes of brewing.

 

Well I must say the resulting large cup of coffee was absolutely delicious. Bold from the beans and fine grind but also smooth and clean. Wow, I'm really impressed so far. 

 

Not sure I'll usually do a fine grind and my beans aren't even very fresh. So this could get even better.

 

Any coffee freaks, current or ex-barristas out there to tell me why this brand and method isn't more popular?

 

Yes I've already figured out I may not be getting any health benefits by sticking with a French press. Oh well.

 

http://www.rivers.co.jp/en/product/coffee-press-hoop-mono/

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Jingthing

[touch]

Hi JT

If you don't mind, Where and how did you buy that? 

If you really want to get rid of the oils, have you considered a Clever Dripper.

Easy to use and makes a couple of great cups of coffee. Up to 450 ml.

 

[Jingthing]

That's just another slow and tedious pour over method. I might try a pour over sometime but I doubt it. 

 

Also the volume on that is too small for me. The Rivers can do 720 ml. 

 

Lazada. 1700 baht. Not cheap but really no decent French press is cheap in Thailand. 

 

My concern with the Rivers unit is that the filters are going to get clogged and then not cleanable or practically replaceable. 

 

I continue to be amazed that it can handle fine ground beans. Standard French presses really can't. 

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Jingthing

[touch]

Actually it's an immersion dripper. 

Put the filter in the holder add the coffee and then pour in the hot water. Wait around four minutes and place the dripper over a mug or other vessel and let the valve start releasing coffee. 

It's sort of filtered French press coffee without the press. 

Not bad coffee at all. 

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, touch said:

Actually it's an immersion dripper. 

Put the filter in the holder add the coffee and then pour in the hot water. Wait around four minutes and place the dripper over a mug or other vessel and let the valve start releasing coffee. 

It's sort of filtered French press coffee without the press. 

Not bad coffee at all. 

 

I can see now that the Clever brand has an improvement in that you don't have to futz with moistening the grounds first and you can instead just pour all the water in unlike a Chemex type pour over..

But it's not French press.

It does have a paper filter.

They are superior from a filtering POV as per possible health concerns, but the Rivers mono might be better than a standard French press because of the special metal filer.

The Clever dripper does seem like a very good suggestion and probably easier to use than the Aeropress (but the Aeropress is more flexible).

But for me, just not enough coffee out of it per brew.

 

https://www.javapresse.com/blogs/pour-over/immersion-vs-pour-over-brewing

Edited May 11, 2020 by Jingthing

[coops]

I finally stopped bothering with Espresso, and ordered a Technivorm Moccamaster Cup-One (can use #2 filter) - ordered from the UK so it's 240v. They do the usual larger drip machines and are very well reviewed - not "American office coffee" ???? 

 

I've happily used an Aeropress at work with a hand grinder, but the automatic Technivorm dripper is easy to use and clean - just a monthly Dezcal descale or so.

 

https://technivorm.com/products/single-cup/