Origami Dripper: Why All The Fuss?

Origami Dripper

In the last months we saw popping out from almost every Instagram coffee related pic, an origami dripper.

At the beginning we just thought “Well, cool!” because let’s admit it, this dripper is cool for sure. It comes in bright and pastel colors and it’s extremely photogenic.

But there should be more, right? I mean, if coffee gurus from all the world are “playing” with this new kid in town, there must be a reason apart from its coolness.

So, let’s learn a little bit more about it.

This dripper is designed by the founder of Trunk coffee and Origami Japan, and produced by a Japanese manufacturer called, guess what, ORIGAMI, that designs equipment to support the “chasing of the ultimate cup of coffee”.

The name Origami (折り紙), as you probably already know, is Japanese: coming from ORI (folding) and G(K)AMI (paper) and is the Japanese Art of folding paper in delicate, often colorful pieces of art. It’s an integral part of the Japanese culture for centuries, so it was probably obvious that, sooner or later, someone decided to combine this art with the coffee brewing, nowadays so famous in Japan.

But let’s see more about the dripper itself. The design team worked with many baristas to come up with the perfect shape to achieve the ideal blooming and dripping time. 20 creases ensure that space is kept between the dripper and paper filter in order to ensure the smooth passage of hot water, creating the right air channels and aiding in extraction at various temperatures, and it became quite famous after it was used by Jia Ning Du (from China) to win the 2019 World Brewers Cup Championship. The shape of this dripper gives you a smooth control over the extraction and the brew time.

It comes in two different sizes, S and M (respectively suitable for 1-2 and 2-4 cup pour overs. It is made with Mino porcelain (over 400 years of manufacturing history, pottery has great heat conductivity) and is microwave and dish washer safe (while hand washing is recommended).

One thing really cool about this dripper is that it can be use with different shapes of filter paper. The S size is perfect with the Cone-shaped Origami or V60 paper (01), to enhance more acidity; or with the Makita Wave paper (155) for more body and sweetness.

To use the Origami you’ll need an holder ring (usually made of wood or plastic) that helps placing the dripper on the right position over the mug/server.

We actually haven’t tried it yet, but we’d like to try it ASAP. In the meantime we’ve found online so many recipes using the Origami.