The Origami Dripper made its first large appearance when Jia Ning Du used it to win the 2019 World Brewers Championship in Boston. Since then, it has caught the attention of the coffee community for both its beautiful design and versatility.
Recipe Guide
| Taste Description | Best Brewed Using | |
| Jump to Recipe 1 – Wave Filter | Balanced and sweet | Light-medium roast coffees |
| Jump to Recipe 2 – Cone Filter | Vibrant and juicy | Cinnamon–light roast coffees |
What You’ll Need for Brewing
- Scale
- Timer
- Gooseneck kettle
- Thermometer
- Filtered water
- Origami Dripper
- V60 or Kalita Wave Filters
- Good coffee
Read more: Affordable coffee scales for manual brewing
Recipe Breakdown
For any of these Origami Dripper recipes, always make sure to pre-rinse the paper filter to wash off the papery taste. Start your timer the moment you start pouring.
Recipe 1 – Wave Filter
- Dose: 20g
- Total amount: 300ml
- Ratio: 1 : 15
- Origami size: medium
- Grind size: medium fine
- Water temperature: 95°C / 203°F
- Pouring pattern (ml): 50 – 250
- Pouring intervals: every 40 seconds
- Total time: (minutes to seconds): between 2:45 to 3:00
This is a similar recipe to the classic long-pour technique often used for the Kalita Wave. Almost any light to medium roast coffee pairs well here. The final cup should have a good balance all around yet still emphasize sweetness.
Even when using wave filters, water will flow through the coffee quicker with the Origami compared to the Kalita Wave. This allows gives more room to grind finer (than for a Kalita) without any worry of the brew stalling. In general, most Kalita recipes can be used with Origami and the only adjustment would be grind size.
Pour the initial 50ml to bloom the coffee. Stirring or spinning the brew is optional with flat bottom filters since the coffee will be more evenly distributed. Thus, making it easier to evenly saturate all the grounds during the bloom.
After 40 seconds, do one long and slow 200ml pour. Starting from the center, pour in a slow circular motion. Make 5 circles going outward and another 5 going back inward. Repeat and try to end the pour back at the center. Pouring should be done by the 1:30 mark.
While long pours are a little tricky to master, they reward you with more balance in the final cup because the coffee extracts at a steadier rate compared to a pulse pour. Continuous pours also regulate the brew temperature better than pulsing, which helps bring more body to the final cup.
Recipe 2 – Cone Filter
- Dose: 15g
- Total amount: 250ml
- Ratio: 1 : 16.6
- Origami size: small or medium
- Grind size: medium
- Water temperature: 97°C / 207°F
- Pouring pattern (ml): 50 – 100 – 100
- Pouring intervals: 40s bloom, finish the first pour around 1:00. Let it drain and do the last pour around 1:30
- Total time (minutes to seconds): 2:45 to 3:00
When using V60-style filters, the Origami behaves very similar to the Hario V60. In most cases, both brewers will produce a similar tasting brew – especially in terms of highlighting acidity. The main difference will be in the mouthfeel. The Origami will produce more delicate and tea-like brews since its flow rate is even faster than the V60.
Lighter roasts work well with this recipe since they take a little longer to extract. Pulsing / dividing the pour helps to control the flow rate further. While a longer ratio helps extend the extraction to bring out more sweetness.
Click here to learn more about coffee extraction and improve your brew game.
Start by pouring 50ml and then stir or spin the brew to saturate all the coffee. Compared to a flat-bottom filter, cone filters do not distribute the coffee as evenly. So you’ll need to stir to make sure all the coffee is covered.
Wait up to 40 seconds and pour 100ml (target at 150ml on scale). Start at the center, slowly pour outward in 5 circles, and finish this pour around the 1-minute mark.
Let the coffee go down a bit and pour the last 100ml (target at 250ml on the scale) at around 1:30. The coffee should fully drain by 3 minutes or a little less.
Want to brew iced coffee with the Origami? Try this iced pour over recipe.
Understanding the Origami Dripper
As its name suggests, the Origami Dripper was inspired by the Japanese art of Origami / paper folding. Apart from its visual appearance, the team at Trunk Coffee designed the brewer to give complete control over flow rate.
The Origami Dripper features a 20-rib design that creates a steady airflow to prevent the brew from clogging. While designed with a cone-shape, the Origami is also compatible with Kalita Wave filters. Coincidentally, these filters also sport a 20-rib design and perfectly drop into the Origami.
Because the brewer can fit both V60 and Kalita-shaped filters, almost any recipe for either can be used with the Origami Dripper to get similar results with minimal adjustments. This makes it the most versatile among all pour over drippers.
There are only 2 sizes available for the Origami: small and medium. Respectively, these sizes scale similar to the Size 01 (maximum of 2 cups) and Size 02 (maximum of 4 cups) of the V60.
The Origami used to only be available in ceramic. But, as of early 2022, a plastic version known as the “Origami Air” has since been released. The main differences between the two versions are in the (1) heat retention and (2) speed.
Plastic as a material retains heat much better than ceramic/porcelain. With the same amount of preheating, brews with the ceramic version have slightly less body than the plastic one. So to really get the full flavor out of your ceramic Origami, a lot of preheating is needed.
The plastic version also has a much faster flow rate than the ceramic version. The difference is more noticeable with wave filters than cone filters. With wave filters, the ceramic version has a tendency to clog.
Before the plastic version, many attributed these clogging problems to the wave filters fitting too perfectly into the brewer. This then creates an air lock making it more difficult for water to pass through. But, with the plastic version having a much faster flow rate despite the exact same design, this problem could have more to do with other factors like weight of the ceramic.
Origami vs V60 vs Kalita Wave
As mentioned earlier, the Origami Dripper can get similar results to either a V60 or Kalita Wave brew with grind size being the only variable for adjustment.
While the Kalita isn’t compatible with V60 filters, a case can be made for Kalita filters to be used with a V60. So how does that compare with the Origami using Kalita filters? While it is possible to get both to taste similar, there are limitations to using wave filters on a V60.
Naturally, because the V60 wasn’t designed to accommodate Kalita filters, you’ll have to pour more carefully so the filter does not collapse inside the V60. This means less room to experiment compared to the Origami with a Kalita filter since you can still do heavier pours without worry of the filter collapsing. In that regard, the Origami still gets our vote.
Because of how versatile the Origami is, it’s a great choice if you want to vary your brewing style and experiment with different filters without having to switch brewers all the time.
Happy brewing!
About the Author
Daniel Yu
Daniel is the head author of Project Barista. Since 2016, he discovered his passion for specialty coffee. His personal mission is to share everything he’s learned over the years.