I’m a Former Barista, and This Is the One Thing I’m Buying on Sale During Cyber Monday

From the first cup of coffee I ever had to my days pulling espresso behind the counter at a cafe in Brooklyn, my favorite way to make coffee has always been using a pour-over. However, the difficult part about pour-over is that if you really want a nice cup, you need to perfect your technique. That usually involves buying a gooseneck kettle and carefully pouring a specific amount of hot water (usually weighed out with a kitchen scale and measured with a thermometer) over a precise amount of your freshly ground coffee in concentric circles, first in a bloom phase, then in a — you know what, don’t worry about it, because with the OXO Brew Single Serve Pour-Over Coffee Maker, things are much more simple. Which, I think, is a good thing, especially when you’re not 100% on the ball in the mornings. Sure, I love the ritual and end result of a well-made cup of pour-over, but these days, I find myself valuing ease and convenience more than anything else. That isn’t to say that this brewer doesn’t make a great cup, though — quite the opposite, in fact, according to almost 7,000 five-star Amazon reviews. Let’s dig into why. 

The OXO Brew Single Serve Pour-Over Coffee Maker brews a cup of pour-over coffee in a pretty foolproof way. There’s an auto-drip tank that controls water flow to ensure a well-saturated bed of coffee and full extraction (i.e. no dry bits of coffee at the end of your pour) and the measurement markings on the tank show exactly how much water to add — up to 12 ounces, which is a pretty large cup. The lid also retains heat while brewing and doubles as a drip tray once you’re finished. The brewer comes with 10 OXO Unbleached All-Natural #2 Cone Coffee Filters, as well, which make sure there’s no grit in your cup. Here’s how it works: Pop a filter into the cone, add your ground coffee to the filter, place the water tank on top, add hot water to the tank, place the lid on top, and wait for the water to drain. That’s it! A freshly brewed cup of joe awaits you. 

Average Rating: 4.7/5

“I was skeptical at first that making pour over coffee with this would be as good as my Keurig coffee maker but I am happy to say I was wrong. The pour over coffee is way better and I enjoy my coffee even more now. Not to mention the money I save on not buying K Cups anymore. This little brewer works great, is easy to use and cleaning it is a breeze. I am 100% pleased with my purchase [and] would recommend giving it a try. No more bulky coffee maker taking up space on the counter!” — Kae H

“This made an actually delicious cup of coffee. We are using up some older coffee that we have had in our cabinet for several months. No sense wasting it. I have been making it with a Melitta drip cone, and the flavor has been a little bit too acidic, or, perhaps, oxidized, but still good. The cup I just made with this same coffee using this OXO slow-drip cone tasted significantly smoother than before. I don’t know why that would be, but I guess OXO does.” — Mrs M

“I’ve used this daily for 3 months now. It is the best method I’ve ever used to make one serving of coffee, because it addresses and corrects all of my pet peeves with every other coffee making method. It’s as easy to prepare (if you’re using an electric kettle, which I highly recommend) as a drip machine without the size and lost counter space in my small kitchen. It tastes as good as pour over without having to get timers involved or having to use a precise technique. It’s as entertaining as a French press without the messy filters, glass, and parts that require difficult and time consuming clean up.” — Some Dude

So, if you’ve been wanting to upgrade your morning cup of coffee to something a little nicer than an old-fashioned drip machine or pod system, but didn’t want to get into the weeds of the pour-over technique, the OXO Brew Single Serve Pour-Over Coffee Maker is a great choice — especially when it’s on sale for Cyber Monday.

Buy: OXO Brew Single Serve Pour-Over Coffee Maker, $14.39 (normally $17.95)