Coffee Lab Module for Professional Testing: The Clever Cup Steep and Release

The Clever Cup is a dripper with a controllable valve at the bottom, launched by Taiwanese company EK INTL and derived from its HandyBrew tea device. Placed on a table, the valve stays closed and the grounds steep in water; pressing the base opens the piston valve so the coffee drains.

The design adds immersion extraction to a filtered dripper, so results depend less on pouring skill and are easier for beginners to repeat. Grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and steep time are the main variables. A Costa Rica Blueberry bean demonstrates the steep-and-release method in practice.

The Clever Coffee Dripper is a coffee dripper with a controllable valve at the bottom, developed by the Taiwanese company EK INTL, and its design concept comes from the same brand's tea-brewing device HandyBrew. Unlike direct drip drippers such as the V60, the Clever Coffee Dripper incorporates immersion extraction into the brewing process, allowing coffee grounds and water to fully contact inside the container, reducing reliance on pouring technique, so even beginners can more easily reproduce stable flavors. This article will begin with the origin and naming of the Clever Coffee Dripper, analyze its double-layer construction and valve opening and closing principle, and around variables such as grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and immersion time, combined with Front Street Coffee's brewing recommendations and a practical demonstration using Costa Rica 巨石庄园 Blueberry coffee beans, present a complete reproducible Clever Coffee Dripper steep-and-release method.

The Clever Coffee Dripper was launched by the Taiwanese company EK INTL and is a coffee filtration device with a controllable switch valve at the bottom. With this valve, users can flexibly set the immersion time during extraction, and the operation threshold is low and easy to learn, hence the name "Clever Coffee Dripper." At present, many drippers with valve designs on the market are also sold by merchants under the name "Clever Coffee Dripper," but strictly speaking, only those produced by the Mr.Clever brand are true Clever Coffee Drippers.

The idea for the Clever Coffee Dripper came from EK INTL's another tea-brewing utensil, HandyBrew, and immersion extraction is precisely its core feature. Its structure is generally divided into inner and outer layers: the outside is a supporting frame, while the inside is a cup body with a press-type switch valve. When it is placed steadily on a tabletop, the valve remains closed, the coffee liquid will not flow downward, and the grounds and water remain in an immersion state. When immersion is finished, the center of the base is pressed, the piston valve opens accordingly, and the coffee liquid can flow into the container below.

Compared with direct drip drippers such as the V60, the Clever Coffee Dripper additionally has the ability to perform immersion extraction, that is, allowing water and coffee grounds to remain in contact in the container. Immersion extraction relies less on pouring technique, and for beginners it is easier to reproduce the coffee's basic flavors. Flavor compounds will change with water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, grind coarseness, and immersion time, thereby affecting the coffee's flavor performance and strength.

When making steep-and-release coffee with the Clever Coffee Dripper, just as with brewing using a dripper and filter paper, for the same beans under the same water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and extraction time, if the grind is too coarse, the flavor is likely to be under-extracted and taste flat and lacking in layers; if the grind is too fine, it is likely to be over-extracted, meaning that after the flavor compounds have already been released, the coffee grounds continue to contact hot water, leaching out unpleasant flavors such as woody notes, making the coffee strong but with off-flavors.

Front Street recommends that when steep-and-release brewing light to medium roast coffee beans with the Clever Coffee Dripper, use a medium-fine grind (75%-80% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve); for medium-dark roast coffee beans, use a medium-coarse grind (65%-70% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve).

If the water temperature is too high, coffee flavor release speeds up and easily causes over-extraction; if the water temperature is too low, flavor release slows down and easily leads to under-extraction. Front Street recommends that when steep-and-release brewing light to medium roast coffee beans with the Clever Coffee Dripper, use 90°C-91°C; for medium-dark roast coffee beans, use 88°C-89°C.

Referring to the SCA Golden Cup extraction standard, Front Street conducted brewing experiments using different coffee-to-water ratios and drippers, and found that when brewing at 1:15, the coffee extraction yield generally falls between 17.79%-18.73%. Although from the Golden Cup standard it is only just near the edge of qualification, sensory testing shows that the flavor performance is quite suitable and can be applied to the brewing of the vast majority of coffee beans.

Below, Front Street uses Costa Rica 巨石庄园 Blueberry coffee beans for a steep-and-release demonstration. Water temperature: 90°C, coffee dose: 15g, coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, grind size: medium-fine grind (75% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve).

① After folding the filter paper, place it into the Clever Coffee Dripper, then place the Clever Coffee Dripper on the container, and use hot water to wet the filter paper while also preheating the device.

② Move the Clever Coffee Dripper onto the electronic scale (at this time the valve will automatically close), and pour the ground coffee into the center of the dripper. Pour in 30g of hot water for the first stage, press the timer, and bloom for 30 seconds; after the bloom ends, continue pouring hot water until 225g, then immerse for 1'50".

After immersion is complete, move the Clever Coffee Dripper onto the container and open the valve, allowing the coffee liquid in the dripper to filter and flow out. The whole process lasts about 15 seconds, and the total coffee extraction time is 2'05".

Thanks to immersion extraction, the coffee strength can be controlled according to personal preference by adjusting the coffee-to-water ratio or immersion time. Coffee brewed with the Clever Coffee Dripper has relatively high cleanliness, good body, and rounded sweetness.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.