Why Does the KONO Dripper Suit Dark Roast Coffee Brewing?

The KONO dripper is a ribbed conical brewer from Japan, introduced in 1973 as the MD-21. Its short ribs and siphon effect slow the flow and lift extraction, which helps dark roast beans deliver a full bodied cup. That is why some roasters reach for it instead of the more familiar V60 when working with dark roast profiles.

Kono began in 1925 making siphon pots, and Toshio Kono reportedly spent over ten years settling the rib length and depth. The Meimon and Konos models differ in design details, and the dripper remains less common outside Japan. Practical recipes usually adjust grind, water temperature, and pour timing to match the slower drawdown.

In the field of coffee brewing, the V60 has almost become synonymous with conical drippers, but Front Street Coffee often chooses another classic device when producing dark roast coffee—the KONO dripper. This brand, originating from the Kono family in Japan in 1925, showcases a rich and full-bodied flavor when extracting dark roast beans through its unique rib design and siphon effect. However, domestic coffee enthusiasts have quite limited knowledge about it. In this article, Front Street will systematically sort out the historical evolution of the KONO dripper, the differences between models like Meimon and Konos, and why it is particularly suitable for the brewing logic of dark roast coffee, and share the parameter schemes summarized by Front Street in actual operation, to give you a comprehensive understanding of this low-key but capable dripper.

Hey, that's not right. Actually, Front Street doesn't only use V60 when producing; other types of drippers have always been in use too. It's just that V60 appears too frequently, creating the misconception that it's the only one used. For example, when encountering dark roast beans, Front Street switches to the Kono dripper for brewing.

Speaking of Kono, many friends in China might be relatively unfamiliar with it. After all, the common conical drippers on the market are either the faster-flowing V60 or the uniquely shaped Origami, and very few players actually use Kono to brew coffee, which leads to limited understanding of it. So today, Front Street will talk in detail about what makes this dripper exceptional.

Kono

In Japan, whether among coffee enthusiasts or professionals, Kono is considered one of the most favored equipment brands. The brand was founded by Mr. Akira Kono in 1925, and the name Kono comes from the pronunciation of "Kono". Initially, Kono's main business was manufacturing siphon pots.

Later, as the business scope expanded, Kono also ventured into the production of other coffee equipment and coffee bean roasting. Because of its origins in siphon pot manufacturing and its special preference for rich and strong dark roast coffee, in 1973, Mr. Toshio Kono, who succeeded Akira Kono as the second-generation president, designed the first ribbed conical dripper—the "Kono MD-21".

According to rumors, Mr. Kono spent more than ten years before finally settling on the length and depth of the ribs. The ribs of the first-generation Kono dripper reached half the height of the cup body, with a total of twelve. Since it's a first-generation product, there would naturally be other versions later.

That's exactly the case: in 2010, Kono improved the first-generation dripper by shortening the ribs to half their original length, which became the later famous "kono Meimon" in the coffee circle, model MDN-21; in 2015, Kono launched a 90th-anniversary commemorative dripper with even shorter ribs. After selling out, the regular version of this dripper, "Konos since1925", was released, model MDK-21.

(Note: Konos is the brand name that Kono used earlier)

The three drippers don't differ much in appearance, so many friends often get confused by these numbers and models. Front Street will briefly sort it out here: currently, the best-selling ones on the market are Meimon and Konos, because these two have shorter ribs and smaller drainage holes. If arranged by flow rate from fast to slow, it's MD-21 (first-generation Kono) > MDN-21 (Kono Meimon) > MDK-21 (Konos Since1925).

However, regardless of which one, the upper part of the dripper has no ribs, so the filter paper can fit completely against the cup wall. Due to the tight fit, during brewing, the area in the upper part of the dripper holding the coffee grounds and hot water forms a sealed space, which prevents bypass water but also obstructs air circulation.

When the coffee liquid flows down through the hole, it takes away some of the air that permeates downward due to the lack of gaps, creating a negative pressure zone in the lower part where the filter paper and dripper are not completely fitted. Above the coffee grounds layer is positive pressure, and the pressure difference pushes the liquid down, making the coffee liquid seem to be sucked out through the hole. This is exactly the unique design that Mr. Toshio Kono infused into the Kono dripper, imitating the principle of a siphon pot.

Many people don't pre-wet the filter paper when using the Kono dripper, aiming to give the coffee grounds a smooth exhaust channel during the blooming stage. Subsequently, under the gravitational pressure of the coffee grounds and coffee liquid, the filter paper gradually clings to the cup wall, and by the time of the main extraction, the filter paper has basically completed fitting, making the whole process quite smooth and comfortable.

What beans is the Kono dripper suitable for brewing?

The Kono series drippers generally have a slower flow rate, so they are more suitable for brewing dark roast coffee beans. To brew a delicious cup of dark roast coffee, more thorough extraction is needed to obtain rich substances, thereby enhancing the body and aftertaste. But dark roast beans have low density and are easy to extract; if the parameters for light roast are used, over-extraction is very likely, so a coarser grind must be used to avoid it.

A coarser grind increases the space for water to pass through, making the flow rate faster. At this point, the advantage of the Kono dripper's slow flow rate is fully demonstrated. Because of the slow flow, it can secure more extraction time for the coarsely ground dark roast coffee, allowing the coffee to achieve more thorough extraction and a richer mouthfeel.

Of course, a longer extraction time means higher extraction efficiency, which requires lowering the water temperature to balance the overall extraction efficiency. When Front Street uses the Kono dripper to brew dark roast beans, it usually adopts these parameters: coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, water temperature 88°C~90°C, Ek43 grind setting 11/20 with a 75% passing rate through the sieve, three-stage brewing, and the brewing time for 15g of coffee is about 2 minutes.

(Note: The above are hot brew parameters)

Following this scheme, we can obtain a delicious cup of dark roast coffee with a long aftertaste and extremely high body with a relatively high fault tolerance. At the same time, note that dark roast beans, due to the long roasting time, are very brittle and prone to producing a large amount of fines during grinding. So during brewing, it's best to avoid large water flows and rapid circular pouring, and reduce the number and intensity of stirring, otherwise it can easily cause clogging, ultimately releasing unwanted bitter substances due to excessive extraction time, which would really be: too bitter!

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