Personally, my go-to method for coffee brewing is, and always will be, a simple pour-over. Yes, I know, it may not be as technically challenging or stimulating as traditional espresso but its hard to beat the intimate process of weighing, grinding, pouring, and serving and old school pour-over. The blooms, the aromas, the ease, (and the cost) are unbeatable. That being said - all pour over's are NOT the same. I have tried the best (and the worst) of them and am here to make your life a little easier. 

THE BEST

The Pure-Over. Not the POUR over, the PURE over.

So what makes it special? The pure over was marketed as one of the first brew methods to use "cake filtration". This means that instead of a traditional filter, there is... well... nothing. Instead, the grind for this method is very coarse (for my fellow, Fellow Ode users its a setting 7) but think cold brew coarse grind. The PureOver is entirely glass with small filtration holes on the top container. The Coarse grinds end up "caking" together once you pour and creating its own, entirely coffee, filter. Sounds simple, and its been attempted with plenty of "filterless" pour-overs, but I think they have perfected it. All of their dimensions are intentionally crafted to create the best environment for a simple, effective, filterless pourover that isn't too muddy but is always consistent. Pretty Cool - and very, very good. 

The Downside is the clean up and morning effort of getting out 3 separate piece of glassware that I'll have to deal with after work. But that part is up to you. 

In my opinion the PureOver is one of the few brew methods that come close to the simulating the notes you get cupping every single time.

THE GOOD

 Not much to be said here. The Chemex will always be a winner in the PourOver discussion. It's been around forever for a reason and makes great coffee. One of the pro's of a Chemex is that it leaves so much room for experimentation. And thats half the fun, right? Plus the clean up takes 2 seconds and you're ready to go (or make more). 

Unfortunately, the Chemex basically requires you buy their custom filters, which are probably worth it, but definitely more expensive than they have to be. Otherwise, very hard to beat. 

The Bad

Ceramic, World Market-esque pour over combos. Please stop buying these. I got sucked into the trap by the pretty colors and shelf appeal, and thats pretty much where it stays. You can never find filters that fit them properly, they are insanely heavy and coffee scales hate them, and they just make bad mediocre coffee due to their weird shapes and variable flow rates. 

No judgement here, but I'm not falling for it again.