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Nel Drip Brew Guide
Slow, Beautiful, Deliberate
A classic Japanese method, the nel drip slowly coaxes out each drop of flavor, yielding a rich, velvety cup with delicate clarity. We liken this brew method to performance art due to its elegant glass design and the meditative pace in which it’s poured. We love using our classic Pour Over recipe to brew with the nel drip, which, when paired with its fabric filter, creates a cup with added texture and depth. You can also explore our founder’s original nel drip recipe below.
Brew Time
3:20 minutes
Grind Size
Very coarse
Coffee Dose
22–28 g
Water Amount
250 g
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Take Part in the Performance
Take Part in the Performance
1. Soak and Dry Your Filter
If your filter is new, remove it from its frame and place it in boiling water for five minutes. Dry the filter by first wringing it out with your hands, then pressing it with a dry, clean towel. Then attach it to its hoop.
2. Grind Your Coffee
While your filter is soaking, grind 22–28 g of coffee to a coarse consistency similar to what is required for a French press. For darker roasts like our Tokyo Kissa blend, we recommend 25 g of coffee to 250 g of water. Traditionally, recipes can call for up to 45–50 g, so feel free to experiment and find the ratio you enjoy most.
3. Preheat Your Nel Drip
Preheat your nel pot and filter by pouring hot water over the filter into the pot. After 1 minute, empty the water.
4. Groom Your Coffee
Add your coffee to the filter in a loose mound without compressing it. Groom the coffee by gently sawing a thin bamboo paddle through the grounds. Your paddle should extend all the way to the bottom of the filter. Then, create a small indentation at the top of the coffee mound. It should have about the circumference of a nickel and the depth of a thumbtack.
5. Begin Your First Pour
Let your water cool in its kettle to about 175–180°F. Begin gently pouring around the circumference of your indentation. This first pour should be excruciatingly slow: 45 g of water over 45 seconds. Don’t worry about saturating all your grounds; time and the principle of capillarity will take care of that. Once you’ve finished pouring, pause for 45 seconds.
6. Begin Your Second Pour
Pour your water in a spiraling pattern around the center of the grounds. Be careful to avoid the edges. At this point, the coffee should be churning and seething a little bit; we like to think it looks a bit like the birth of the universe. Your second pour should be faster: 80 g of water over 60 seconds. Pause again for 20 seconds before your next pour.
7. Begin Your Final Pour
Re-create your second pour, but this time at a speed of 60 g of water over 30 seconds. When all is said and done, you will have poured 185 g of water over the course of 3:20 minutes.
8. Preheat Your Cup
While the coffee is dripping, preheat your cup by letting it rest with hot water in it. It’s common for nel drip coffee to be a bit cooler than traditionally brewed coffee. Heating the cup is a good way to bring it back to temperature without shocking it.
9. Enjoy
Pour your coffee from the nel pot into your mug and enjoy a rich, velvety cup.
