my best solo brewer to date... better than french press with less mess
Positive Product Points
Easy to use
Easy clean up
Maintains hot coffee
Great brew
simple design
Negative Product Points
Not many, simple design that works so hard to pick apart.
once brewed drinking from the glass cup loses it's heat faster than a regular coffee cup. If the cup had a double walled design this solo brewer would be near perfect. You can simply pour into a mug though and I am just being picky here.
Detailed Commentary
Upon unpacking the solo single cup I was not impressed and had a feeling it would not work all that well. I assumed it would not have a long enough brew time and would produce a watery cup.
Instead, I found it's almost too long brew time with the beans and grind I have used so far. I am using about 8-9 ounces water, and 12-14g coffee ground medium coarse. It has taken 4 to 4.5 minutes brew time. Just a little long but so far the coffee produced has been as good or better than my other single cup methods (i.e. french press and pour over filters).
I compare the taste to coffee brewed in a french press and then filtered through paper to remove sediment, This is my preferred french press method as it does not produce as heavy of a body, but on the downside reduces the great oils from the coffee. Where as the solo cup seems to extract flavor nearly as well as a french press while reducing most sediment and maintaining the coffee oils. Very good.
It's very easy to use and very easy to clean up. Much better than a french press in this respect and I even like it better than my pour over filters since no filter to throw away. Clean up just involves a quick rinse of the mesh filter and the other pieces.
The design is very good at retaining heat while brewing. Where as I find with my french press units the coffee is not as hot as I like after brewing. Same with my pour over(s).
