My Current Daily Driver: Hario Switch + Sibarist 

Waking up Japan time and realizing where all our Hario Switch sales came from overnight,,

Forget about the jumper. I want a t-shirt that says "immersion percolation combination" - Sounds like a prog rock band...

JH: "Are there any questions?" Audience: *Hands raise* JH: "...Keeping in mind that I will explain the jumper at the end of the video." Audience: *Hands lower*

James' kid: "Daddy I want a Switch!" James H: We have a Switch at home

After 60+ years on this earth I have just taken coffee drinking seriously. It will soon replace my pipe smoking. There is something about doing a process and expecting certain results that I need in my life. Finding good coffee and processing it correctly really interests me. Thanks for your videos. They will help me in this journey.

I love how James takes out the refractometer right from his back pocket like he always has it right there all the time.

“There are portafilters on my sleeves.” - James Hoffman 2020

“It’s so much better than it should be” - applies to both coffee and jumper

Everyone: sees James in a Xmas jumper "Oh, he's just a normal guy with things like the rest of us" James: "This measures the speed of light through coffee"

James Hoffmann is my "Morning Brew"

It is so satisfying that the shot is perfectly squared. Look at the lower left corner. The shadow of the picture frame is perfectly aligned with the edge of the video!

“Immersion, percolation combination” Everyone liked that.

"I know you probably have questions about the jumper" Oh James, you know us so well!

I am feeling already more happy and peaceful by just seeing James and his Christmas pullover

Thank you so much for your grinder competition, I think that's really wonderful and cool! I've been watching your videos for a long time, and I want to get into coffee very badly, but I'm a full time college student and can't afford any of the coffee equipment I see you recommending, and I know a lot of people are in that same boat. I think it's great that you are helping people this way!

I think the thing about fast draining paper filters is that you can brew shorter times and grind finer without sacrificing flavour. Because the previous theory of paper filters for pourovers or for immersion cones like the clever dripper run the risk of a clogging and delaying drain time if grounds are too fine. But with the variable of a fast-draining paper filter you can get faster brews, better brews with finer grinds and better body, flavour, and extraction (because of shorter paper-filter contact time) and also hotter coffee too! So many things lit up for me in this video as an avid coffee brewer and former barista and aeropress champion competitor! Thanks for this experimental video!

If you wanted the brew to happen faster you could push the water with a plunger, like in the aeropress. We're still waiting for that aeropress video 😉

I've been loving my Switch, thank you for the brew guide James. I'd encourage you to try and flip the tabbed Hario filters inside out. I did find that those filters clogged a lot, and flipping them has been a miracle solution. The outside of the filters has larger pores than the outside, which must accomplish a similar effect to the sibarist papers.

For a faster draw down with the switch or the clever, I would suggest removing step 5 of waiting 15 seconds after the final stir before filtering the coffee. This allows the finer particles, which would typically clog the paper, to be suspended in the liquid and get caught on the upper portion of the filter while the larger particles of coffee would remain in the bed and allow for even flow.

I'll keep using my Clever Skipper. I've had one for a number of years now. And after all the different machines and gadgets, it's the one I go back to the most often for a good cup of coffee. 23g medium ground coffee+350g 200° H2O+bamboo filter+2:30 minutes(before drawdown)= AMAZING!

A tip for 4:25 Try placing a spoon handle or other long object on the edge of your glass or brewer when you pour. It lets the coffee glide along the spoon instead of pouring all over the surface you are working on.

Hi James - You can partially avoid the long drawdown by adding half your water before your coffee. This reduces the amount of fines at the bottom of the bed and I found it cut my drawdown in half with the Haario papers.

Thanks for these videos. The fact/science components, the "for others" values displayed and the calm, rational narration create a zen-like happy place during these unnerving days here in the US. I watch your brilliant work not just to learn but to calm down. Cheers.

I bought a Hario Switch due to this video. And I absolutely love it because of the coffee it brews and how effortless it does it, it has been my daily driver since I got it and will most likely continue to be so.

5 seconds in and all I can think of is buying this glorious sweater.

Never thought a near impulse purchase of a Mokka pot at TJMaxx would lead to me THIS channel! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌 Even though I’m not a heavy coffee drinker I still appreciate ur content and the things it’s taught me about the nuances behind coffee. Keep doing what ur doing 👏 and on a different note: please do a review of all ur knitwear😍 🙏😍

I've had a switch for about a year because of this video and it's my daily when I'm not on the road. Absolutely love the coffee it makes! I have not tried the sibarist filters yet because they are pricy and because I get a perfectly good result with the Hario filters, but maybe one of these days I'll give them a whirl. I'd love to see a video on the switch where you go crazy in detail like some of the other brewers you've done videos for!

This holiday season I'm supporting my favourite (yeah, that's how we spell it in Canada!) creators that got me through 2020. Creators that inform, educate, and entertain pouring in hours of effort for each and every single video. Your effort shows and now you have another Patreon backer. Absolutely love your candid reviews and knowledge that has levelled up my espresso and filter coffee game (V60 all the way) at home. Thanks James!

I really like that mouth feel too... À combination of immersion and percolation. I do a cheap version of this by doing a cupping routine and decant the cup into a V60 with filter.

Looking a LOT forward the Clever video, this is the first time I hear you talking about it and I'm positively surprised it's a method you use so often.

Ahhhhh thank you - I love the results I get from my french press and was wondering how to get that with a cleaner brew for my partner who isn't at all fond of the sediment. Current plan was to just pour the brew from the press through a filter, but it's nice to know there's things designed for that purpose as well! Someday we'll have to try both methods and compare :)

One hack I use to help with the Clever Dripper's slow draw down time is to add 50-100g of water before the grinds. So 50g water -> 20g grinds -> 250g water, let it steep, then start draw down. For some reason it really helps speed it up and I'm curious to see if James employs this or a similar hack in his Clever Dripper video :)

Never been so early and I’m shook at the topic and that glorious sweater.

That's exactly what I needed on Friday 13th, a James Hoffmann video.

I have used the Clever for years and I love it. It gives me consistency very easily. I have just started using a V60 of the TV ads. And in comparison it's hard to get consistancy evens with James' guide. I am SOOO looking forward to the Clever vid.

Been getting into the world of speciality coffee slowly but surely over the last 3/4 years, but everything accelerated once i found ur channel :). I am lucky to be able to travel right now in Portugal and the speciality coffee shops here are amazing. I'm happy to spend my money supporting small businesses in this strange time and enjoy great coffee on top of that. I always end up having the best conversations and meetings here, people are so chill. Portugal is fighting hard to get to the other side of this pandemic. Long story short I ended up buying the Hario switch from one of my favorite coffee spots here :)

Not even 2 seconds in, and tumbsup for that glorious coffee-themed Christmas jumper

60 for a knitted to order pixel art jumper... it's not expensive at all actually, quite reasonable, i just live in the caribbean and would die of overheating but nice jumper

Congrats on 600K subscriber, James. Loving your passion for coffee. And you even spread it to others (including me).

I recently got a Switch a few days ago and have had trouble finding some different recipes specifically for the Switch (outside of the manual suggestions). Glad to see a video of yours sort that out for me. I tried your brew technique this morning and found my draw down with the regular V60 filters (that you have with you) was fairly quick using your water and coffee amounts. I released at around 2:20 and the draw down finished around around the 3min mark. Maybe, my grind setting is courser than yours but I think the coffee tastes pretty darn good. I'm grinding with a Lido 3 at about 13 notches from 0.

I really like the guidance for the competition. I was ready to enter then James was saying "if you can afford one go buy one but if you're out of work..." and I felt guilty but also proud of your ethics. Good lad, help the ones who need it, we are the lucky ones so we should shoulder it for now.

Here are two more things you might be interested in testing: - Put the water in before coffee. I do this when using cheap hario grinder at work. This makes the filter clog much less, because (I think) it wets the tiny particles before they touch the filter, instead of washing them into the filter. Maybe it would have some impact even with a more expensive grinder. One downside of this approach is, that clever dripper has this small amount of water under the filter that does not touch the coffee, and remains very weak. I usually just put a little bit more water in, and throw the weak bit away. - The second thing is filtering the coffee through a tea filter. Those are easily available in any supermarket, and are more porous than coffee filter, but less porous than metal filter. I think they might give similar results to cloth filter, but without the hassle of keeping it in freezer. I find those to be a good way to make coffee on family gatherings where no gear is available.

Congrats James on quietly hitting 600K subs. THANKS FOR OFFERING THE LINK TO YOUR JUMPER EARLY ON PATREON and for revisiting Sibarist...

Oh, that jumper is wonderful. Thank you for the good feels.

James, your hair is amazing.

I am amazed by his harcut, it feels like something from a manga

Good to see you’re already in the festive spirit rocking that totally unique coffee-inspired sweater. You pull it off so well, Jeremy! 🤓

This is the first and only channel that I've enabled notifications for. Thank you, James, for all the wonderful content. :)

I feel like in the past year or two your taste has moved from a preference for clarity and defined flavors to more body and better mouthfeel. I'd be curious if you revisited your french press technique if you'd change anything. I'd also like your take on a Aeropress technique #mouthfeel4lyfe

When James drops the Aeropress video it's gonna be like when Beyonce dropped Lemonade.

I need to say this and I hope it doesn’t sound weird (English is a second language). Thank you James for being so James. This is thanks to your passion, honesty, kindness, generosity and social conscience. Also thanks for your awesome videos, I’ll keep watching and have a great day!

I love how James' videos get you thinking about what is happening in the brew.

Could you do a review of decaf coffees? I recently had to give up caffeine (and thus coffee) due to a heart condition. I miss coffee! I know there has to be a good decaf out there, preferably one that isn't horribly expensive Love the videos!

Hey James! I actually began trying a very similar brew method last month using the beaker from my French press and filtering it through a V60 paper. I use the same grind size as I do for my pour overs, and I do the actual brew in the French press. Instead of using the plunger, I pour it through a fresh V60 paper. Like you said - it's surprisingly forgiving. Here are some things I've noted: - A big question of mine was how much extraction is actually happening in the drawdown phase compared to the immersion phase. What I've found is that there is a certain saturation point the water hits where brew time stops playing a role. The difference between a 2min immersion and 3min immersion is small, and past 3min seems negligible. I currently do a 3min immersion each time, and total time after drawdown is anywhere from 5 - 10 min depending on what I do. - I've tried just about every variation you can think of when it comes to transferring the coffee to the filter. I've tried using the plunger, I've tried pouring gently, I've tried breaking the crust, letting everything settle, and pouring gently, I've tried dumping everything in as quickly as possible, lots of things. Making a full French press tastes the best, but not by a lot, and takes FOREVER. Dumping everything quickly is by far the fastest and easiest to clean up, tastes great, stays hot, and is my preferred method for those reasons. - Dumping everything in at once is actually quite a bit faster, and I think there are two reasons for that. The obvious reason is temperature - more thermal mass, and no time to cool down during the transfer. I think the less obvious reason is that the coffee grounds form a bed at the bottom of the cone and prevent it from getting clogged with fines. If you can visualize the difference between filling the V60 with an inch of sand, and in another V60 adding some pebbles before adding the exact same amount of sand. The second would draw down faster. - Tying in to the first point, dumping everything in all at once does not seem to impact extraction much. After 3min, the water is so saturated and the temperature has dropped so much that hardly anything else gets extracted. At that point you're just filtering out sediment. - I'm finding slightly higher ratios produce better results. 17:1 and 18:1 seem high to me, but the mouthfeel is so strong and the extraction is so even that it always feels balanced and well-bodied. I'm actually having trouble making something that tastes "over-extracted", which I find extremely interesting. Boiling water + 5min brew time + finer than normal grind + stirring several times throughout the brew + long drawdown through a v60 with everything dumped in the filter? The end result is super sweet, super syrupy, and super cold. Not bitter at all. So strange. - Final note is that as complicated as I may have made all of that seem, all you really do is dump coffee and water in a French press, stir, wait 3min, then dump in all in a V60. It's the easiest thing ever and it's bulletproof. Even the cleanup is a breeze because all the grounds are in the filter. You just throw it away and give everything a quick rinse. Lol you have no idea how excited I was to see this video! I was starting to think I was crazy.

Can't wait for that clever dripper video. I was about to buy one anyway, but you talking about it will make it twice more awesome

Absolutely hypnotized by that sweater, barely listened to anything James said. Must watch again, maybe this time I’ll close my eyes?? ;)

The Hario only holds 200ml and I like a bigger cup of coffee. The Clever coffee dripper holds about 400ml (14oz) which is the size of my Yeti Rambler mug.

a sentence i never though i'd hear in a video about coffee, "i do need to strain it properly to get a good refractive index reading"

Definitely looking forward to the Clever Dripper video. I was surprised that you hadn't already done one previously. It's interesting to me how short of a brew time you are trying to achieve with this method. Whenever I've done it that quickly it seems as though I end up with under extraction, although grind size probably has a part to do with that also.

We've been using Clever drippers in our cafe for 4 years now. Some time ago we had a massive issue with Filtropa filters clogging up and drawdown times reaching 5 minutes which was of course un-workable. We started using V60 papers in Clever drippers for more reliable drawdown times. And although it's a bit fussy to keep the filters in place, it works fine. We do use a bit of a more coarse grind profile, 8 on an EK43 whereas for a V60 we'd use a 6.

lol. It feels like the more James experiments with coffee, the more it feels like he’s reinventing the French Press

Just some thoughts. With heavy swirling at the beginning you get a lot of fine migration and later on a slower draw down. I fill my switch with half of the water first, put the coffee in, stirr heavily and then fill it with the rest of the water. This way I think there is no way of dry pockets. My draw down time with japanese untabbed hario filters is below 1min, 20 clicks on commandante. Result is balanced and clean. TDS range 1.3-1,35. Maybe you introduced the slow draw down with the swirling. When I changed back from swirling to stirring in percolation I got a quicker draw down at the end with a cleaner brew without changing any other parameter. On the other hand the EG 1 is a dream of a grinder and I think you have the ssp ultra burrs which means way less fines than with any commandante. But maybe its worth to test it without the swirl at the beginning.

Look forward to the clever dripper video, it's my "daily driver" brewing in the morning before work when I don't have the time to babysit a v60, also awesome sweater!

After watching this video, I ground 15g, put it in a mug, poured 250ml of boiling water and gave it a stir, left it for two minutes while I grabbed the v60 and rinsed the paper filter, gave it another stir then poured to the v60. I loved the resulting cup much more than the regular v60 process.

When using the Switch, I have found a huge difference in draw down time between the Japanese manufactured tab-less V60 filters and the North American made tabbed V60 filters. I use a hybrid method, making with 21g of grounds, and 325ml of water. I bloom to 0:30, giving the grounds a good stir to break up any hidden clumps, then drain to 0:45; then pour to 180ml, stir, steep to 1:15, drain to 1:30; and finally pour to 325ml, steep to 2:00, do a spin, and drain. This usually drains in about 45 seconds with the untabbed filters. With a tabbed filter, that drain time can be extended as much as a minute and a half, and on certain beans I have seen the thing just totally plug to a slow drip, particularly with a very light roast (because of the extra chaff) or a natural processed bean.

Hi James, I believe the “tolerance” you were describing with infusion brewers would come down to the fact the same volume of water is in contact with the coffee beans for the entire brew process which would mean that the dissolved solids would come to an equilibrium. With pour overs, where you continue introduce water with a lot of solvent potential (very pure) it’s easier to over extract as the new water quickly pulls lots of compounds from the beans

Even with such a complex way to think of coffee extraction, James makes it easy to understand and desirable to learn.

Totally got me with the jumper, I was already writing a comment when you told me to wait until the end. Great video as always

Would using an inverted AeroPress achieve similar outcome due to 1. Infusion 2. Paper filtration 3. Quick drawdown ??? 🤔

The more videos of James I watched, the more I feel like I'm getting dragged into a weird cult of coffee worshippers that expects me to buy (almost) every coffee related product. Is that bad? No...

Been using a clever for about a month now- makes delicious coffee and so easy. Can’t wait for that video.

I'm a little late to the coffee brewing party. Having watched many hours of your videos, I was intrigued by this one in particular. I just tried brewing using my new Switch this morning and am quite happy with the results. I may be a bit over caffeinated at the moment as I tried three different types of beans. I noticed that the drawdown time was much faster than what the video showed. I'm just using the filters than came in with the brewer. Thank you for your videos! I also ordered and enjoyed your book on brewing.

I use the Hario Switch every morning. Hario was kind enough to sell me one directly in the United States. I brew for two minutes and five seconds and release. The draw down takes around 45 seconds and I'm left with grounds lining the entire filter paper surface. I use the brown Hario tabbed filters. Thanks for the video. I've been waiting for it.

RU-vid: James Hoffmann has posted a new video Me: Yes! Its time for some self-love and self-care! Also Im glad to see that the one major thing I have in common with James is that I always make a bit of a mess when I brew my coffee! 😆

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on brewing with the Clever. It was the first thing I purchased when I started exploring what roasters in the UK were doing earlier this year, and I haven't found a need to look elsewhere. Strangely, however, I have found that long brew times are the key for me, and I've stopped caring about draw down times as well. I grind quite fine, 18g to 300ml, stir immediately after adding the water, wait 10 minutes, and then let it draw down. With basic brown filter papers from Amazon, this can take about 4 minutes. The result is a delicious and tasty brew consistently.

I just replicated this on my clever and it worked well. The newest clever I picked up (small size)seems to be much less prone to clogging. Drawdown was under a minute with a v60 paper.. On the old ones I found rinsing the paper increased the chance of clogging, adding water first seemed to decrease it but it was hard to ensure everything got wet.

I would love to see James give us his take on siphon brewers/vacuum brewing. I feel like what he's doing here is so similar to what a good siphon brewing kit already does. It's such a similar process to what he's doing here except that the liquids are literally sucked through the grinds after immersion rather than gravity fed.

Clever Dripper is such an amazing tool for office workers. It's cheap, sturdy, easy to use, easy to clean up, and so forgiving in the brewing process. I lost count on how many times I have messed up my brewing but still got tasty coffee in the end.

Yay, we're onwards to "soon" for the Clever video! Definitely curious about that video and what kinds of tips you may offer up.

Looking forward to your Clever Dripper brew guide. It’s my daily brew method. So simple and easy to get a great cup of coffee.

4:32 Now I get why I like hearing James talk, He's adult caffeinated Stewie Griffin.

The ad at the beginning of this video was a McDonald's coffee advert... oh dear.

Can’t wait for the clever dripper video as I’m new to all this, the James randomly popped up on my home page and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Although I’ve been a subscriber for some time, and already a Morning Brew subscriber, today is the day that I finally take a moment to say “thank you, James” for helping me to get the most out of my coffee. Understanding some of the science behind the brew makes my day a little more fun!

I dont know why but the mix of the coffe topic plus his voice makes me relax

CleverDripper has been my daily for several years now. I like the versatility, and also like to use Kalita papers. The swirl you do at the start helps cause the stall at the end. I agree that it is a very forgiving brew method, if you get the recipe specs wrong, it can still be pretty tasty. Thanks for this, much appreciated.

I really respect your dedication to precision and the scientific method. Thanks for making such great content!

Dialing in Hario Switch. Pour 256g of hot boiling water prior to coffee which improves draw down speed and improves saturation and spread on filter. Add 16g of ground coffee. Changing grind size and steep time to find sweet spot for taste. Trying smaller grind size and increasing infusion time from 2.5 minutes. When you publish Clever Dripper guide, please add how it may relate to Hario Switch which I really like.

As I watch this, I’m sipping away at my Aeropressed, pre-ground, dark roast coffee - a 45 second brewing event start to finish - and I’m thinking, “I must be crude, ignorant, unrefined.” But happy! The coffee is delicious. It’s even hot. Where have I gone wrong?

James my routine with the Switch envolves steep and release 3 times throughout the brewing, right before each new pour. So steep, bloom, and release at 00:25. And so on. This brings fresh water 3x during the brew and still gets me the sweet steep stuff.

I've been using the clever for the past month and I never used other brewing tools since then. I just get a lot of flavors that I didnt experience before while using a V60 or aeropress. The problem with the clever is as you said is that it takes a lot of time to finish dripping the coffee.

I usually get so excited for the videos that I watch them and forget to like them. Thanks for the video James! As a suggestion, a cloth V60 filter might be a nice compromise between cost and speed. It seems crazy to me that those paper filter are faster than cloth but... Cool.

Honestly, I kind of like a tiny bit of sediment in my cup. Maybe it’s just the kind of coffee I started off drinking, but that feels right to me.

The Clever dripper is great, but, also frustrated with the long draw-down, I was able to cut it in half by placing two halves of a tea strainer in the dripper, before adding the grounds. Those hemispheres of wire mesh, turned upside down so they are domed upward, prevent the grounds from collecting densely at the center and make for a draw-down that is 2x faster for me :)

Interesting experimentation! Plenty of food for thought for better brewing. Personally i've been really enjoying using a metal cone filter for my morning brews, minimal sediments, plenty of flavour.

6:30 I think the reason why it has more body and other stuff, despite having a low extraction, is due to the oils floating up during steaping. Since you poured it out from the top you got most of the more aromatic oils with it. Compared to the first one, some of the oils could have had been blocked by the mesh and the coffee during the draining at the bottom.

Your hair makes me think of you as the "David Lynch of Coffee".

I would be curious to hear your thoughts on metal filters as opposed to paper filters

Used the clever as my go to for months, only recently got a automated coffee machine. I can't wait for the clever video

I have been doing something similar for a few months now but with simpler equipment. I perform the immersion phase by adding 60g water to 15g coffee in a 5-Ounce Stainless Steel Bell Creamer, 150 ml. I give it a good stir to make sure the coffee is fully suspended and let it steep about 45 seconds. Then stir again and transfer to the V60 (I am using the unbleached boxed filters), give it a swirl and then complete the pour in the usual way by adding water to the desired ratio, swirl/stir etc. I enjoy a more concentrated brew so I do ~1:10 (150-160mL mL in the cup) and the TDS is typically 2.2 - 2.3% (giving a total extraction about the same as what James shows in his first cup). Cleanup is easy since it's just the additional small pitcher that I have to wash.