UFO Dripper Vs HARIO V60
Two conical drippers dominate the conversation in specialty coffee right now, and they could not have arrived more differently. The HARIO V60 Dripper has been the industry standard for two decades, sitting on brew bars from Tokyo to Melbourne. The UFO Dripper showed up only recently, wearing a shape that looks more like tableware from a sci-fi film than a coffee brewer, and it has already been used to win a World Brewers Cup. Here's how the two actually compare, and which one deserves a spot on your counter.
What Is the HARIO V60?
The V60 was developed by HARIO, a Japanese glassware company, with the design finalised in 2004 and released commercially in October 2005. Its name comes directly from its shape: a cone set at a 60º angle, forming a V shape. HARIO engineers added spiral ribs to the interior walls in 2004 specifically to create an air gap between the paper filter and the dripper's walls, letting carbon dioxide escape and water flow more freely.
The V60 comes in three sizes. The 01 suits single cups in the 12 to 20 gram range, the 02 is the standard size for 18 to 40 grams and most home brewing, and the 03 scales up to batches of 30 to 60 grams or even more. It's made in ceramic, glass, plastic and metal, and a set of paper filters costs around $15 AUD for a 100pk.
Its competition record is hard to argue with. Since Michael Phillips won the 2010 World Brewers Cup using a V60, the dripper has taken the title several more times through names like Matt Perger, Tetsu Kasuya, Chad Wang and Matt Winton, spanning 2012 through 2021. No other dripper has that kind of sustained run at the top of the sport.
What Is the UFO Dripper?
The UFO was designed by Kenzie Chay and Jay Kim, with the brewer designed and manufactured in Korea. It started as a 3D printed prototype before becoming the V1 and the V2, a single injection moulded Tritan plastic dripper, alongside a solid ceramic version. A more recent UFO V3 followed, sized smaller and shaped to sit inside a Hario Switch base for hybrid percolation and immersion brewing.
Instead of the V60's 60º angle, the UFO opens out to 80º, a much wider and shallower cone. Instead of ribs, it uses recessed air channels cut into the walls, designed to equalise air pressure above and below the filter as the brew drains. The dripper works with the brand's own Type A and Sibarist filters, and can take standard V60 or Kalita papers if you fold them using the supplied template. Pricing runs from around $90 AUD for the V2 and V3 up to $99 AUD for the ceramic version, noticeably more than a V60 of any material.
Despite being new, it already has real competition credentials. Wataru Iidaka of Saza Coffee Japan used the UFO to place second at the 2024 World Brewers Cup in Chicago. Two years later, Malaysian barista Nas Jaafar won the 2026 World Brewers Cup outright in Brussels, becoming Malaysia's first-ever champion, using a UFO V3 paired with a Hario Switch base to brew a Panama Geisha through a combination of percolation and immersion. Describing the routine behind that win, Jaafar said:
"My routine explored how resistance affects water flow, extraction and the final cup. I used to see resistance as something negative. Through this routine, I wanted to show that if we understand and manage resistance, it can guide us toward better results." - Nas Jaafar, 2026 World Brewers Cup Champion (1st place), Malaysia. Quoted in Malay Mail
Geometry and Flow
Everything about how these two drippers behave traces back to their angle. The V60's 60º walls create a deep central bed of coffee, which is part of why it produces such distinct, high clarity cups, but it also means bed depth changes a lot as you adjust your dose, and the brewer is sensitive to small errors in grind size or pour rate. Push the grind too fine or pour too aggressively and a V60 can seal itself against a narrow carafe and stall, slowing to an unpredictable crawl.
The UFO's 80º angle spreads the same dose across a wider, shallower bed, so depth stays far more consistent whether you're brewing 12 grams or 18. Its air channels are built specifically to stop the sealing that causes V60 stalls, keeping drawdown smooth even with fine grinds or slow filters. In practice, this makes the UFO the more forgiving brewer of the two, and part of why competitors have used it to build precise, multi-stage routines without worrying about an inconsistent drawdown derailing the brew on stage.
Filters and Cost
This is where the V60 wins comfortably. Its paper filters are sold in every specialty coffee shop and are readily available online, cost only a few dollars for a hundred pack, and the dripper itself starts at around $12 in plastic.
The UFO is a bigger investment on both fronts. The dripper alone costs roughly four to six times as much as a plastic V60, and while you can fold a standard V60 or Kalita / wave style filter to fit using the included template, most owners end up buying the brand's own Type A, Type F or Sibarist collab papers, which are pricier and harder and sometimes less accessible than a pack of HARIO filters.
Which Should You Choose?
If you're new to pour over, or you want one dependable brewer with decades of recipes and community knowledge behind it, the V60 is still the obvious choice. It's inexpensive, available everywhere, and its high ceiling for clarity has made it the most decorated brewer in competition history.
If you already brew pour over regularly and want a more forgiving cone that resists stalling and stays consistent across coffee doses, the UFO dripper and ecosystem is worth the extra cost. It isn't trying to replace the V60 so much as solve the specific problems V60 owners already know about, and a World Brewers Cup title in its first few years on the market suggests it's doing something right.
