Orea V3, The Best Flat Bottom Dripper?
It is safe to say that the Orea V3 is currently the most hyped dripper and for good reason, it is flat bottomed, fast flowing with little stalling issues.
The dripper itself is available in 2 sizes (small /155 & Large / 185) both are made from the same material, it is important to note that most retailers are selling the dripper individually to the base.
The Orea V3 dripper is made from a durable Food safe Nylon that wont crack, this Nylon material has fantastic thermal insulation properties meaning that it keeps the heat inside of the brewer and isn't too hot to touch after brewing.
The Orea V3 is available in multiple colours, the main and most popular is the clear but recently there was a frosted, ice and even black dripper make an appearance.
The Orea V3 is designed to have a flat bottom base with smooth conical walls, depending on which filter you use with this dripper you can expect varying results. The base of the Orea V3 has a large centre hole followed by 4 holes wrapped around the edge, this combination creates a fast flow and allows for a much better support to the filter paper compared to other flat bottom drippers.
Orea V3 Base:
The base is available in a range of different colour combinations, it is made from 100% recycled post consumer materials (HDPE). This is a fantastic use of materials and we absolutely love how Orea have created these beautiful bases while utilising recycled materials.
Pros:
I personally consider the Orea V3 dripper to be one of the most innovative and consistent drippers available, I base this off the cleaver use of materials, the fast flowing design and thermal consistency. This dripper really is hard to beat and it fills the market with a fantastic flat bottom dripper.
Cons:
There was one very small issue I have with this dripper that bugs me, I really don't like the way that it retains water after brewing. I usually experience this when I use Kalita Wave filters, I brew my coffee and when I remove the dripper the slightest tilt will spill coffee. I totally understand that this is a very small detail however it is incredibly annoying.
Besides this I can not flaw the Orea V3, the main problem at the moment that everyone seems to have is that they aren't in stock anywhere.
The Negotiator:
As well as releasing the Orea V3 dripper and bases, the team at Orea also released the Orea Negotiator, the Negotiator is open source meaning anyone is able to download the design and print their own however it is also available from retailers for those who don't own a 3D printer, in fact we are currently selling the Orea Negotiator.
The Orea Negotiator is the perfect size to sandwich and 'negotiate' a range of paper filters to better fit the Orea V3 paper.
In fact we found that you can set many filters into the Orea V3 by using this tool.
How To Set Different Filters:
•Kalita Wave:
First place your Kalita Wave filter in your Orea V3, start pouring your hot water at the centre of your dripper base and then the trick is to wait a couple of seconds for your water to creep up and absorb towards the walls of the dripper.
After this start pouring your water over the sides of your filter and you are ready to brew!
•Kalita Wave + Negotiator:
There are a couple of ways to set your filter with the Negotiator and the Kalita Wave combination but so far I have seen great success by first setting your filter exactly as instructed above, then place the negotiator on top of the filter while applying pressure twist your filter to fold the ribs of the Kalita Wave filter.
This method does take a little bit of practice but once perfected does offer a cheap solution to brew using the Orea V3 and Kalita Wave filters.
•Flat Circle Filters + Negotiator:
Orea have released their own circular paper filters, these are lab grade and super high quality compared to the Kalita wave filters however they are also the most challenging to set properly.
To set these, first fold and crease your filters in half and then half again. This creates an 'x' to mark the centre of the circle.
Turn the Negotiator upside down place the creased circle filter on top, fold down the filter paper from the edges of the creases and then place the Orea V3 on top to lock in the shape of the filter. After this remove the Negotiator and pre wet your filter starting from the base and then working your way up the walls.
•Sibarist Fast Flat Filters:
Sibarist Fast Flat Filters are perfect for the Orea V3, these are a rough circular shape and come pre creased. Simply place these into the V3 and pre wet starting from the centre working your way up to the walls of the dripper. These filters are much easier to use compared to the circular filters and true to Sibarist's other filters are incredibly fast flowing.