# Thoughts on the melodrip?



## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

Hi,

ive just come across the Melodrip, which is a small plastic device used to basically recreate the shower head agitation of a pour over machine rather than the agitation provided by using a pouring kettle. But I'm just curious what the science or thought process is behind this? Why is it important how you pour the water?

Its £45 when you include postage, which to be honest seems crazy for what it is. But anyway, I've not got any plans to buy one but what's the idea behind it?

Thanks!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

People were suing a suspended aeropress cap at one point.

Mark has a post or blog on agitation and what it does to a brew @MWJB


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

It breaks up the column of water to give a gentler sprinkling on the bed. This can be a good thing if you have a shallow bed that is susceptible to having silt flushed through into the drink, like a Kalita Wave brew. Some brewers don't seem to suffer too badly with a direct pour from the kettle (V60, Melitta), when using the Aeropress cap, I still bloomed the normal way and used the cap (with & without a metal Able filter) just for the pulses. Brews were cleaner.

I also played with a collapsible colander & larger Chemex brews too. Keep meaning to try it with some other brewers too.

You still need to pour with some sort of regime as it doesn't regulate flow, just disperses the water over the bed.

There's definitely some merit to it.


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## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

MWJB said:


> It breaks up the column of water to give a gentler sprinkling on the bed. This can be a good thing if you have a shallow bed that is susceptible to having silt flushed through into the drink, like a Kalita Wave brew. Some brewers don't seem to suffer too badly with a direct pour from the kettle (V60, Melitta), when using the Aeropress cap, I still bloomed the normal way and used the cap (with & without a metal Able filter) just for the pulses. Brews were cleaner.
> 
> I also played with a collapsible colander & larger Chemex brews too. Keep meaning to try it with some other brewers too.
> 
> ...


great, thanks for the info again!


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## TimO (Nov 2, 2018)

Rough and ready I know, but I've used an aeropress cap suspended over the filter basket using wire from a coat hanger. Cover the middle holes of the cap with a small coin or suchlike and pour directly onto that. Gives a good shower over the grounds and you don't need a fancy kettle either. Seems to work fine for me and certainly makes it easy to get a good spread of water with very little effort or expense, especially if you already have an aeropress.


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## fluffles (Sep 4, 2012)

rgoodcoffee said:


> Hi,
> 
> ive just come across the Melodrip, which is a small plastic device used to basically recreate the shower head agitation of a pour over machine rather than the agitation provided by using a pouring kettle. But I'm just curious what the science or thought process is behind this? Why is it important how you pour the water?
> 
> ...


I've been getting on really well with mine, use it for all my pour overs (kalita)


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

It does give a clearer brew but I think it causes the slurry temp to be rather low, my brews with it always tend to taste more flat even though EY numbers are high..


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## rgoodcoffee (May 25, 2016)

the_partisan said:


> It does give a clearer brew but I think it causes the slurry temp to be rather low, my brews with it always tend to taste more flat even though EY numbers are high..


I've thought the exact same thing. I've admittedly not being using a Melodrip but instead using the aeropress cap, or even the bottom on a small french press plunger. And yeah I've found it to cool the brew down a lot, and i've actually preffered the brews I've made with the standard hario kettle directly on to the bed. Interesting someone else has had this experience too...


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