# Gabi Master dripper



## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

Can't find a thread on this using the search 'gabi' so apologies if it exists already.

I had an email from Caravan Roasters offering this drip coffee maker and two tins of their Geisha beans the other day and whilst I'd normally ignore that sort of thing I had a look and the dripper actually looks pretty clever. It does away with the need for a pouring kettle and any complicated technique as it controls the flow itself and disperses the water evenly across the grounds. OF course grind will be key to a good brew as always but it does look interesting for somebody like me who can't be bothered with V60's anymore but would sometimes like a mug of brewed coffee.

Has anybody got/tried one and what did you think?


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

GingerBen said:


> Can't find a thread on this using the search 'gabi' so apologies if it exists already.
> 
> I had an email from Caravan Roasters offering this drip coffee maker and two tins of their Geisha beans the other day and whilst I'd normally ignore that sort of thing I had a look and the dripper actually looks pretty clever. It does away with the need for a pouring kettle and any complicated technique as it controls the flow itself and disperses the water evenly across the grounds. OF course grind will be key to a good brew as always but it does look interesting for somebody like me who can't be bothered with V60's anymore but would sometimes like a mug of brewed coffee.
> 
> Has anybody got/tried one and what did you think?


Looks like a kalita 155 with a reservoir & shower screen on top. Could make an ok work rig.

Laissez les bons temps rouler


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

Im considering this too. I really cant be bother to keep dialling in the aeropress and I always end up with better coffee from pour over (my fault), and this looks like a great travel alternative for me when I wont get a kettle etc. Plus I use Kalita wave filters so I can manage one set of filters.


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

Jonny2shots said:


> Im considering this too. I really cant be bother to keep dialling in the aeropress and I always end up with better coffee from pour over (my fault), and this looks like a great travel alternative for me when I wont get a kettle etc. Plus I use Kalita wave filters so I can manage one set of filters.


Looks like a good option for travel or simply when you CBA to worry about timing pours and that sort of faff doesn't it.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

If you want a bigger mugful & already have a Kalita 185 & 155 papers, the OXO pourover tank works pretty well too. Just fill it, give it a little shake then walk away.

I don't need another drip brewer, I don't need another drip brewer, I don't need another drip brewer...what are my odds of holding off until curiosity gets the better of me


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

I do have a 185 yes. Might take a look at that option Mark thanks. My pour over kettle is gathering dust so I'm thinking of selling it and my other paraphernalia and just getting something very user friendly that just works without faff for those occasions I fancy a mugful of something.


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## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

I saw this in the email from Caravan too, I found a little demo here at about 1.50


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## fluffles (Sep 4, 2012)

I find the recommended brew ratio of 1:10 a little scary, that will cost you a lot more in coffee per cup!


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

fluffles said:


> I find the recommended brew ratio of 1:10 a little scary, that will cost you a lot more in coffee per cup!


Other places I've seen have been quoting normal levels at about 18g coffee and 300ml water.


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

I think I'm going to give it a try


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Jonny2shots said:


> I think I'm going to give it a try


Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

Considering how it's being marketed, I find it interesting just about every photo & vid I've seen of it has it being filledwith a gooseneck kettle.

Laissez les bons temps rouler


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

ashcroc said:


> Looking forward to hearing what you think of it.
> 
> Considering how it's being marketed, I find it interesting just about every photo & vid I've seen of it has it being filledwith a gooseneck kettle.
> 
> Laissez les bons temps rouler


I find it funny how they fill it with the gooseneck kettle in the usual pour over concentric circles.

I've been talking over email to Caravan Coffee as Gabi also do a master b as well as this master a we are talking about. The B is designed to use on normal v60 and Kalitas. They don't stock is as they found it hard to top up and keep it going and didn't offer any benefit. The Gabi master a which they sell they said they were impressed with the end result and felt it offered improved brew temp retention.

I'm now trying to decide if I should buy the bundle with the coffee or on its own. I need to get some more 155 filters but they are only £6 for 100.

Is the Geisha coffee worth the money?


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## fluffles (Sep 4, 2012)

Jonny2shots said:


> I find it funny how they fill it with the gooseneck kettle in the usual pour over concentric circles.
> 
> I've been talking over email to Caravan Coffee as Gabi also do a master b as well as this master a we are talking about. The B is designed to use on normal v60 and Kalitas. They don't stock is as they found it hard to top up and keep it going and didn't offer any benefit. The Gabi master a which they sell they said they were impressed with the end result and felt it offered improved brew temp retention.
> 
> ...


I couldn't comment on this particular coffee as I haven't had it, but my patience with expensive geisha is almost run out after a handful of expensive but disappointing experiences


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

The Geisha I had from Caravan might have been representative of a typical Geisha but I thought it was stunningly understated


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

Well I've gone for it. Now waiting for delivery over the next couple of days.


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

Tomorrow is the big day. Will let you know my thoughts after a couple of brews


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

First brew done. Awesome clarity to the coffee but need to coarsen the grind as it was a bit over compared to my Kalita.

Takes a while to drop water through. Super easy to use.

Larger than I thought makes me question it for travel.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Jonny2shots said:


> First brew done. Awesome clarity to the coffee but need to coarsen the grind as it was a bit over compared to my Kalita.
> 
> Takes a while to drop water through. Super easy to use.
> 
> Larger than I thought makes me question it for travel.


What size brew did you make?


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

MWJB said:


> What size brew did you make?


18g in and 300ml water.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Jonny2shots said:


> 18g in and 300ml water.


Thanks, so you had to fill it twice, or did you keep it topped up?


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

I just filled it twice, no swirling twirling with the kettle. Filll, have a chat, fill, discard used coffee done.

It's really interesting as it controls water from the top level down to the dripping part which drips into the brewing bed


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

Sounds very simple which is what I liked about it when I saw it online. I wonder what sort of brew times will be the sweet spot?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

GingerBen said:


> Sounds very simple which is what I liked about it when I saw it online. I wonder what sort of brew times will be the sweet spot?


I wouldn't worry about brew time. If it regulates the water flow, every time you add the same amount of hot water, it will take the same amount of time to come out, it'll then pretty much take the same amount of time to pass through the bed (maybe a few seconds longer).

When enough people have done enough brews of given sizes, it should be pretty easy to determine what's a normal level of dwell between reservoir emptying & dry bed.

Probably means that you'll need to tune brew size to a specific grind size (because delivery rate can't be changed).


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

MWJB said:


> I wouldn't worry about brew time. If it regulates the water flow, every time you add the same amount of hot water, it will take the same amount of time to come out, it'll then pretty much take the same amount of time to pass through the bed (maybe a few seconds longer).
> 
> When enough people have done enough brews of given sizes, it should be pretty easy to determine what's a normal level of dwell between reservoir emptying & dry bed.
> 
> Probably means that you'll need to tune brew size to a specific grind size (because delivery rate can't be changed).


My view exactly. If you keep water and coffee standard. There are only two other variables in play. Grind size and water temp.

I need to do some more brewing.


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

Second brew. Still over. I can out two clicks on the comandante but need to try again and come out even further. I think this needs a fairly coarse grind


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

Might be worth trying their recommendation of 15g/150g of water then adding more water post brew as a dilution? i.e. bypass

Would be quicker.


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## Hairy_Hogg (Jul 23, 2015)

Couple of reviews

Number 1

Number 2

Both pretty positive. Will follow this thread with interest....


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

Coffee clarity still great but yet to have a good coffee. Getting sweetness but not a nice smooth rounded juicy coffee yet.

I went to a tighter grind and coarser grind to check the difference. Need to get somewhere in the middle next.

so far I prefer my Kalita Waves but I'm not giving up


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

I've just made a kalita with the same coffee (a new one I ordered and hadnt brewed before). Its got a big honey and floral finish and I think its tricking my taste buds, Im going to try a known coffee and see how we go.

The Gabi is definitely a sweeter coffee with the same doses of water, coffee and water temp.


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## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

Good to hear your reports back. I'm definitely interested in it. Grind size is key then as with all brew methods but perhaps more so with this as it's the key variable


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Jonny2shots said:


> I've just made a kalita with the same coffee (a new one I ordered and hadnt brewed before). Its got a big honey and floral finish and I think its tricking my taste buds, Im going to try a known coffee and see how we go.
> 
> The Gabi is definitely a sweeter coffee with the same doses of water, coffee and water temp.


What's your grind size, method & brew time for the Kalita? Same Q for the Gabi?

The idea the Gabi makes coffee sweeter, sounds nice, but seems a bit of an optimistic claim?


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

for kalita. my setting on my comandante is 29-32 clicks dependent on coffee, its age etc.

in my 155 size i do

18g coffee

300ml water

50g in for the bloom pouring across 15 secs, then leave it to 40 seconds. Then slow pouring usual circles etc i slowly add 100g water, then top up in 30g increments every 1-15 seconds upto full 300 ml then let it drain.

so in the gabi im doing

50g water in for the bloom. At 40 seconds I start filling with water then top up to the 300ml.


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

I'm starting to get there now.

Same recipe and I've gone in the middle of my coarse grind and find grind test but with a known coffee. Much better results. Still needs a bit of fine tuning but getting there. Still a slightly dry edge to the finish but it's much more balanced and rounded than it was and the sweetness is still prominent at the front of the flavour profile.

Is it any better than the Kalita or v60 brews I can do. I really don't think so but when I'm a rush or distracted where I end up without my best cups this will be a saver.

Other thoughts:

The thing that always is a bit of a concern is the size of stack I'm always conscious of knocking it over and with the kids running around.

I think this could have some mileage when you don't want to use an Aeropress. However when you have to use the outer casing it's quite a large unit. If you don't use the casing it's the type of plastic that could be broken in a bag stuffed with other stuff.


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

Ok, I have taken the plunge, possibly to replace my work aeropress, as sometimes that can be more than annoying to keep reproducible good shots.

Can anyone suggest a good starting point on the EK (new coffee burrs) - I have seen 7.5 mentioned, but that would be finer than I am currently doing for aeropress (~8.3) so I doubt this (all measurements on stock dial)


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

dfk41 said:


> The Geisha I had from Caravan might have been representative of a typical Geisha but I thought it was stunningly understated


I'm going to stick my neck out here and say it's the best coffee I've had. Super juicy, bright, flavoursome and I get all of the tasting notes they describe. but I've been brewing with my Kalita 155. 15g in 250g out to maximise amount of coffees I can get from the small tins.

Not yet tried it with the Gabi. This is getting better but don't want to throw expensive coffee at it yet.


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## Jonny2shots (Jun 23, 2018)

UbiquitousPhoton said:


> Ok, I have taken the plunge, possibly to replace my work aeropress, as sometimes that can be more than annoying to keep reproducible good shots.
> 
> Can anyone suggest a good starting point on the EK (new coffee burrs) - I have seen 7.5 mentioned, but that would be finer than I am currently doing for aeropress (~8.3) so I doubt this (all measurements on stock dial)


Have you received it yet? Just wondering what you think?


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

Right, apologies, It did arrive last week, but I got rather ill, and couldn't get it...

So, just had my first brew.... very interesting! Smooth, definite sweet edge, good flavour seperation, however potentially slightly lacking in body, so I'm going finer on the next one I think.

Still, remarkable results for very first brew, and extremely encouraging. Yes, the wobbly tower is a bit terrifying, specially as I have to fill mine from a zip tap at work (sigh), but its pretty faff free otherwise, it just does its job. Overall, colour me impressed


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

Ok, so I have tried with another coffee (Foundry's Rocko actually) and suspect that going finer was the wrong thing to do. Getting pretty impressive results with this coffee, although admittedly I would still like a bit more body, but its a much more minor issue with this coffee.

I'm doing 15.3 grams at about 8 on the old school EK43 dial, currently - I note with interest that most pour-over recipes online seem to be smaller doses, is this the case? (kinda new to pour-over)

Given the lack of faff, I am actually still really impressed with results. Haven't gone back to aeropress yet


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## UbiquitousPhoton (Mar 7, 2016)

UPDATES!

Ok, so I have since gone a lot finer, and as a result dropped the dose significantly - to about 12 grams at about 5.5 and I now feel like I am getting somewhere with this. The body is good, the flavours are good, but I am still playing a slight game of 'hunt the sweet spot'. I'm still really liking it - low faff, pretty easily reproducible good brews. I'd get another one for the missus, however they are sold out everywhere...


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