Brewing with the Orea Z1

Brewing with the Orea Z1

TL;DR - I love this new brewer, it makes good coffee.

If you’ve spent any time down the rabbit hole of filter coffee brewing, you’ve probably come across the term zero bypass. An idea explored beautifully in Jonathan Gagné’s book The Physics of Filter Coffee, the concept being to keep all the brew water in contact with the coffee bed, rather than letting some sneak around the sides through the filter paper like other percolation brewers.

Over the last couple of years, a few brewers have embraced this approach, like the NextLevel Pulsar and Ceado Hoop, which built a solid following among detail-obsessed home brewers. And now there’s a new contender on the counter: the Orea Z1.

The Z1 follows the same zero-bypass philosophy but adds a clever twist — a built-in melodrip shower that evenly disperses water across the coffee bed. It’s beautifully engineered and incredibly consistent, producing stable extractions and clear, sweet cups with minimal effort.

What I really enjoy about the Z1, compared to the Pulsar, is its smaller size. The Pulsar needs a fairly large brew (usually 22g+ of coffee), but the Z1 comfortably handles 12–16g doses. For me, that means I can brew smaller cups through the day, enough to enjoy the process without going overboard on caffeine.

After a few weeks of daily use, I’ve been genuinely impressed by its balance of clarity and flavour. The brews have great sweetness and depth, and it’s incredibly repeatable once you dial in your grind.

My Orea Z1 Brew Guide

This is the simple recipe I’ve been using at home lately. Trying to keep things as easy as possible to be consistent while half asleep in the morning!

Dose: 15g coffee
Water: 250g (boiling, filtered)
Grind: Slightly finer than your usual V60 grind

Pour schedule:

  • 0:00 – Pour 50g

  • 0:45 – Pour up to 150g

  • 1:45 – Pour up to 250g

After each pour, give the brewer a quick Rao Spin, swirl the entire brewer gently to keep the coffee bed even and prevent channels. This increases extraction and helps you get that beautiful clarity the Z1 is capable of.

The total brew usually wraps up around 3-4 minutes.

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