By Ben Keough
Ben Keough is an editor covering cameras, working from home, powering, and hobbies. He also writes about coffee, beer, and food for Wirecutter.
As the former owner of a third-wave coffee shop, I’ve tried just about every kind of coffee maker you can buy, and the Kalita Wave is my preferred vessel for making pour-over coffee.
It may not be as beautiful as a Chemex or as funky as the Hario Woodneck (another personal favorite), but it’s sturdier than the former and less labor-intensive than the latter.
And since it’s not a delicate glass carafe, it’s much more portable and a lot easier to clean than either of them. For me, the Wave is a happy medium.
Compared with the conceptually similar Hario V60, the Wave has a flat (rather than conical) bottom, wavy (rather than straight) paper filters, and three small holes (rather than a single large one) at its base. In my experience, these differences mean the Wave brews more slowly than the V60 and produces a richer, fuller cup. Your mileage may vary, of course, and like all pour-over coffee makers, this one does require some experimentation, tweaking, and attention to get a result you really love.
Our pick
The Kalita Wave’s flat bottom ensures the most even extraction—and the best-tasting coffee—of all the pour-over drippers we’ve tested.
Buying Options
I brew with the Wave every day, generally using single-origin light roasts and often switching between regular hot pour-overs and Japanese-style iced coffee. The Wave works equally well for both methods. Although its small volume necessitates a long, constant, spiral pour, I personally find this ritual to be a welcome, meditative way to ease into mornings at work.
I have the white Hanami porcelain Wave, but it also comes in glass and stainless steel versions, to suit your personal preferences. Regardless of which material you get, the design is simple and elegant (some might call it utilitarian). And, unlike the Chemex and Woodneck, the Wave allows you to brew coffee into any kind of vessel you want. For instance, you can do your pour-over directly into an insulated travel mug, so you don’t have to transfer it and lose heat in the process; this is something I’ve done often when leaving for road trips early in the morning.
It’s extra work, but the taste is worth it
People who are accustomed to using a drip coffee maker might look at the Wave and think, “That seems like a lot of effort for coffee.”
And it’s true, making a cup with the Wave takes me several steps, across about 10 minutes. I start by turning on the kettle and waiting for it to come up to temp. While it’s heating, I rinse the filter, measure and grind the coffee, add it to the filter, and level it. Once the water hits the ideal temp, I bloom the grounds and complete the pour, which takes about three minutes, with several infusions and a lot of attention to my digital scale. The process is certainly not as easy as adding a few scoops and hitting a button.
But the reward for your time, labor, and attention is much-better-tasting coffee. This is because coffee from a pour-over maker is infinitely more adjustable to your preferences. If you like brighter, more acidic coffee, you can adjust your temperature, grind, and pour to bring out those berry and lemon-like flavors from an African light roast. If you prefer mellower, darker-roast coffee—say, a dark or medium-dark Sumatra—you can bump the temperature down and use a coarser grind to smooth out its rough edges. With most drip coffee makers, you can only hit “Brew” and pray.
Why the Wave is a winner
After brewing more than 150 cups of coffee, we found the Kalita Wave produced the most consistent, flavorful, and balanced coffee.
- The Kalita Wave has been a Wirecutter pick since 2016.
- The Wave’s flat bottom allows coffee grounds to be saturated and brewed over a larger surface area, so coffee has a more-balanced taste and fuller body. Out of all the drippers we tested, this one was the best at extracting complex, rich flavors from our coffee.
- This dripper is very easy to use. We found that it made great coffee, even when we eyeballed the amount of water per pour. So beginners can get enjoyable results, too.
Read more in our review of the best gear for making pour-over coffee.
For the best cup, pick up a few extra tools
There’s really not much to maintaining the Kalita Wave. If you don’t drop it on the floor or countertop, it should last you a long time. And all three versions are dishwasher-safe, though I’d still recommend hand-washing (especially the glass and ceramic versions) for the longest possible lifespan.
To get the most out of your Wave, you’re going to need a gooseneck kettle—preferably one with temperature control—and a 0.1-gram-accurate scale for weighing coffee and water. You also need to use Kalita’s own filters, which aren’t readily available in most brick-and-mortar stores. Amazon carries them.
The current version of this article was edited by Rachelle Bergstein.
Meet your guide
Ben Keough is the supervising editor for Wirecutter's working from home, powering, cameras, and hobbies and games coverage. He previously spent more than a decade writing about cameras, printers, and other office equipment for Wirecutter, Reviewed, USA Today, and Digital Camera HQ. After four years testing printers, he definitively confirmed that they all suck, but some suck less than others.