I really like my Orea v3, but discussions about plastic related health risks kinda flared up again in my social circle. It made me look for non-plastic alternative to the Orea v3, even though I know that the clear version of Orea v3 is supposed to be BPA-free.

One day I found out about the Brewista Next Wave Duo dripper. Long story short, I bought it, it arrived yesterday, and I just had the chance to brew with it this morning.

Brewista Next Wave Duo is a brewer that, I think, shares many characteristics with the Orea v3.

• It’s a flat bottom brewer
• Smooth wall. This makes it possible to negotiate paper filters to stick to the walls, massively reducing bypass.
• Huge holes at the bottom that should provide a fast flow rate. Different hole design between Orea and Brewista, but they both should behave similarly. The difference would be that Brewista’s holes are distributed more evenly along the base. Orea has one main hole in the middle with one ring of holes on the edge of the base. Brewista has one main hole in the middle and two rings of holes in the middle and edge of the base. It’s not scientific, but simply judging by sight, I think that Brewista’s holes total area is bigger that the Orea’s.

• Good thermal insulation.
  • Orea v3 (clear version) is made of TROGAMID. It’s supposed to have really good heat insulation.
  • Brewista, while made of glass, has a double wall design that’s supposed to be able to retain heat really well. I can’t find official data regarding Next Wave Duo’s heat retention, but Barista Hustle ran a heat retention experiment between Brewista Tornado Duo Double Wall Glass Dripper (a similar brewer from Brewista that also sports a similar double wall design), and the porcelain and plastic version of Hario v60. Barista Hustle found that the glass double wall dripper performed the best between the three.

The surprise, however, was that the double-walled glass brewer was doing even better — despite the fact that glass is more conductive, and has a higher heat capacity, the extra insulation provided by the air gap between the double wall prevented heat from escaping the brewing water right from the very start of the brew.

Barista Hustle. “Double Wall vs The Rest“.

First brew

The dripper

In my opinion, Next Wave Duo is a very nice looking dripper. The gold foil accent makes the dripper look elegant.

When buying the Next Wave Duo, you’ll also get a drip tray. I love it, I think this is a very thoughtful inclusion from Brewista.

Filter

I used negotiated Kalita Wave paper filter with both Orea v3 and the Brewista. Initially, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to use Orea’s negotiator with the Brewista.

Brewista has a different wall angle, but not massively so. Wetting the paper filter helps the filter to stick to the wall. You just need to wiggle the negotiator against Brewista’s wall a little bit to help.

The coffee

I used this lovely coffee from Trunk Coffee Roasters. I bought it from Jakarta Coffee Week 2023 event.

The recipe

I used the same recipe for Orea and Brewista:

• 12g of coffee (ground at grind setting 3 on the Fellow Ode Gen 2).
• 200g of brew water (third wave water) at 96ºC.
• Bloom with 40g water for 1 minute.
• Pour until 200g using melodrip in one go. The idea was to grind fine, but brew with low agitation.

First impressions

• Brewista finished the brew much faster than the Orea. Around 1 minute faster (~2 vs ~3 minutes).
• Coffee from Brewista is more tea-like compared to Orea. Brighter with thinner body. I’ll experiment with even finer grind size when using the Brewista tomorrow morning.

Cleaning up

Cleaning the Brewista is easy. Very similar to cleaning up the Orea, just pick up the paper filter, toss it into the trash bin, and rinse the brewer with water.

I do feel like I have to be extra careful when rinsing and wiping dry the Brewista, because glass is kinda slippery when wet, and I’m afraid that I’ll drop it if I’m not careful.

I can clean the Orea with more confidence, knowing that it’d survive a drop to the floor.

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All in all, the Brewista Next Wave Duo is an amazing non-plastic alternative to the Orea brewer. The double wall design helps a lot with heat retention, while the hole design makes this brewer to be an even faster brewer than the Orea v3.

I think this brewer is great for coffees with fruity and floral notes.

I’d love to experiment more in the next brews. I’ll try using finer grind size, I’ll try to increase agitation when pouring, etc. While the first brew impression is already very positive, I’m confident that this dripper can brew even more delicious coffee once I get to know it better.

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