Packable Pour-Over Coffee Kit Brews Up the Perfect Cup on the Go
Dropping $5 or more every time you want an expertly brewed cup of coffee adds up fast, but not all of us can be bothered to learn all of the finer aspects of coffee making (like proper temperatures, ratios, and pouring techniques) that make a great barista. Sure, you can just get a Keurig and call it a day, but for some purists, the artistry of coffee making is just as important as the origin of the beans. If there’s a happy medium to be found, it might just be the Dripkit, a portable pour-over coffee packet that aims to create a “barista quality pour-over, anytime.”
Compact, convenient, and design-centric, the Dripkit is a single-use paper brewer filled with 14 grams of coffee. You just peel off the top, pop the cardboard vessel open over your mug, add hot water, and presto: you’ve got a quality cup of coffee within two minutes. There’s no need to grind your coffee beans, measure them, or plug anything in — provided you have hot water on hand, of course. Plus, pour-over coffee is worlds away from instant in terms of taste. The Dripkit gives you almost the same exact brewing and drinking experience as a conventional pour-over machine, yet it folds completely flat and can be thrown out when you’re done.
Created by Kara Cohen and Ilana Kruger, Dripkit debuted on Kickstarter last fall and is now available for purchase by the general public. The team spent two years working on over 500 prototypes before they settled on the final version. They collaborated with design studio Prime to develop the structural packaging, which fits a wide variety of cup sizes and provides an optimum flow-through rate. The colorful motif on the package recalls the geometry and vibrant color schemes of famed architect Luis Barragán’s homes in Mexico.
The coffee itself is La Basa single-origin, sourced from a family-owned farm in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, hand-washed and fermented for 24 hours before being sun-dried, and then roasted at City of Saints in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Cohen and Kruger describe the flavor as “rich without being overpowering,” with hints of lime, cherry, and chocolate.
“Each Dripkit weighs fewer than 20 grams, and most of that is the ground coffee,” explain the creators. “Fun fact: six Dripkits weigh less than your phone! Keep Dripkit in your bag, desk drawer, bike kit, or car, and you’ll never have to worry about finding a good cup of coffee again! We ensure that every cup of Dripkit is coffee shop quality by roasting, grinding, and filling to order. Within seconds of grinding each individual serving, we package it in an airtight packet that lets gases escape and keeps oxygen out. By localizing our production, we are able to bring you the freshest possible product every time.”
The Dripkit is available in quantities of 5, 10 or 20 through the Dripkit website, either as a one-time purchase or a subscribe-and-save model. The company has pledged to create a reusable box as soon as possible, and to produce a 100 percent biodegradable product by 2021.
