Zach Mazrim - Expert Review on Delter Press
When assessing any particular product, whether it is coffee related, electronics, cookware, vehicles, and so on, one particular aspect is crucial to keep in mind. Every product is created to meet one or more needs. The Delter Press is no different. Among coffee lovers, there is the need for an efficient, convenient, durable, and user-friendly brewer. Among the more scientific leaning coffee crowd, there is the need for innovation in extraction to address the issue known as uncontrolled agitation. As we will see, the Delter Press addresses these needs and many more.
Made of durable BPA-free plastic, the Delter Press disassembles into four component parts including the brew chamber, plunger, dosing lid, and winged cap that holds the grinds and paper or mesh filter. The tight compact nature makes it perfect for throwing in your backpack or suitcase for coffee on the go. For almost all home-brewing apparatuses, many tools or other instruments are needed to ensure proper extraction. The Delter Press, however, comes with a convenient 6g dosing lid and accurate volumetric markings on the chamber wall. While brewing without a scale may seem inconceivable to some, almost all serious coffee drinkers find themselves in a scaleless situation at some point in their lives, either while traveling or just out of the house. After several “blind brews” without a scale for measuring coffee or water, the resulting cups were fantastic and nearly indistinguishable from those brewed with a scale.
While the Delter Press, at first glance, may look similar to the iconic Aeropress, the similarities end with the visuals. The Delter Press isn’t actually a “press pot” in the traditional sense and the plunger doesn’t plunge so much as it builds pressure to open the unique jet seal, allowing water to pass through. When brewing with the Delter, you will discover the coffee more closely resembles pour-over in terms of body, mouthfeel, and acidity. This is due to the jet seal releasing water evenly through the 19 holes onto grinds in a low-pressure, slow and controlled manner as the plunger is pressed down. Here we see the integrated agitation control solution highlighted. Water is uniformly injected into the coffee bed. Where pour-over agitation solutions are found in additional external instruments (i.e. Melodrip), the Delter Press incorporates the concept into the design itself.
The top-loading water chamber is designed for ease and efficiency. For brewing the full 400ml capacity, all that is needed is removal of the silicone lid and refilling to continue the brew. There is no need to remove, shift, or otherwise handle any other parts of the brewer or the receptacle beneath. Simply lifting the plunger to continue brewing allows you to effortlessly yield two cups. Because, after all, we do want to share our delicious coffee with our friends and coworkers.
The Delter Press meets several unique needs for a diverse range of coffee enthusiasts. While it is less DIY than some of its predecessors, the Delter Press flawlessly controls several variables that previously required hours of both education to understand and practice to master. It gives the ability to produce repeatable stellar cups of coffee and still allow for flexibility in time, temperature, and flow rate.
Zach Mazrim
Sub Editor at Cafe Culture China