A three-time U.S. National Brewers Cup finalist didn’t hesitate when asked about his favorite manual coffee brewer. He’s even used it when traveling and while preparing for competitions.
As a competitive barista, Sompetch “Pack” Katisomsakul has had experience with multiple manual coffee brewers. These coffee brewers give baristas more control over the coffee brewing process compared to automatic drip machines, and have the added benefit of being portable and lightweight.
When the Newbery Street Coffee Roaster founder was asked what his personal favorite manual coffee brewer is, Katisomsakul said “my answer is very easy and straightforward: I love the Orea.”
“This has always been my brewer since the start,” he adds. “Since 2022 when I was so into pourover and handheld brews.”
He admits he likes many other handheld brewers, though “at the end of the day” he finds the Orea Brewer tends to make a better cup of coffee. “The coffee is so forgiving, like you cannot mess up with anything with this brewer,” Katisomsakul says.
One of Katisomsakul’s favorite aspects of the handheld brewer is that it allows the water to travel quickly through the coffee grounds and into the cup. Different baristas will give you different pour rates, or how fast the water goes through the grounds, with each speed providing a different flavor profile.
There’s no right or wrong answer, though Katisomsakul finds a faster pour rate is better for the Thai coffee beans his roasting company specializes in. Compared to coffee found in the United States, traditionally imported from South and Central America, Thai coffee beans have a much more tea-like aroma and taste.
“I love my coffee to go fast when you brew,” Katisomsakul says. “Like very, very fast. And this brewer allows me to do that. And with this, it's allowing me to have the profile of tea in coffee.”
At the end of the day, he says it doesn’t matter what coffee beans you use with the Orea. Its design is also a good choice for those new to the world or pourover coffee and manual coffee brewing.
“So it's easy to brew,” Katisomsakul says. “It's so convenient, it's so consistent.”
The hard plastic brewer can be easily put into a backpack or suitcase so you can brew coffee in a hotel room, something Katisomsakul has experience with.
“This gives me the power to brew a great cup of coffee anywhere in the world,” he says.
The Orea works with multiple paper filters, which may sound standard to those not in the coffee industry. A lot of manual coffee brewers, however, have specific filters that can only be used with their products. This gives the Orea a boost in the versatility category.
“If you don't have a paper filter, you can just go grab it from somewhere in the shop,” Katisomsakul says. “Because if you use the V60, sometimes you need to find a specific paper filter to make it work.”
