Watch the overview video here!
Small, compact, and looks aesthetic with a 01 filter paper, the Cafec Flower Small AKA CFD-01, fits my ideal spec for a single serve dripper (i.e. 15-20g 8oz-10oz pourovers), but with a smaller hole size and fewer rib count, how does it compare with the standard flower?
I logged some brews during the past week between the two drippers, a few sets using my standard recipe BK5s5sMD55 [All 5x Dose Pours “BK“ Stands for Bare Kettle, “MD” stands for melodrip “s” for stir] a few sets using 20g and 15g at an ultra fine grind, and unexpectedly, I’m sticking with the Flower Small.
Not because it brews significantly better; in fact the results are marginally the same, and not only because the shorter walls offer more control over pour height etc., but because efficiency matters to me. Less paper, Less Bulk, Less Wasted Space for how I brew - Single Serve Focused.
As far as I can tell, Cafec was intentional with keeping the performance of the Flower Small and Large as close as possible - and how they did it was ingenious.
To maintain similar brew dynamics from the Large to Small, the width of each flower “petal” is only 1MM narrower, and to compensate for similar sized “petals” on the smaller design, they reduced the number of ribs from 12 on the large to 10 on the small. Another standout difference is hole diameter, 2.5mm smaller on the Flower Small which might be equalizing the drain rates between the two sizes.
In terms of extraction, I found an average of ~.5% difference in EY [Slightly higher on the Small] between the two drippers, and an average of ~12sec difference in TBT [Slightly faster on the Small], but in real world brewing, it’s not a critical difference.
Flower Small Pros:
👍Allows kettle spouts to pour closer to the brewbed with its shorter profile. (Greater control over agitation and heat delivery).
👍More aesthetic with a small filter.
👍Less bulkier for travel.
Flower Large Pros:
Versatility of utilizing larger filters.
Brew Info
All coffee brewed to 19:1 Ratio using the same 4 pour recipe.
Numbers are listed as [E.Y.][TDS][Dose][Time][Grind Setting]
SEY Coffee Colombia, Parra [R.4/3]
Flower SM 24.63 1.47 15.10 4:10 70/11 Cast
Flower LG 24.21 1.43 15.10 4:15 70/11 Cast
Flower SM 24.12 1.44 20.70 4:35 70/11 Cast
Flower LG 24.04 1.46 20.80 5:05 70/11 Cast
SEY Coffee Colombia, Saavedra, El Placer [R.4/3]
Flower SM 25.25 1.51 15.10 3:31 70/11 Cast
Flower LG 25.30 1.51 15.10 3:39 70/11 Cast
Flower SM 25.32 1.51 20.10 3:50 70/11 Cast
Flower LG 25.06 1.48 20.00 4:20 70/11 Cast
Flower SM 25.47 1.51 15.00 3:39 70/11 Cast
Flower LG 24.73 1.48 15.10 3:38 70/11 Cast
SEY Coffee Ethiopia, Guracho [R.4/3]
Flower SM 22.92 1.39 15.10 3:34 180/11 Cast
Flower LG 22.43 1.35 15.10 3:35 180/11 Cast
Flower SM 23.13 1.42 15.10 3:35 180/11 Cast
Flower LG 22.27 1.36 15.10 3:46 180/11 Cast