Glowbeans - The Gabi Master A Coffee Dripper

Gabi Master A – June 2021I am now a HUGE fan of this device. Please read through all of my updates as they will show how I have evolved my use of the Gabi Master A.Note: The Gabi distribution holes WILL clog. They’re tiny and any sediment, etc. may clog. So always test it by pouring some water into it without the paper filter or coffee to make sure water is passing through each hole. If not, try blowing it out or wiping the holes with a sponge. Just be sure you have correct flow before making your coffee each morning. It just takes a minute.Original Comment - Gabi Master A.One thing. The first time you assemble you’re gonna be nervous about that push hard to fit, the water bottle and water spout, cause there aren’t notches to fit, it’s a compression fit. So just push it down. I was afraid of breaking it the first time but I took a chance and it worked.Kalita 155 which I didn’t have, so I trimmed a 185.I’ll report on coffee quality after playing with it for a week.Update 1 - This is kind of interesting. Noting a lukewarm cup of coffee, I poured 210 F boiling water through the unit with no coffee but with the paper filter. The water temp in the carafe measured 145 F.Update 2 - Moving into the next brew and experiments. You know? I’m beginning to think that the Rao Swirl is preferable for coffee saturation to this device (re:temperature drop)...Update 3 - Something is not right. I'm thinking the Gabi is more of a “fun gadget”. Check this out. Normally with the Rao Swirl, we’d see a nice even bed of coffee. Look at the results of the Gabi. 36 grams, 576 ml. Water temp after extraction. 150 F. Flavorwise, thinner but tasty.Update 4 - 15 g at 160 ml. Uneven and incomplete extraction. As noted by some, their recommendation for ratio is different than SCAA standards, per their brochure so keep this in mind.Update 5 - You know, as I settle in with really evaluating today’s extraction, it is flavorful. It makes me want to keep working with this device. Maybe it is irrelevant if the coffee bed doesn’t look like it normally would.Update 6 - I’m now adding a swirl (aka the Rao Swirl) after the first pour that they recommend to soak the beans. I’ve now tried several of the recommended coffee and water ratios they recommend in the booklet that comes with the device. I’m starting to like some of the flavor profiles. But not all. I think I may be turning into a fan for this gadget. Time will tell. Gonna take a break and then come back with a four way test with standard Kalita and two grind sizes and then the same grind sizes with the Gabi Master A. For a side by side comparison. Will update later.Update 7 - I’m still torn on whether to recommend or not. I did a serious, controlled experiment with 12 g coffee and 200 ml. I did two different grind settings on my Baratza (extreme settings of 10 and 24 to really push the envelope as it were) and made coffee with a standard Kalita 185. Then I did the same grinds with the Gabi. Whereas with only my Kalita, the coffee was acceptable with both grinds, slight differences in acidity but not significant (more bitterness with the finer grind), the fine grind was not good with the Gabi. There was a paper-y taste that I can't explain. Because I had rinsed the filters in all cases. (Note: if you are starting out, do a water taste test. Run some water through a Kalita filter, about 100 ml, and pour 100 ml straight from your kettle. Cool and taste both. If you can't tell the difference, rinsing you paper filter probably isn't necessary before brewing...having said that I always rinse my filter cause I've always done that). Only the coarser grind was flavorful and actually nice. Thus, my recommendation is to buy the Gabi if you want to add a coolness factor to your morning brew and don’t mind working really hard to find the sweet spot. Otherwise, just stick with your standard Kalita pour over method and save $35.Update 8 – Oh heck, just buy it and have fun with it.Update 9 - That paper taste. So, I’m having coffee with a friend and his first question is “is there a significant temperature drop in the device because water temper contributes to the paper taste”. The aha moment. This is what is happening. So it is imperative that you rinse the Kalita filter with boiling hot water after putting it in the basket in order to warm up the plastic a little and remove the paper taste.Update 10 - one final test. I pulled out my Kalita and added 18 grams of coffee to it. I set up my scale and 3 glasses. Using my scale to keep track, I did three pours of 100 ml each. The first 100 would be the strongest of course and the third would be the weakest and possibly the most sour. Note: I did not zero out the scale for the second and third pours. I tasted all three. I then did exactly the same but with the Gabi.I let them cool. And tasted and compared.There was a more “paper” taste to the third cup of the Gabi than with the Kalita. But it was also thinner but less sour. The first cup of the Gabi was more intense than the Kalita, more syrupy, and more coffee components were extracted, almost like what one would see with a phin extraction. Combing cups one and two of the Gabi resulted in a stronger more intense coffee. I didn’t use the third cup in both cases. I think I may have liked the less intense Kalita extraction. But with this last experiment, I am reverting back, adding a star and giving the Gabi a recommendation. Once more.Update 11 - As of June 2021, I am now a fan, and recommend the Gabi without hesitation. Into a double wall Kalita carafe, I set up the Gabi with the white Kalita 155 filter paper that I pre-rinsed just enough so that any paper powder was rinsed out but the ridges weren't collapsed. Do your rinsing in the Gabi as the walls will keep the Kalita filter rigid during rinsing. I then grind 24 grams of coffee with my Baratza Virtuoso Plus on a #16 setting (note: when I get a new bag of coffee, I always do three tests of 12g coffee to 200 ml water at grind settings of 10, 16, and 22. I do these with a Kalita 185 and no Gabi. I then taste each extraction and decide which grind produced the tastiest coffee). I pour 400 ml (that's the SCAA 16:1 ratio) of water in 3 pours. And as I've noted, I am well pleased with the results. Additional note: I'd recommend also buying the Gabi Master B. I use that with a Kalita 185 and 36 grams of coffee to 600 ml water.

I bought one of these back in march for 35 bucks. The first one is still in tiptop shape having been used nearly twice every day. I just bought another one when I moved and my family wanted to keep the first one. I was happy to see that the price is cheaper now. Anyways, I absolutely love this coffee maker. I mean I bought a second one. It makes better coffee than I ever did doing manual pour over in a kalita or hario v60. It's also much more easy and braindead since the dripper does all the work for you. You just pour the water in and let it do its thing. The whole process is very easy and consistent. I remember thinking all the parts were quite finnicky at first, but it becomes second nature taking it apart and putting it back together after a while.Some other things I want to say. I stopped buying kalita 155 filters for it a while back because those are so expensive now. I just use a regular coffee basket filter and smush it into shape then rinse it with water. Honestly it works better than the kalita filters because the kalita has too many wavy ridges. Coffee always stuck to the sides of the paper when I was brewing. Another thing I always do after every brew is shake the excess water out of the water spout section otherwise you risk clogging the small drip holes. You'll be surprised how much water shakes off. The first one I used for months has NEVER clogged on me by doing that one simple task.I recommend getting this maker. It's a cool gadget. Heck I know most of us looking at this probably have a collection of odd coffee gadgets already. Just add another one to your collection. At least this one will make a good cup of coffee.

Well designed for function. Makes great coffee with ease. Convenient features. Drippings are guarded against wetting the filter. On star off for developing a small crack on the rim of the middle piece. Still functional with no problem.

This contains BPA. Why are they even selling it is beyond me.

Good

After something like 70 pours i noticed that the bottom part that you put a filter with a coffee into. Cracked, the set was stored on a workplace in its original box, cleaned by hand, never fell, never got hit, never received some load on it.I guess its the material issue, maybe it's not the best for this structure and with time passing and the device in use, the inner tension got released.There are two cracks, one is huge, the other one is still small.The seller didnt contact me back, i guess as the other people that had similar issue, i will not get a replacement of the cracked part.

It's easy to use and obtain an excellent coffee, even if you aren't an expert preparing this kind of coffee.

Makes an extremely great cup of coffee. However after only 3 months of use, about a cup per day, 14 days a month (my part time residence) so maybe 50 uses or so, the unit cracked, and is leaking hot water. I have never dropped it, and hands wash it only. I hit up their customer service and got a minimalistic response saying they don't have a replacement part available. So in other words, spend $40 more for a whole unit. Decisions, decisions. If they improve their material quality, I'll likely get another one. But back to my Aeropress for now though.