Hario Nel Drip - 240ml Olive Wood - with A Measuring Spoon

About Hario Nel Drip

Why HARIO is absolutely recommended for the first time Nel drippers

• The Nel is exceptionally thick

• The conical shape allows a smooth pour

• The wooden handle is aesthetically pleasing and stylish

• HARIO is highly stabilized

• Results in a full and rich cup of coffee 

What is “Nel Drip Coffee”?

In today's world, the options are endless when it comes to choosing how to brew your favorite cup of coffee. Nel Drip coffee brewing method would be the perfect choice for you if you like your coffee to be full-bodied yet at the same time be of a smooth, velvety texture combined with rich flavor and an unrivaled clarity of taste.

Nel drip coffee, as you might have guessed is a manual brewing method that originated in and has been traditionally used in Japan, although it is becoming widely popular all over the world nowadays. The word “Nel” is an abbreviated form for “flannel” referring to the cotton flannel filter that is used instead of a paper or a metallic filter.

The device used for the process has a unique design – a glass carafe with a wooden collar, a flannel cotton filter, a wire ring with a wooden handle to support the filter. Due to the design, you might sometimes find the device to be called "Nel pot” or “Woodneck dripper.

Nel Drip is also the only method used by all the cafes at our roaster, Sapporo Coffee Kan. You can see all our cafes by clicking here. 

As mentioned before, Nel drip coffee has been used in Japan for a long time; one example is the presence of Nel drip coffee devices in a special type of classic Japanese coffee houses called Jun-Kissa (meaning Pure-café, as they do not serve alcoholic beverages) that were founded during the Showa period but are regaining popularity again these days. Due to its attachment to history, nostalgia, and tradition, a Nel drip pot can not only be a device for you to brew a delicious cup of coffee but also a way to add an air of sophisticated charm to your modern coffee brewing space - be it home or a café.

Now that we have a little background about Nel drip coffee, it might be tempting to have a go at brewing your first cup of Nel drip but as the saying goes nothing worth having in life comes easy, mastering the art of brewing with the Nel drip method takes patience, practice, and dedication. As it is true for manual brewing methods in general, practice is required to achieve control over the pouring process, it takes time and patience, and quite sadly, many people give up on Nel drip coffee before they ever reach the true greatness of coffee that can be achieved using this method.

However, there is no need to give up just yet! The fact that this method has such a huge fan following all over the world, and is loved by so many as the best brewing method to bring out the individuality of a coffee, should be enough to make us feel hopeful. Once you go over the initial hurdle and have gotten used to the process, you will be able to enjoy and brew delicious coffee consistently – not only delicious but a taste that is surprisingly different from the more common paper filter-based pour-over methods.

At this point, to give you a big advantage at the beginning of your journey with Nel drip coffee, we want to introduce you to the device that is the easiest to use and the cheapest (the best of both worlds!) for brewing Nel drip coffee: HARIO Nel Drip filter and holder set.

If you are new to Nel drip coffee brewing, I would personally recommend HARIO without any second thoughts and these are the reason why:

1. HARIO is the most popular device used for this method
2. The handle set is cheap
3. The replacement filter is cheap
4. Cheap overall!
5. The filter is not the disposable one-time-use type. It can be cleaned by washing and sterilized by boiling water so one filter can be used repeatedly. (Do I even have to mention how environment friendly that is)
6. As long as it is well maintained and used with care, one set of the device can be used for a long time which makes it a very cost-effective coffee brewing device.

Features of Nel Filter

1. The flannel filter is thick and durable
2. The conical shape of the filter enables a smooth, consistent pour that is easier to control
3. The handle with the wire loop for holding the filter has a hole on it which makes it easy to remove the filter if you have to change it with a replacement
4. As the flannel filter can be removed from the handled wire loop, only the filter part can be easily removed and sterilized with boiling water
5. HARIO Nel drip set gives a highly stabilized set up for the pour-over so it is very forgiving when it comes to things like minor shaking of the hand during the pour-over

What it is like to use the HARIO Nel drip set

Brewing the perfect cup of Nel drip coffee using the HARIO Nel drip set does require practice and is not something that will be easy on the first attempt. However, using the equipment itself is not difficult at all and is very easy and simple to set up and start using even by a beginner.

If you are using fresh coffee, you will see a magical thing happen during the pre-infusion or the first pour. When the coffee on the Nel filter comes in contact with the brewing water, the coffee will “bloom”. No words could describe what “bloom” exactly is and how hypnotizing and rewarding it is to watch it unfold in front of you but an attempt can be made by saying that the coffee grinds expand and rise, releasing gorgeous wafts of air infused with the aroma of the coffee around the brewing process. It is an experience like no other.

The details of the brewing method have been explained on the introduction page of MORIHICO's Nel drip equipment. Since the same procedure can be followed using HARIO’s Nel drip equipment, we request you to kindly take a look at that page.

A simple, easy guide to Nel Filter maintenance

Although the Nel drip method is undoubtedly capable of brewing incredibly delicious coffee, opinions like “I cannot recommend the Nel drip method as the maintenance of the equipment is too much of a hassle”, are more common than you might expect. And we are not completely denying that. Certainly, there are coffee brewing techniques with equipment that are easier to clean and maintain.

However, the difficulty of maintenance of Nel drip device can be unjustly over exaggerated as the maintenance of the whole equipment is not so troublesome that you will find it impossible to keep on using it. Besides, once you are hooked to the deliciousness of Nel drip coffee, you would not even feel that it is any extra work because it's all going to be SO worth it. And once you have become a Nel drip lover, there is no going back.

So for all of you who are still determined to have a taste of the best, I am introducing here, a simple way to maintain and take care of your Nel drip filters so you can leave out all that nonsensical maintenance methods on the internet that makes it sound so difficult.

※First things first, whatever you do, NEVER wash your Nel filter with detergent. Nel filter and detergent should not even be in the same sentence! An absolute no-no.

1. Sterilize the Nel filter in a pan of boiling water

2. After it has been sterilized, rinse the Nel filter with water

3. Squeeze the filter strongly to wring out the water

4. Remove any remaining moisture from the filter by placing it between the folds of a clean cloth

If your Nel filter is fresh out of the package, it is important to boil it in boiling water first to remove any glue on the filter that is present from the manufacturing process. It couldn’t get easier than this as all you have to do is to place the filter inside a pot of boiling water. For a completely new Nel filter, you should leave the filter in the boiling water for about 15 minutes.