Bonmac Dripper Review – The Hidden Gem

In this article, we are going to take a look at the Bonmac Dripper. This isn’t a popular pour over coffee maker, compared to others like Hario V60, or Kalita 102.

I got this dripper in a Japanese coffee shop near my place. Initially, I didn’t think too much of the brewer, seeing that it looked like a standard wedge-type coffee maker. After I tried using it, and also had a few mugs of coffee with it, I was really surprised by the flavors that came out.

Let’s take a deeper look into this brewer. It’ll be worth our time.

Bonmac Dripper Description

As stated above, the Bonmac Dripper is a wedge-shaped dripper. The dripper shape reminds me of potato wedges for some reason.

Other than the shape, it has ridges running along its whole internal wall. I can’t say that I know the whole science behind it, but I read that the ridges promote airflow; therefore, allowing the water to drain down the filter.

I believe there is truth with the airflow theory mentioned above. I had some Melitta filters that were too small for the Bonmac dripper a while back. What happened was that the liquid took a very long time to drain down the filter when I was making coffee. Half of the filter was not attached to the dripper wall, and I believe that was the reason as to why the water wasn’t draining properly. The result was a very bitter, over extracted mug of coffee.

Moving along and looking at the bottom part of the dripper, the Bonmac only uses a single hole to drain the coffee. Although I don’t have a way to calculate the size of the hole, I’d say that it allows a fair amount of water drainage, allowing a quick and steady stream of coffee when you brew your coffee.

It also has a peephole to allow the brewer to gauge the amount of coffee in the cup, mug, or coffee server. However, it seems to me that this is just a small gimmick to give the brewer a better brewing experience. I’ve rarely used this peephole because I brew all my coffee with a weighing scale, which would be more accurate and easier when making coffee.

As for the speed of draining of the coffee, we know that part of the brewing equation depends on the size of the ground coffee. However, I’ve noticed that there really isn’t much difference in the brew time when making a mug of coffee. My average brew time was almost always at the 2 minute 20 second range, using both medium fine and medium grind settings.

Bonmac Dripper Grind Settings

As with all our articles regarding coffee makers and brewers, I like to touch on the grind size a little bit. In the world of pour over coffee makers, each dripper uses different grind sizes; therefore, having different taste profiles.

As for the Bonmac Dripper, the grind size will bring out the best taste of your coffee beans, depending on the origin and roast of the said beans.

This means that different combinations of coffee origin and roasts (light, medium, or dark) will need different grind sizes.

Although there is no magic bullet in knowing the grind size, here’s my take on the size that would be the best starting points for the Bonmac Dripper:

Roast	Grind Description	Volume	Grind Size on Baratza Encore	Brewing Time
Medium	One click more than medium fine	300ml or a mug	16	2:10 – 2:30
Dark	Medium	300ml or a mug	20	2:10 – 2:30

As you can see on the table above, you can play around with the grind sizes. Although it doesn’t look like it, there’s a huge difference in taste from using medium fine to medium grind sizes. Each pack of coffee will have different grind sizes, so don’t be afraid to explore.

Sharing my experience of my latest brew: I’m currently enjoying some semi-dark roasted Colombian coffee beans from Café de la Torre. I started out with a medium fine grind size, and the resulting coffee was too strong with an over extracted taste, and a bit of a gritty feel.

After that, I cranked the grinder up to a medium size, and the resulting brew was a fabulous brew. The taste was very balanced, with a bold taste profile and a hint of berries in the brew.

Now that we’ve discussed the grind size in detail. Let’s move on to the Time and Drain Section.

Bonmac Dripper Brewer Time and Drain

For the brewing time, it’s quite straightforward. As long as you stick within the medium fine to medium grind sizes, aim for a brew time of 2 minutes and 20 seconds for a mug of coffee (300 ml). Don’t worry if you’re 10 seconds faster or slower, the brewing time isn’t as stringent as other pour over drippers are.

Let’s move on to the water drain of the dripper. Using the grind sizes as shown on the table above (medium fine – medium), the brew time will more or less be the same. It seems to me that the factor that plays the biggest role in the draining of the coffee mixture is based on how fit the filter is attached to the dripper. Like I said at the beginning of the article, I’ve tried using smaller Melitta filters before, and the resulting mug of coffee was a disaster. But using a filter that fits perfectly on the Bonmac makes a really good mug of coffee!

The single hole of the Bonmac dripper is bigger than the three holes of the Kalita 102. Given the same grind size, the two drippers have different brew times; and more importantly, different taste profiles.

Here’s the surprise to me that I don’t think a lot of people would have discovered yet: the Bonmac dripper, given its single hole design, actually brews faster than the Kalita 102. The target time for brewing a mug of coffee on the Bonmac dripper is 2 minutes and 20 seconds, while the Kalita 102 will take up to 3 minutes to finish brewing. The resulting taste is also very different. The Bonmac dripper has a bolder taste profile compared to the Kalita 102 (even with the huge difference in brewing times). The Kalita 102, on the other hand, would have a more subtle taste, almost like a French press coffee.

Bonmac Dripper Coffee Taste Profile

Now we’ve reached the part where we start putting everything together. Once you’ve made a few cups, or mugs, of coffee with the Bonmac dripper, you’ll notice that the taste of the resulting brew stays highly consistent across multiple brews. In my experience, the only factor that will play a major difference in the taste of your coffee is the grind size of the coffee beans. And that makes it a very different brewer compared to the Hario V60. You need to have almost all factors of coffee making correct (even your pouring method) to have a good brew withthe Hario V60.

That being said, there also isn’t much room to alter the taste of your coffee. Whether you want to make the acidic flavors of the coffee pop out, or want to have a milder and more subtle taste to your coffee, you can’t achieve those with this dripper. If I could give adjectives to this dripper, it would be balance and consistency. You can keep churning out cup after cup, or mug after mug, of coffee with this brewer, and you’ll come up with the same taste almost all the time.

It’s as if they created this brewer and took out the human element. If I were to have a tagline for the Bonmac dripper, it would be “no skills needed”. For people who would like to inject the human touch into the coffee making process, they might not like this brewer too much.

Bonmac Dripper Pros and Cons

Having years of experience with the Bonmac Dripper, here is my list of Pros and Cons that I’ve experienced with it:

Pros

• Brews a very balanced coffee taste
• Brews a very consistent taste across many brews
• Easy to brew coffee with the dripper
• Very user friendly, especially with beginner brewers
• A lot of Japanese restaurants use this dripper, solidifying its claim as a good quality dripper

Cons

• Needs to have the items for pour over coffee (gooseneck kettle, grinder, weighing scale)
• The brewer doesn’t have a say in enhancing the flavors of the coffee
• Needs the correct size of filter to make good brews

Would I Recommend the Bonmac Dripper?

To be honest, if I knew as much about making coffee, using the pour over method, back then as I do now; I would have gotten this dripper first. And I might have stayed with it for a long time.

I think it’s actually a good thing that the Bonmac Dripper isn’t as popular as other drippers in the market. Think about this, if the Bonmac Dripper was so good and so popular, a lot of beginner coffee brewers would have bought it as their beginning dripper. Since it brews so well and so consistently, these coffee enthusiasts who would have sworn by this dripper and never moved to other coffee makers.

As the title suggests, the Bonmac Dripper is a hidden gem, because not a lot of people know about it. To those who have experience with the dripper, they’d probably tell you the same thing as I would: It’s one of those “Where were you all my life” moments.

I like to use it because it’s very easy to use. With this brewer, I make a mug of coffee without really thinking about the process anymore. My mind just counts numbers to make sure that I’m getting the right brew time, but my hands aren’t really coordinating with my eyes or my brain as much as when I use my other pour over drippers. As I said in one of the pros of the product, it is very consistent in making one great cup of coffee after another. And that is it’s biggest plus.

Of course, sometimes I do tend to look for other flavor profiles in the coffee, and that’s when I shift to other brewers like the Hario V60, Kalita 102 or Bonavita Immersion Dripper.

But this is a dripper that I always come back to. And I’d invite you to try it out too, especially if you already have all the equipment necessary in making pour over coffee (gooseneck kettle, weighing scale, burr or blade grinder). If you already have the equipment, this would just be a small additional investment with a very high value return.

Final Words

I hope you liked this article about the Bonmac Dripper. Personally, I think that it’s really is a great product. Since I started using it, I’ve used it more then my other brewers. I know this because I spent more money buying its filters than any of my other coffee makers.

If you do decide to purchase the Bonmac Dripper on Amazon, I’d really appreciate it if you could support me by clicking on this link to bring you to the Bonmac Dripper page on Amazon.

If you also have any subject that you’d like to know about coffee, feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for your time. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’ll see you on the next one.