OXO Brew Conical for Chorreador

Costa Rica's everyday brewer: a cotton sock on a wooden stand, and nothing else. No paper, no cone, no plastic — the cloth is the filter, and the same apparatus pours coffee in the kopitiams of Singapore and Malaysia under a different name.

OXO Brew Conical

1Zpresso J-Max 51–74

1Zpresso JE 96–120

1Zpresso JX 22–29

1Zpresso JX-Pro 128–176

1Zpresso K-Max 80–87

1Zpresso K-Plus 80–87

1Zpresso K-Pro 80–87

1Zpresso K-Ultra 36–52

1Zpresso Q2 (Heptagonal burrs) 54–96

1Zpresso Q2 (Pentagonal burrs) 54–96

1Zpresso Q2 S 54–96

1Zpresso X-Pro 20–30

Baratza Encore 15

Baratza Encore ESP 25

Baratza Sette 270 13–18

Baratza Vario+ 25–36

Baratza Virtuoso+ 15

Breville Smart Grinder Pro 31–46

Comandante C40 MK3 15–22

Comandante C40 MK4 20–29

Comandante C60 Baracuda 28–42

DF64 Gen 2 25–36

Eureka Mignon Specialita 45–65

Eureka Mignon Zero 41–59

Fellow Ode Gen 2 4–8

Fellow Opus 17–33

Flair Royal 25–36

Hario Mini-Slim Pro 9–13

Hario Skerton Pro 2–7

MHW-3Bomber R3 Pro 60–100

Mazzer Philos 45–65

Moccamaster KM5 3–4

Niche Zero 35–45

Normcore Manual V2 23–33

OXO Brew Conical 15–22

Option-O Lagom P64 21–41

Sage Smart Grinder Pro 31–46

Timemore C3 Max Pro 13–16

Timemore C3 Pro 13–16

Timemore Chestnut C2 15–22

Timemore Chestnut C3 15–22

Timemore Chestnut S3 50–80

Timemore Chestnut S3 ESP 30–43

Timemore Chestnut X 25–38

Timemore Nano 18–24

Turin DF54 26–41

Varia VS3 28–41 Weber Key 45–65

Wilfa Svart 18–43

Wilfa Uniform+ 12–22

Electric grinder · 40 mm conical burrs

OXO Brew Conical's setting

Clicks: 15–22
Grind size: 450–650 µm
Grind descriptor: Medium-fine

These settings are consensus values computed from 1 independent sources (manufacturer manuals, reference charts and our micron model), monitored daily for changes.

See the OXO Brew Conical grind chart

Overview

Ours 1:16·15 g·240 g·94 °C·Medium-fine · 450–650 µm·4:25 Make it yours

Brew with us

Chorreador

Grind Medium-fine 450–650 µm

Ratio 1:

Dose g

Water g

Water temp °C

Total time 4:25

0:00 Timer

— Flow

— Weight

—

STEP 1 / 11 0:00 / 0:00

Notes

We rinse the bolsita before every brew and never let it dry out between them — a cotton sock left dry goes stale and then goes rancid, and you taste it long before you smell it. Store it in water in the fridge if you brew daily.

Weigh beans

Weigh out the beans — fresh, not pre-ground.

Grind

Grind medium-fine — like a V60.

Rinse the sock

Pour hot water through the empty bolsita, then tip it out.

Add the grounds

Spoon the grounds into the sock and level the bed.

Bloom

Wet the bed, lift the sock and swirl it, then wait.

First pour

Slow circles up to about 100 g.

Second pour

Pause ten seconds, then take it to 150 g.

Third pour

Pause again, then 200 g.

Last pour

A final pour to your full weight.

Drawdown

Let the last of it drip through.

Enjoy

Rinse the bolsita straight away and keep it wet.

Behind every step

1Weigh beans
0:05

Weighing instead of scooping is the only way to repeat a brew — beans differ in density and roast, so a scoop of one is not a scoop of another. Fix the dose and every other variable finally means something.
2Grind
0:15

Cloth is a faster filter than paper at the same grind, because the weave has nothing trapped in it, so a chorreador wants a V60's medium-fine rather than something coarser. Gritty between the fingers, never powdery: too fine and the sock clogs, too coarse and the whole 240 g runs through in under two minutes.
3Rinse the sock
1:00

A minute of hot water through the empty sock does three things: it rinses out whatever the last brew left in the weave, it swells the cotton so the flow is even, and it warms the cup underneath. A dry sock on its first pour drinks the water and drips late.
4Add the grounds
0:10

Coffee and brewer finally meet, and it is worth its own beat rather than a clause in another step: the filter is rinsed, the kettle is hot, and until the grounds are in there is nothing to brew. Give the brewer a tap to level the bed — a bed sitting at an angle sends the first pour down the low side and extracts unevenly from there on.
5Bloom
0:30

Lifting the bolsita and giving it a small swirl is the move that makes this method: a hanging cloth bag has no walls to hold the bed flat, so the swirl is what levels it. Thirty seconds, and the bed should still look wet when you start the next pour.
6First pour
0:25

Four short pours with a pause between each, rather than one long one. The sock drains fast and a hanging bag floods easily — filling it in stages keeps the water moving through the coffee instead of round the outside of it.
7Second pour
0:25

Slow spirals from the centre out keep every ground in contact with water for a similar time. Pouring too fast, or straight down the side, digs channels and washes grounds up the wall where they stop extracting.
8Third pour
0:25

Slow spirals from the centre out keep every ground in contact with water for a similar time. Pouring too fast, or straight down the side, digs channels and washes grounds up the wall where they stop extracting.
9Last pour
0:25

Slow spirals from the centre out keep every ground in contact with water for a similar time. Pouring too fast, or straight down the side, digs channels and washes grounds up the wall where they stop extracting.
10Drawdown
0:35

Start to finish a cup should take about three minutes. Much faster and the grind is too coarse; much slower and the sock is clogging — which with cloth usually means it needs a proper wash rather than a finer grind.
11Enjoy
0:10

Coffee keeps changing as it cools: aromatics fade, acidity sharpens and sweetness comes forward. Drink it soon after brewing, and taste it as it drops in temperature — that's how you learn what to adjust next time.

Fix it by taste

Grind and pour rhythm, in that order. Start at 15 g to 240 g at 94 °C, four pours with ten-second pauses, and aim for three minutes start to finish. Faster than that, grind finer. Slower, wash the sock before you touch the grinder — with cloth a stall is almost always the filter and almost never the coffee.

Runs through in under two minutes, thin

Grind too coarse

Fix · Finer — it wants a V60's medium-fine, not a press's coarse
Stalls, takes over four minutes

The sock is clogged, not the grind

Fix · Wash it properly in hot water; a clean sock rarely stalls
Musty or rancid

The sock dried out between brews

Fix · Rinse straight after use and keep it wet — in water in the fridge if you brew daily
Uneven, channels down one side

The bed slumped in a hanging bag

Fix · Lift and swirl after the bloom — a sock has no walls to hold the bed flat

What you need

A chorreador — the wooden stand and its bolsita — and a kettle you can pour slowly with. That is the whole kit, which is exactly why it is the everyday brewer of a coffee-growing country. Buy spare socks; they are cheap and they do not last forever.

Beans & roast

Costa Rican washed coffees are the obvious answer and a very good one — clean, bright, and what the method was built around. Medium roasts suit it best. The cloth lets enough oil through that a very light roast can taste thin here.

Variations to try

Kopitiam sock

The same bag in Singapore and Malaysia, with a dark roast and a pour back and forth between pots
Bigger batch

The stand takes a carafe — scale to 30 g and 480 g with the same staged pours
Straight into the cup

Skip the carafe and hang it over the mug you will drink from

Chorreador FAQ

How do I look after the bolsita?

Rinse it in hot water straight after brewing, never with soap, and do not let it dry out — a dried cotton sock goes stale and then rancid, and you taste it long before you smell it. If you brew daily, keep it submerged in water in the fridge between uses.

Is it the same as a Vietnamese phin?

No. Both are simple and both drip, but a phin is a metal chamber with a perforated plate that holds water on the bed for four or five minutes, and a chorreador is a cloth bag that drains as fast as you pour. The phin brews a concentrate; this brews a full cup.

Does cloth need a coarser grind than paper?

No — that is the common guess and it is backwards. A clean cloth weave has nothing trapped in it and drains faster than paper at the same grind, so a chorreador wants a V60's medium-fine. If it is running slow, the sock needs washing, not a coarser grind.