Torch Mountain Dripper Review

I have had an eye on the Mountain Dripper by Torch for a few weeks now. It seemed like a fun and interesting dripper to try out. I decided to give it a go and picked it up about a week ago. I have made over 20 cups of coffee since then using a variety of filter papers and beans.

Design

The Mountain Dripper is a simple yet very elegant design. If you could not see the holes at the bottom you might think it was a teacup of sorts. It doesn’t try to do much more than it needs to but at the same time ends up being as capable as the Origami Dripper.  The included wood base leaves a bit to be desired though. It does not hold the dripper well making it lean in one direction at times. This means you have to be more careful when brewing and make sure it is sitting flat. I have opted to not use the base at all and just brew with it directly in my carafe.

Brewing Experience

For a simple product, it ends up being very versatile when it comes to brews. Like the Origami Dripper, the Torch Mountain dripper can use both cone and flat bottom filters. One of the biggest selling points for the Origami dripper. If anything I would say the Mountain dripper is like a brother to the Origami dripper, in the sense that the Origami dripper is a cone-shaped brewer first that happens to be able to use Kalita style flat bottom filters whereas the Mountain is a flat bottom dripper which happens to be able to use cone shaped filters.

Between the two brewers in my experience, I find the Origami handles flat bottom filter papers better than the Mountain handles cone-shaped filter papers. When using a cone-shaped filter on the Mountain there is a tendency for it to sag down in the dripper as the brew progresses. It ends with it being misshapen somewhat by the end. I also found it led to stalled brews and it ends up not taking advantage of the smaller holes around the single large hole in the middle. The Torch Mountain dripper, in theory, can use cone-shaped filter papers but personally, I wouldn’t recommend it for that.

As a flat bottom dripper on the other hand I think it excels and I prefer it to my Kalita for the most part. I really enjoy the coffee that comes out of this brewer when I use flat bottom filter papers in it. Jammy with excellent clarity and sweetness. Personally, it is my favourite flat bottom dripper at the moment.

A little something to consider, I found I needed to grind slightly finer using this brewer than I did with my other pour-over drippers. Closer to what I would grind for an AeroPress. This is likely due to the combination of holes on the bottom of this brewer leading to a faster flow rate. I also feel due to this flow rate the dripper overall requires a little more coffee knowledge and skill than you otherwise would need from something like the Kalita. The Kalita dripper which I feel is a very simple and easy to work with brewer when it comes to pour-over coffee. The Torch Mountain dripper requires some more technique than the Kalita and people who have developed strong brewing techniques and knowledge coming from more unforgiving cone-shaped brewers may feel more at home here and find better more consistent results.

Final Verdict

I really enjoy the dripper and feel comfortable recommending it to people who prefer flat bottom pour over coffee who might also want to experiment with cone-shaped filter papers. If you are on the market for a new brewer and have nothing else the Torch Mountain dripper is something to consider but I might push most people towards the Origami still. The Origami Air S is about the same price as this dripper when you add a separate stand to it. Overall I feel the Origami is a more complete dripper that can handle a variety of papers better even though I feel it is mainly a cone-shaped brewer first.

If you have no brewer and want to start somewhere I would recommend the Origami over this. I think the Torch Mountain dripper is better for people who know they prefer flat bottom pour-over brews and I think it complements a setup that already has another brewer like the Origami.

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