Consistent Pour-Over Without the Morning Ritual
I love this machine. I went from making a full pot of coffee every morning and wasting a lot of it, to an espresso machine that makes excellent espresso. But espresso isn’t the same as coffee, and for me, pour-over is hands down my favorite way to drink coffee. The problem is that I don’t always want to go through the whole pour-over ritual every morning.
That’s where the xBloom Studio has been fantastic. There’s a little bit of an intimidation factor the first couple of times you use it, but once you understand it, it’s incredibly easy. With an xPod, you tap the recipe card, pour the beans into the grinder, put the pod in place, and hit go. Using my own beans is almost as easy. Most of the time I don’t even mess with custom recipes and just use the built-in light, medium, or dark settings.
The biggest thing for me is consistency. I’m getting an excellent cup of pour-over coffee without having to manually grind, weigh, time, and control every pour myself. If I do want to experiment, I can create my own recipes, although I find that process a little less intuitive. Thankfully, the app has hundreds of shared recipes to try instead.
My biggest physical complaint is cup clearance. My favorite mug doesn’t fit comfortably underneath, so I brew into a smaller cup or carafe and pour it into my mug afterward.
I also wish a $599 machine came with some xPods and more than 10 starter filters. You’ll go through those filters quickly.
This isn’t a cheap coffee maker, but it fills a very specific niche extremely well. If you love pour-over but don’t love spending the time making one manually every morning, that’s where the Studio really shines. It also has a serious wow factor. Everyone I’ve shown it to has been impressed watching it work, and the whole brewing experience is beautifully presented.
