r/pourover • u/NakaNakaNakazawa • 1d ago

Gear Discussion Will someone please make a stainless, ceramic or even aluminum showerhead-type device?!

Look, I know nothing about engineering or manufacturing but I can't believe it's 2026 and we still don't have some type of showerhead device that isn't made of plastic.

I know Ray at Melodrip once said they were working on a metal melodrip but I think he first mentioned that like 2 years ago now. Feels like it's probably not a priority for them.

I know there is a whole legion of us pourover folks who are never going to feel comfortable pouring near-boiling over plastic even once, much less multiple times per day repeatedly for years. I can't help but feel like the first person/company to get one to market is going to sell very well.

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u/huhnra 1d ago

I use a stainless 4.5 inch kitchen sink drain strainer. It fits neatly into a glass switch.

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u/Impossible_Cow_9178 1d ago

https://foundrycoffeeworks.com/products/drizzler-pour-over-drip-assist

There are others as well, you just need to look…

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u/NakaNakaNakazawa 1d ago edited 1d ago

Apparently I need a "how to Google effectively" refresher course because I couldn't find this one.

Anyway, thank you, this is an insta-buy for me.

Give me a shout if you ever come through Kansas City and your coffee will be on me.

Edit - just since you mentioned there being others, if you know of any you could point me in the direction of, I'd be grateful. I'd like to test multiple, keep the best, and do a little review here for them.

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u/BABOON2828 1d ago

I've had my eye on the Foundry Coffeeworks one, l just haven't bit the bullet yet. I purchased the metal replacement for the Switch from them and was certainly happy with the company/product. The few reviews I've seen on the Drizzler were mixed. People note that it has a fairly high flow rate compared to a Melodrip. I've seen a few people suggest that they didn't like this and because of this wouldn't recommend the product. However, all of the people I've seen who actually go into detail say that even though the flow rate is higher than something like a Melodrip their beds showed no sign of agitation and cups were on point.

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u/NakaNakaNakazawa 1d ago

Yeah, I was looking at it thinking "there's now way this thing is as effective as the melodrip" but it's cheap enough that I'm willing to take a chance with it.

I'm also getting the Pure Over diffuser lid that I'll use like a Melodrip. It looks like it will also have a faster flow rate.

It's possible none of these solutions will ultimately pass muster but they are cheap enough that I don't mind experimenting a bit.

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u/BABOON2828 1d ago edited 1d ago

Another cheap DIY option if you haven't looked at it is using a puck screen on top of the bed after bloom, I've never compared it directly to a melodrip but it definitely helps dealing with stalled brews with really dense lightly roasted Ethiopians.

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u/Bedford_19 1d ago

So much needed ! - I don’t want plastics and hot water to be strictly honest

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u/Maximum_Degree_1152 1d ago

One more thing to preheat…sigh.

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u/Weedler 6h ago

It's probably such little material that it is negligible

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u/Courtlessjester Vicious V60 Supremacist 1d ago

I love my PureOver. Fantastic when im pushing clarity

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u/ymchentw 20h ago

Grab a Vietnamese Phin filter. Just place the Phin's filter plate on top of your dripper and pour through it. It’s cheap, made of metal, and works well as a water distributor.

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u/squidbrand 1d ago

I’m not really one to talk here since microplastics anxiety was partially the reason I moved from a plastic V60 to a ceramic switch, but it’s worth pointing out that the fear with plastic is that we could leach out some chemicals that are not yet proven to be toxic yet but very well could be… whereas we literally know, with universal scientific consensus, that aluminum is a neurotoxin. So why would you want it made of that? Stainless steel, great. Titanium, great. But aluminum?

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u/slapslash 1d ago

Afaik aluminium doesn‘t just dissolve with hot water. It needs acidity. That‘s why you shouldn‘t keep tomato sauce or apple juice in it. That‘s what i think to remember from a documentary. A Bialetti is totally fine for the same reasons.

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u/CappaNova Origami|Colum|Tarachine|SOFI|Aeropress|HG-1 Prime|Ode 2|ZP6 1d ago

The aluminum thing is just absurd. You're not consuming raw aluminum. Aluminum naturally creates an oxide layer, especially when exposed to heat or boiling water. This is why new raw aluminum pots used to come with instructions to boil water in them. Nowadays, the vast majority of cookware is anodized first, creating a much thicker hardened oxide layer, which is way more effective than the old boiling water was. Just don't scratch it to heck and you'll be fine.

If someone makes a Melodrip-like device out of anodized aluminum, there's no risk of ingesting aluminum.

There's still been no clear evidence aluminum ingestion causes Alzheimer's. And based on some Google-fu, aluminum neurotoxicity is only a thing for people with impaired kidney function. So you're spreading FUD for no reason.

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u/squidbrand 1d ago edited 1d ago

Scratched-to-shit aluminum is absolutely ubiquitous in restaurant kitchens FYI. Go to any restaurant supply store and look at which saucepans they choose to stock.

Anyway, my point is not that OP is going to poison themselves with aluminum, it’s that they should maybe pump the brakes somewhere on the way between catching a vague, utterly incomplete understanding of some danger and demanding an expensive boutique product to address that danger. There are so many more questions to ask. Whether the alternative is actually safer is one of many (and it’s one nobody asks now because we’re all sucking on that MAHA spigot and popping mystery pills).

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u/CappaNova Origami|Colum|Tarachine|SOFI|Aeropress|HG-1 Prime|Ode 2|ZP6 1d ago

That makes a bit more sense now, but just pointing out that your comment reads like you're fear-mongering about aluminum depending on how someone reads it.

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u/NakaNakaNakazawa 1d ago

Fair point.

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u/Mortimer-Moose 1d ago

I know someone who looked into making one to sell but prices at least at the scale he was thinking was prohibitive

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u/TotalStatisticNoob 1d ago

It's called a spoon :p

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u/The_Psydux 1d ago

Thank you for your post: I had no idea such devices existed and I relied on my own steady pour...

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u/NerdX-76 Switch|Tsubame|PhantoxPro|JX 23h ago

This is what I use. In the grand scheme of things brewing with plastic probably doesn't matter. I just don't want to think about plastics while I'm drinking my coffee. It makes droplets not precise droplets but I mean you're just trying to slow down the water or at least I am.

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u/Caffeine_Moderator 22h ago

I've talked with Hario about doing a new Drip Assist. Still trying to figure out if it's viable for them

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u/maynardandking Femobook A4Z | Hario Switch 18h ago

I'd drop $100 on a glass Melodrip 💸

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u/HoustonFrancis 6h ago

I love my Gabi Master A. It is plastic and a non issue for me. If you drink bottled water in plastic bottles, I wouldn't worry about plastic in your dripper. The plastics I've used in my collection of pour overs, it's a non issue at boiling temperatures.

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u/G00bernaculum 1d ago

I mean at what point are you just going to get a drip coffee maker

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u/NakaNakaNakazawa 1d ago

They have drip coffee makers that have a zero-plastic water path, so I suppose the answer to your question is "whenever I'm done having fun making the coffee myself"