Key takeaways
- Hybrid espresso brewers, which mix pour over and immersion brewing, are gaining popularity at competitions.
- 4 out of 9 2025 World Brewers Cup finalists used hybrid brewers just like the Hario Change.
- They offer baristas better management over extraction and flavour, attaining extra readability and physique.
- Hybrid brewers are a few of most straightforward and accessible, but in addition permit for recipe experimentation.
Hybrid espresso brewers aren’t new. One of the crucial widespread, the Intelligent Dripper, was launched in 2009, and shortly turned a fixture of dwelling setups and low store brew bars for its sturdiness and ease of use.
Lately, they’ve change into extra widespread at competitions. On the 2025 World Brewers Cup Championship (WBrC), 4 of the highest 9 rivals used hybrid brewers – highlighting the advantages of mixing the 2 brewing kinds.
“You may modify all the way in which from true percolation to a full immersion brewer,” says Justin Bull, the co-owner and director of espresso at Helm Espresso in Indianapolis, Indiana, US. Justin can be the 2025 US Brewers Cup Champion, and competed on the planet finals utilizing the April Hybrid brewer.
“This opens up a world of potentialities for obligatory recipes,” he provides. “You may brew concentrates and bypass dilution, and create in-depth multi-pour recipes with various ranges of immersion.”
This reaffirms a broader development in specialty espresso: baristas and rivals are consistently in search of extra management over extraction and flavour. Together with different devices and equipment like WDT instruments and pour help units, hybrid brewers are one of many some ways they’ll obtain this.
You may additionally like our article on which brewers and extraction instruments baristas are utilizing right now.
The advantages of mixing pour over and immersion
Pour over and immersion brewing are each extensively used brewing methods, however pour over is commonly probably the most favoured. By pouring water over floor espresso in levels, baristas can dial in coffees with better precision.
Mixed with a paper filter, which traps oils and fines, the ensuing cup profile is clear and vibrant. Pour over brewing additionally lends itself properly to highlighting the complexity of espresso, permitting for better flavour readability.
Immersion brewing, in the meantime, provides very totally different outcomes. As a result of the espresso grounds are absolutely submerged in water all through, the extracted espresso has a way more pronounced mouthfeel and fewer acidity.
“Immersion provides extra sweetness, greater physique, and extra consistency in extraction,” says Emi Fukahori, the co-founder of MAME in Zurich, Switzerland & KURO MAME in Tokyo, Japan. She can be the 2018 World Brewers Cup champion, the place she used the hybrid GINA brewer. “Drip provides extra acidity, readability, and a lighter physique.”
In idea, hybrid brewers permit baristas to have the very best of each extraction strategies. By customising recipes, they’ll mix the clear, vibrant flavours of pour over with the fuller-bodied texture of immersion.
“After I was competing again in 2018, I feel GINA was the one ceramic hybrid brewer,” Emi says. “Being able to mix each drip and immersion with a ceramic brewer, you’ll be able to experiment with recipes and reproduce the specified outcomes even in restricted time or situations,” she explains. Brewer materials performs an essential function in warmth retention, and ceramic (as soon as preheated) helps stabilise brewing temperature, resulting in extra constant outcomes.
“As a result of you’ll be able to acquire better management over extraction with hybrid brewers, it’s additionally simpler to regulate different variables, akin to kind of paper filter, brew recipe, water profile, brew temperature, and grind measurement.”
Which hybrid brewers are widespread?
The Intelligent Dripper has been a staple of third wave espresso tradition for almost 20 years, and a variety of different hybrid brewers have appeared available on the market. The GINA, Hario Change, and April brewers are a number of the hottest amongst specialty espresso outlets, dwelling baristas, and rivals.
The Hario Change was one of the used brewers on the 2025 WBrC finals. Indonesia’s Bayu Prawiro, Colombia’s Carlos Escobar, and Guatemala’s Raul Rodas all used this hybrid brewer. The US’ Justin Bull, nonetheless, opted for the April brewer.
Justin’s routine centred on hybrid brewing and hybrid processing (utilizing Gesha from Finca Deborah in Panama, first processed as a carbonic macerated pure after which as a washed) – “the very best of each worlds”.
“The extra versatile pour construction means you’ll be able to tailor recipes to suit a wide range of processing strategies extra successfully,” Justin explains. “For instance, with pure processed coffees, I can enhance contact time throughout the immersion step to carry out further sweetness and complexity within the cup.
“You may modulate cups with pour construction, pour top, and add in instruments just like the Melodrip or Hario drip help,” he provides. “However now, with the brewers just like the Change or April, you are able to do all of that, and steeping is an extra variable.
“You’re in the end on the lookout for the very best model of your espresso you’ll be able to current, and any method to give your self a bonus in controlling the cup, I consider, might help you. Hybrid brewing provides very balanced cups with good flavour readability, and layered flavours because the cup cools. It could additionally create a number of the most original textural cups I’ve ever had.”
The way to use hybrid brewers
Emi says the simplicity and consistency that hybrid brewers provide are why MAME makes use of the Hario Change.
“We’re actually playful with different components of espresso, so we wish the brewer to be easy and constant, particularly as a result of totally different baristas throughout our cafés put together pour over manually,” she explains. “It additionally permits our visitors to simply recreate recipes at dwelling.”
Justin agrees that hybrid brewers are extra accessible: “We use them at Helm, a spinoff of my USBrC and WBrC recipe, and I feel it’s a very simple brewer for folks to make use of. The steep time permits for fewer contact factors, extra constant cups, and extra skill to work together with prospects.”
He provides some basic brewing ideas for customising recipes: “You may experiment with the variety of pours and timing particular a number of steep cycles, however the recipe I’ve developed relies round a 40:60 methodology. Initially of the brew, 40% of your whole brew quantity will likely be extracted utilizing percolation. In direction of the top, 60% of your whole brew quantity will likely be extracted utilizing immersion.
“I like to start with percolation as a result of most risky aromatics are launched inside the first minute of a brew,” he provides. “This traps them within the ultimate cup, whether or not by a single-pour bloom or a two-pour double bloom.
“After the bloom, between 45 seconds and 1 minute, I change to immersion and let the espresso steep between 1:45 and a pair of:15. That is depending on the espresso, grind measurement, filter paper, and so forth. I additionally pour in the midst of the slurry throughout the immersion stage, aiding high quality migration and enhancing tactile and flavour readability.”
Hario Change recipe
James Hoffmann has developed a easy Hario Change recipe:
- Dose: 15g
- Yield: 250g
- Grind measurement and water temperature will fluctuate relying on the espresso. James used a medium grind measurement and 95°C (203°F).
- Rinse the paper filter (James makes use of Sibarist, however V60 02 additionally works), discard the rinse water, and shut the valve.
- Add espresso and pour 30g to 45g of water. Swirl, after which pour the remaining water.
- At 2:00, stir the slurry in each instructions, and open the change at 2:15.
Hybrid brewers are accessible, constant, and forgiving, but in addition permit for superior recipe experimentation.
As they change into extra distinguished at competitions, we’ll probably see extra hybrid brewers in espresso outlets – providing new methods to expertise pour over and giving baristas the power to tweak recipe improvement.
Loved this? Then learn our article on why espresso devices have change into so widespread at competitions.
Photograph credit: Lorix Tan, Specialty Espresso Affiliation
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