An interview with Michael Butterworth, creator of the Etkin Coffee Dripper
Are you a fan of the pour-over method of coffee brewing? Ever wanted to make them for a gathering of friends, but felt it just took too long? Enter the Etkin 8 cup coffee dripper. It's made from Turkish porcelain and brews up a really delicious pot for all to enjoy.
We recently sat down with Michael Butterworth, creator of the Etkin Coffee dripper and have a lovely chat over coffee.
How long have you been in the coffee industry?
My first coffee job was in my hometown in rural Arizona in the summer of 2006. I didn't even drink coffee back then, so I doubt I was a very good barista in those days! In 2012 I was hired at Quills Coffee in Louisville, Kentucky. This is where my journey with specialty coffee really started. While I was working at Quills I started competing in barista competitions and became a Q grader. I left Quills in 2017 to pursue becoming an SCA Trainer.
Tell us what inspired you to create the Etkin Coffee Dripper?
Each morning, I had a choice to make either I could make 2-3 pour-overs for my wife and me to drink or I could make a pot of coffee with our batch brewer. I love brewing coffee by hand, but I wanted to be able to make one big batch that would be enough for us to share. After searching for a larger, flat-bottom dripper and not finding one I asked two friends to consider making one with me! We launched on Kickstarter a few months later.
What features about the Etkin make it different from other drippers?
We designed our drippers with evenness of extraction in mind. A more even extraction typically means more sweetness and less bitterness. Deep ridges keep the filter elevated, which helps promote an even extraction. The double wall helps with thermal stability and also means you can handle the dripper at any point of the brewing process.
Why is the pour over method your favorite? (or is it?)
I love a wide variety of coffee brew methods, including espresso and Turkish coffee. But for me, pour-over coffee offers the purest expression of a coffee's flavor attributes. Of course, there are great automatic coffee brewers, but I believe brewing coffee by hand gives you more real-time control and, most importantly, makes you more connected to the brewing process.
Why do you use porcelain from Turkey?
The specialty coffee industry cares about transparency and traceability for our coffee. I think we should expect the same for our equipment. We've always been open-source about our manufacturing partners. In addition to the fantastic quality, we've found Turkish porcelain factories are willing to do smaller production runs, which allows us to stay lean and flexible.
What is your favorite recipe to use with the 8 cup and 2 cup drippers? (Does decaf change that?)
Decaf often brews differently than non-decaffeinated coffees. Typically, they're quite easy to extract!! If you think about it, the caffeine has already been extracted from the green coffee before roasting, so in many ways the remaining soluble compounds are more accessible during brewing. Typically, I would approach decaf coffee more gently: less turbulence, slightly lower water temp. etc.
For the newest 2 cup Etkin Coffee dripper Michael has been using the following recipe:
22 grams of medium-ground coffee to 350 grams of 205° water.
Bloom the coffee with 50 grams of water. Wait 30 seconds.
Every 10-15 seconds add the remaining water in 50-60 gram increments. Pour in a spiral pattern to evenly wet all grounds.
Aim for a total brew time of 3:00-3:30.
We currently have the 2 cup Etkin coffee dripper and filters available here.