Review of the Delter Coffee Press

The Delter Coffee Press is one of those products that doesn’t make sense at first.

Let’s be honest; it does look similar to an Aeropress, and it seems aimed to fulfill the same role.

So what’s the point?

Did the people who put out this product skip market research?

Well, not exactly.

When you hold the product in your hands and start brewing with it, you’ll soon realize that this coffee press is not just a knockoff.

I have been testing the device for a few months now, and in this review of the Delter Coffee Press, I’ll try to answer all questions you might have, and tell you whether this device deserves a spot in your coffee arsenal.

The Delter company

The Delter company is Australian, and founded by Mark Folker, who has previously, designed another pressurized brewer; the Trinity One brewer. If you look carefully, you can see that the logos of the two devices are quite similar.

The company claims that the primary purpose of the brewer is ‘to solve one of the biggest brewing challenges – uncontrolled agitation.’

The Delter Coffee Press started its journey on Kickstarter like so many other recent coffee products.

The campaign was fully funded by December 2018, and the product began shipping pre-orders in February 2019.

That is pretty swift when compared to some other coffee campaigns that have left backers waiting for years.

After only being available in Australia and Asia for a period, it seems that Delter has found a reliable distribution network across the world, and coffee geeks everywhere should be able to get their hands on one without too much hassle.

Delter Coffee Press review

When you first look at Delter Press, it pretty much looks like a transparent version of the Aeropress.

It has the same chamber and plunger, and you insert a paper filter in a lid and screws it on.

But there are some significant differences, which makes it a completely different product.

the DCP is quite close to pour over in terms of texture, mouthfeel, and acidity.

The plunger is not just a plunger. It’s designed in a way that must (I imagine) have taken quite a while to get right. It has a few small holes in the bottom, just above the rubber seal, and when you lift the piston a bit water is allowed to flow into the main body.

When you then press down again, water is forced through the brew chamber. In that sense, the plunger has an interesting double-function.

There are volumetric markings on the main body, so you can control precisely how much water you push through with each plunge.

The Jet seal

With the Aeropress, you add your coffee grounds into the chamber and fills it with water.

With the DCP, as it’s also called, you only add water. The coffee grounds are put in a separate chamber.

The two compartments are separated by what the company calls a jet seal.

The idea is that this rubber piece forms a close seal when there’s no pressure. However, when you press the piston, water goes through the membrane. This is an attractive solution. I’m not sure I have seen that same idea being used anywhere else in coffee.

This technology also clearly separates the DCP from the Aeropress

While its more famous coffee press sibling uses immersion/infusion, the Delter relies on percolation, since water is only in contact with the grounds for a short period before going into the cup.

This extraction method has a significant impact on the flavor; the DCP is quite close to pour over in terms of texture, mouthfeel, and acidity.

How does it work?

One thing is cool design features and innovative ideas. Another one is how it works in daily life.

Overall, I like the Delter.

The first thing I noticed after trying it a few times, was how ‘clean‘ and transparent the brew is.

You can taste this easily, and visually you’ll be able to confirm it when pouring the liquid into a transparent vessel. It looks similar to a pour over brew.

With an Aeropress, the resulting beverage will look slightly muddy, unless you use two filters and press exceptionally carefully.

The first thing I noticed after trying it a few times, was how ‘clean’ and transparent the brew is.

One of the things Delter has mentioned in their promotional material is that the brewer is created to solve the ‘agitation problem.’ While I’m not sure that it does this better than tools like the Melodrip and the Gabi Dripmaster Series, it gets sufficiently close.

The overall result is still depending very much on your technique and recipe. I did have a few brews that were quite thin and underextracted. I fixed that by doing some ‘aggressive’ preinfusion.

Of course, this leads back to my general opinion about agitation: it’s not about avoiding it, it’s about getting the ‘right’ amount.

A typical brew would be something like this. 

I have been following this pattern with great results, but of course, it’s also a matter of your grind size and quality.

Another cool thing is that you can do multiple infusions. The max capacity of the coffee chamber is 25 grams so that you can brew bigger batches.

In practice, however, I don’t love this solution. The coffee chamber is filled to the brim, and it’s quite easy to spill some grounds or end up with some sediment in the cup.

In most instances, it will be easier to brew the same amount as a pour over. However, it’s a convenient option to have.

For travel?

A lot of people are interested in camping coffee makers, and I think they will be pleased with this device.

I have used it on a few trips, including on a plane, and so far it’s been a pleasure to use.

The jet seal makes brewing on the road quite convenient since you can get water in a cup and then pour it into the plunger. There’s not going to be any leakage.

Sure, the cleaning might be a bit more involved than the Aeropress, but overall, it’s not a huge difference.

Delter Coffee Press vs Aeropress

Most people who try this are going to compare it to the Aeropress. And while I think that it’s easier to get nuanced, pour over-style coffee with the DCP, there are a lot of things that the Aeropress does better. The Delter Coffee Press is more of a one-trick pony, whereas you can make a bunch of different things with the grand old Press:

• cold brew
• cold drip
• French press style coffee
• espresso-style coffee

You can also use 100s of different techniques with Aeropress. There’s no way you can make an inverted DCP. The DCP is a lot more restricted. There’s probably not going to be the same kind of DIY community around it.

You do have some variations in the pressure you can apply and the number of infusions, but overall there’s pretty much just one standard recipe and technique that everybody will have to follow.

I started quite ecstatic, thinking that we had found the replacement for the Aeropress, but now I’m not that convinced.

Conclusion

Overall, I have been quite happy with my Delter Coffee Press. I started quite ecstatic, thinking that we had found the replacement for the Aeropress, but now I’m not that convinced.

While the Delter CoffeePress does make great tasting coffee, I still think it’s just a few points short of the perfect Hario V60 or Kalita brew.

It’s fun enough to brew on the device, but I have a feeling that many Aeropress devotees, will continue to love the flexibility of their current brewer.

I do think that the Delter does make cleaner (and overall better) cup, than its rival. However, I’m not sure that’s enough the fun-loving Aeropressers out there.

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