MiiR Pourigami Review

From concept to product, the MiiR Pourigami has stolen the show. We love this device because of its innovative origami-esque design that breaks down into a compact carrying sleeve, and more importantly, because it brews consistently delicious coffee. It's easy to clean, easy to use, highly portable, and it earned top marks in our blind taste tests. Read on to learn more about this new Editors' Choice Award-winning product, the only one ever to un-seat the Hario V60.

Performance Comparison

Brew Features

The Pourigami features three interlocking stainless steel panels that fit together with ease. Many of the other top-performers in our review use plastic — with this model, you can be rid of any concerns about combining plastic with hot water. The angle of the Pourigami enables you to make great coffee with minimal effort or knowledge. However, you can dial in the flavor with some finesse and patience by altering the grind and brew time. For a stronger cup, use a finer grind and a slower brew time; for a weaker or more subtle flavor, use a coarser grind and quicker brew time. We found that a grind about the consistency of table salt and brew time of 3-3.5 minutes produced an excellent cup of Joe. Even without using a timer or being terribly attentive to the grind, it still produced great coffee. Beyond all this, it is among the easiest devices to clean and comes with a slim carrying case you can slip into a pocket.

Taste

In head-to-head taste tests, the Pourigami garnered top marks among even the most discerning tasters. In blind taste tests, we were often impressed by the bright but balanced flavor and supple mouthfeel of the coffee it produced.

For best results when making a pour-over, you will want to wet the filter prior to use, then add a small amount of hot water to allow the coffee to bloom for 15-20 seconds before adding the rest of your water. You will also need to achieve the appropriate grind. When car camping, we love to use a hand-cranked burr grinder. Set to a relatively fine grind — about the consistency of table salt — we could produce a perfect cup every time.

For a perfect pour-over, you will want to experiment a little to find the ideal grind for your palette. With a finer grind and slower extraction time, you will achieve a stronger cup of coffee. With a coarser grind and faster extraction time, you will get a weaker cup. This is because a finer grind results in a greater surface area of ground coffee coming into contact with water for a more thorough extraction. We prefer a pour-over that takes about 3-3.5 minutes for brew time. If you really want to nerd out about how to brew the best pour-over, Miir has a great recipe and tutorial you can use to get started.

Ease of Use

While the Pourigami didn't earn the highest marks for this metric — mostly because pour-overs require extra care to produce an excellent cup of coffee — this is a category where it otherwise shines.

Once you dial in your perfect grind and recipe, the Pourigami couldn't be easier to use. Each section of the device slots easily into place. To put it together, make sure the lettering is facing out and is oriented to be readable — this positions each piece so the long slot is on the left and pointing up. Then, hook the smaller tabs into the long slots to put each piece together. There is enough play in the slots to hook the final tab into place at the end, but not so much to render it unstable. It is truly an ingenious design. After you are done making your coffee, simply remove the filter and throw it away (or save it for the compost).

Group Cooking

The Pourigami scored fairly average in this metric. It is ideal for making just one 8-10oz cup of coffee at a time.

However, given that the Pourigami is among the easiest devices to clean, you could use it to efficiently make multiple cups of coffee with minimal turn-around time. The only gum in the gears is how quickly you can boil water and the time it takes to make each pour-over.

Portability

Portability is a metric where the Pourigami crushes most of the competition.

The Pourigami stows away into a compact Cordura carrying case measuring 2.75" x 5.5" — that is slimmer but approximately the same dimensions as a smaller smartphone. The case also has space to accommodate a few filters, so you can keep your pour-over and filters together without taking up any extra real estate in your camp kitchen bin or backpack. It barely commands any space at all, making it the most portable pour-over device in our review and among the most portable devices overall.

Weight

At 4.89 ounces for just the dripper or 5.52 ounces for the dripper and case together, the Pourigami nabs an average score for weight among our review suite.

While it isn't winning any awards for being an ultralight coffee maker, the Pourigami is decently lightweight for what it is. It packs some heft because it is made from stainless steel, rather than plastic (which is lighter-weight) or titanium (which would be more expensive). If you're a gram-counting ultra-lighter, you may want to skip this model in favor of a lighter-weight backpacking coffee maker or even instant coffee. However, if you don't mind lugging along a couple of luxury items on a weekend backpacking or bikepacking adventure, you're unlikely to notice the weight of the Pourigami in your kit. Likewise, it would be a great option for making your own coffee while traveling. Alternatively, if you're looking for a car camping coffee maker that doesn't cramp your style or fill your cupboards, we think you'll find this model to be light and compact enough to suit your needs.

Value

The Pourigami is not the least expensive model in our review, but neither is it the most expensive. It is, on the other hand, an elegant and compact device that produces consistently delicious coffee at a reasonable price. We think it offers an excellent value for what you get, and given its durability, you'll be making coffee with this clever “pocket pour-over” for years to come.

Conclusion

We fell in love with the Pourigami. The innovative design left us speechless because we were surprised that a coffee maker could be both aesthetically appealing and make great coffee. It is easy to use, easy to clean, reasonably lightweight, compact, and imminently portable. Beyond all these perks, it is downright fun to use. It's no wonder it has become our go-to for making coffee while car camping or even in our home kitchen.