Introduction of Timemore Crystal Eye Dripper
Material: We can see three material options for Timemore Crystal Eye Dripper (冰瞳滤杯) in market: plastic, glass and ceramic. I have used glass version for a while, until a crack appeared in the bottom of the dripper. It might caused by the frequent change of temperature, so I jump to ceramic version and it works pretty well (I personally prefer the texture of ceramic version).
Design: As you can see from the photo above, the whole dripper is consist of three levels. Level 1 has the strongest and sharpest ribs, the air pocket is large so the this level also has the fastest flow rate. You dry coffee bed will also stay in this level. In Level 2, the ribs become lighter and the filter has more contact area with dripper wall. Side flow is restricted so the flow rate on this level will be slower. Level 3 has no rib at all so technically there will not be any side flow. In official explanation, the function of this level is to give a pause on too speedy pour; however, level 3 is more obvious in 02 size. In 01 and 00 size, this level is very narrow so its function is limited.
The three levels design of Crystal Eye is aiming to help users to control the flow rate during the brew. Each level act as a mark so your current water level on dripper gives you a rough idea of the current flow rate, and you can make adjustments from there.
Personal tips: The overall flow rate of Crystal Eye is smooth and on the fast side. I would say this is a good dripper for both starters of pour over and advanced users. For starters, they don’t need to worry too much about they can’t control the pouring speed since the dripper has level 2 and 3 to slow down the flow rate; and for advanced users, they can play around with level 1 and 2 to achieve the flow rate that they wanted. One thing that worth to mention is do choose the dripper size base on your common brewing ratio, because if you use certain amount of coffee that the height of coffee bed already passed level 1, you will need to spend extra focus to control the water level if you want to keep it around level 1. Based on my experience, if you use around 15g to 20g coffee on one brew, 01 size will be good fit. For over this amount, then might consider 02 size.