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 provide baristas higher management over extraction and flavour, attaining extra readability and physique.
• Hybrid brewers are a few of simplest and accessible, but additionally permit for recipe experimentation.

Hybrid espresso brewers aren’t new. One of the vital fashionable, the Intelligent Dripper, was launched in 2009, and shortly turned a fixture of residence setups and low store brew bars for its sturdiness and ease of use.

Lately, they’ve grow to be extra fashionable 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 possibly can 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 earth finals utilizing the April Hybrid brewer. 

“This opens up a world of prospects for obligatory recipes,” he provides. “You possibly can brew concentrates and bypass dilution, and create in-depth multi-pour recipes with various ranges of immersion.”

This reaffirms a broader pattern in specialty espresso: baristas and rivals are continually searching for 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 will obtain this.

You may additionally like our article on which brewers and extraction instruments baristas are utilizing immediately.

The advantages of mixing pour over and immersion

Pour over and immersion brewing are each extensively used brewing methods, however pour over is commonly essentially the most favoured. By pouring water over floor espresso in levels, baristas can dial in coffees with higher precision.

Mixed with a paper filter, which traps oils and fines, the ensuing cup profile is clear and brilliant. Pour over brewing additionally lends itself nicely to highlighting the complexity of espresso, permitting for higher flavour readability.

Immersion brewing, in the meantime, affords very totally different outcomes. As a result of the espresso grounds are totally submerged in water all through, the extracted espresso has a way more pronounced mouthfeel and fewer acidity.

“Immersion affords extra sweetness, larger 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 affords extra acidity, readability, and a lighter physique.”

In concept, hybrid brewers permit baristas to have the most effective of each extraction strategies. By customising recipes, they will mix the clear, brilliant flavours of pour over with the fuller-bodied texture of immersion.

“Once I was competing again in 2018, I believe GINA was the one ceramic hybrid brewer,” Emi says. “Being able to mix each drip and immersion with a ceramic brewer, you may experiment with recipes and reproduce the specified outcomes even in restricted time or situations,” she explains. Brewer materials performs an necessary function in warmth retention, and ceramic (as soon as preheated) helps stabilise brewing temperature, resulting in extra constant outcomes.

“As a result of you may achieve higher management over extraction with hybrid brewers, it’s additionally simpler to regulate different variables, comparable to kind of paper filter, brew recipe, water profile, brew temperature, and grind dimension.”

Which hybrid brewers are fashionable?

The Intelligent Dripper has been a staple of third wave espresso tradition for almost twenty years, and a lot of different hybrid brewers have appeared available on the market. The GINA, Hario Change, and April brewers are among the hottest amongst specialty espresso retailers, residence baristas, and rivals.

The Hario Change was some 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, nevertheless, 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 most effective of each worlds”.

“The extra versatile pour construction means you may tailor recipes to suit a wide range of processing strategies extra successfully,” Justin explains. “For instance, with pure processed coffees, I can improve contact time throughout the immersion step to convey out extra sweetness and complexity within the cup.

“You possibly can 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 a further variable.

“You’re finally in search of the most effective model of your espresso you may current, and any option to give your self a bonus in controlling the cup, I consider, will help you. Hybrid brewing affords very balanced cups with good flavour readability, and layered flavours because the cup cools. It could actually additionally create among the most unusual textural cups I’ve ever had.”

Learn how to use hybrid brewers

Emi says the simplicity and consistency that hybrid brewers supply 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 company to simply recreate recipes at residence.”

Justin agrees that hybrid brewers are extra accessible: “We use them at Helm, a spinoff of my USBrC and WBrC recipe, and I believe it’s a very simple brewer for individuals to make use of. The steep time permits for fewer contact factors, extra constant cups, and extra means to work together with clients.”

He affords some normal brewing suggestions for customising recipes: “You possibly can experiment with the variety of pours and timing particular a number of steep cycles, however the recipe I’ve developed is predicated round a 40:60 methodology. Originally of the brew, 40% of your complete brew quantity will probably be extracted utilizing percolation. In the direction of the top, 60% of your complete brew quantity will probably be extracted utilizing immersion.

“I like to start with percolation as a result of most risky aromatics are launched throughout the first minute of a brew,” he provides. “This traps them within the ultimate cup, whether or not via a single-pour bloom or a two-pour double bloom.

“After the bloom, between 45 seconds and 1 minute, I swap to immersion and let the espresso steep between 1:45 and a pair of:15. That is depending on the espresso, grind dimension, filter paper, and many others. I additionally pour in the course of the slurry throughout the immersion stage, aiding positive migration and enhancing tactile and flavour readability.”

Hario Change recipe

James Hoffmann has developed a easy Hario Change recipe:

• Dose: 15g
• Yield: 250g
• Grind dimension and water temperature will differ relying on the espresso. James used a medium grind dimension and 95°C (203°F).

1. Rinse the paper filter (James makes use of Sibarist, however V60 02 additionally works), discard the rinse water, and shut the valve.
2. Add espresso and pour 30g to 45g of water. Swirl, after which pour the remaining water. 
3. At 2:00, stir the slurry in each instructions, and open the swap at 2:15.

Hybrid brewers are accessible, constant, and forgiving, but additionally permit for superior recipe experimentation.

As they grow to be extra outstanding at competitions, we’ll probably see extra hybrid brewers in espresso retailers – 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 grow to be so fashionable at competitions.

Photograph credit: Lorix Tan, Specialty Espresso Affiliation

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