In a constantly innovating and evolving world of speciality coffee brewers, it is rare to find a brewer that really pushes boundaries whilst remaining practical in the everyday scenario. The Orea Z1 is such a brewer – a compact, travel-friendly, zero-bypass brewer designed to deliver clarity, consistency and sweetness, all packed into a fast, fun, aesthetically appealing workflow. In this post, I’ll explain what the Orea Z1 is, how Orea is pushing the speciality coffee brewing boundaries, brewing guides from Orea themselves and our own recipes using the Z1 too. So, let’s get started.
What is the Orea Z1?
At its core, the Orea Z1 is a manual pour-over brewer with a zero-bypass system. This means all the water poured throughout the brew must pass through the coffee bed – no water escapes around the edges or through gaps. Orea defines this to lead to cleaner, more consistent extraction, reducing astringency, dryness and uncontrolled variability.
Some of the Z1’s standout features include:
A compact footprint: The Z1 measures about 7.2cm tall with a 12cm widest point base and a 7.5cm external bottom diameter.
Tritan body insulation: Made of BPA-free transparent Tritan plastic with a thick 5mm+ insulating wall to help with thermal stability.
MeloDrip Assist: The Z1 integrates Melodrip (by Ray Murukawa), a hex chamber drip diffuser dish that helps distribute water softly and also reduces agitation. That’s crucial because the Z1’s paper filter bed is quite small, and a harsh pour could push fines, clog the filter or cause uneven flow.
Unique filter and base design: Orea utilises a specially designed Sibarist FAST paper filter, specifically tuned for fast flow and clarity. The brew bed diameter, which is approximately 7cm, is optimised for perfect extraction.
Travel-friendly: Orea offers a travel bundle for the Z1 that includes stackable cups – one of which acts as a server so you can brew at ease on the road.
Despite the Orea Z1’s compact and simple design, it aims for no compromises as Orea themselves describe it ‘the zero bypass brewer with zero compromises.’
How is Orea Changing the Brewing Game?
What makes Orea and the Z1 exciting isn’t just the brewer itself. But the broader vision of innovation they bring to manual coffee brewing, here are a few areas where Orea are pushing the boundaries:
Zero Bypass ‘Philosophy’ moved into Fast Brewing:
Zero-bypass brewers are often associated with slow drippers, but Orea has compacted that philosophy into a fast workflow, aiming to preserve the benefits of bypass elimination (clarity, consistency) without demanding a long brew time.
Component Level Optimisation:
Rather than taking on the components of a standard dripper shape, Orea iterates various parts of the system in harmony. They tested multiple filters, drip assists and chamber dimensions to find the optimal mix. Their choice of a custom Sibarist FAST filter paper reflects a balance of flow, clarity and sweetness.
Travel + Performance:
Most travel-friendly brewers compromise flavour or flow for portability (folding, smaller brew chamber, looser tolerances). Orea’s angle is to let your best brewer travel with you. The Z1 and its travel pack are compact but aim to preserve the same excellent cup you get while brewing at home.
Design and Aesthetics: Even before launch, the Z1 was globally recognised, winning awards like the best of the best in US design master prize and in Europe, the European Product Design Award.
Open Recipes and an Adaptable Approach: Orea publishes detailed brew guides for the Z1 (as well as recipes for their other brewers), which encourages adaptation and supports cross-compatibility (many V4 recipes also work very well with the Z1). Orea also emphasise simplicity: no pre-wetting, no bed stirring, no pre-heating the brewer and no fussy extra steps.
All this tells us is that Orea is not just another brewer brand – they are a design-forward, system-thinking player trying to reshape how we approach brewing devices, especially in the zero-bypass space.
Brewing with the Z1 – Key Principles & Recipes
Here’s how to brew with the Orea Z1. Below are the distilled principles and selected recipes from Orea’s official Z1 guides. Feel free to use these as a starting point and adjust to your coffee, water and grinder preferences.
Key Principles:
- Zero-bypass: all water must pass through the coffee bed – no leaks or bypass.
- Grind size and coffee type matter: in zero-bypass systems, denser and more processed coffees will resist flow differently, so don’t expect every coffee to flow the same as a traditional pour-over dripper.
- Use the melodrip: the drip assist is mandatory – skipping it may lead to clogging and under-extracted brews.
- Keep it simple: no need to pre-wet the filter, stir the bed or pre-heat the brewer – start from room temperature.
- Control the variables: your grind size, ratio, water temperature and flow rate are important, dial them in carefully and avoid adding complexity too soon.
Orea’s Recipes:
Below are Orea’s two core recipes for the Z1 – use them as reference points, then dial in for your variables and preferences as necessary:
EASY DOES IT
16g of coffee, 260ml of water @ 96 Celcius
Grind size – medium-coarse 22-26 clicks on comandante for reference.
- 0.00 – Spiral pour to 60g
- 0.40 – Spiral pour to 110g
- 1:15 – Spiral pour to 160g
- 1:45 – Spiral pour to 210g
- 2:15 – Spiral pour to final 260g
- Finish around 2:30-3:00
Notes: Adjust the timings and pours depending on coffee density. For washed coffees, you may want to combine the last 2 pours, for more soluble or fermented coffees, try coarser or a slightly higher dose, but keep the total water the same.
LAZY SUNDAY
This is a lower-effort alternative for days when you don’t want to fuss too much. Orea recommends it especially for washed coffees.
15g of coffee, 250ml of water @ 96 Celcius
Grind size – medium – 20-24 clicks on comandante for reference.
- 0.00 – Spiral pour to 50g
- 0.40 – Spiral pour to 150g
- 0.45 – Spiral pour to 250g
- Finish around 2:30-3:00
The Caretta Go To Z1 Recipe
For this Z1 brew, we used a washed Kenyan peaberry from Yallah Coffee Roasters – a punchy, jammy coffee with a very nice acidity that tastes just like cranberry juice.
17g of coffee, 260ml of water @ 94 Celcius
Grind size – medium – 22 clicks on Comandante for reference.
- 0.00 – Spiral pour to 40g
- 0.45 – Spiral pour to 100g
- 1:20 – Spiral pour to 160g
- 1:45 – Spiral pour to 260g
- Finish around 2:35-3:15
Tips for Brewing with the Z1
Here are a few things we’d recommend to make your Z1 brews stand out:
Because the filter area is small, avoid high turbulence and use the melodrip assist.
Coffee roast levels matter: Orea suggests their recipes are designed around light roasted coffees, so with more medium to dark roasts, we suggest you reduce your water temperature, grind finer and adapt your recipes through your pour splits.
Be patient when dialling in: Zero bypass means every drop of water matters, small changes in grind size or flow and pour rate can shift your end brew significantly, so take your time and enjoy the process.
To Finish
The Orea Z1 is a compelling addition to the speciality coffee brewing world – it offers a rare combination of zero-bypass precision, with a fast, approachable workflow. For those who want clarity, consistency and a brewer that can travel as easily as it sits on your kitchen counter, the Orea Z1 is worthy of exploration for everyone.
I really hope you’ve enjoyed reading today’s article on the amazing Orea Z1. Make sure you check out our other articles to help improve your home brewing skills. Until next time, I’ll catch you on the next one.
