Gourmia Pourista GCM3350 Fully Automatic Pour Over
A coffee maker for the discerning cyclist and coffee lover.
The intertwinement of cycling and coffee is fodder for many a story. The story almost always begins with time in the early morning dedicated to that first warm cup of coffee. Whatever epic day on the bike comes after, it all starts with coffee. With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the Gourmia Pourista GCM3350 Fully Automatic Pour Over Coffee Brewer.
The idea of reviewing a coffee maker has been percolating, pardon the pun, for a long time. The problem is I’m a bit of a coffee snob. There are those that dive deeper but I do what I can to make good coffee. Pour over is my coffee brewing preference and switching to a basic drip coffee maker wasn’t an option.
The Gourmia Pourista GCM3350 isn’t a drip coffee maker. Instead it’s pour over, with help.
In my mind pour over is a perfect opportunity for some automation. This might be the first crack in my coffee credentials but I do have limits to my quest for good coffee. Pour over might be better than drip, and fresh grinding is worth it, but I don’t have a fancy kettle. I’m not precise with my pouring method and before an early morning ride I appreciate all the help I can get. This is where the Gourmia GCM3350 fully automatic pour over makes an entrance.
The Gourmia GCM3350 isn’t your typical coffee maker. It doesn’t have a warming plate and it doesn’t work all that well for refills. When I started this review I expected that I’d be talking about is scheduling coffee. I wanted to be able to set the alarm on a coffee maker so that I could walk into the kitchen before an early ride and have coffee waiting. Things have taken a turn after spending some time with the Gourmia GCM3350. It’s most useful feature is not an ability to schedule brewing but rather it’s predictability.
The best feature of the Gourmia GCM3350 is it’s predictability. It’s the perfect lab partner for coffee experimentation.
Coffee is science. There are a set of variables and it’s up to anyone who cares to conduct experiments until arriving at the perfect cup. When experimenting the most important thing is control of what changes and what doesn’t. This is what makes the Gourmia GCM3350 perfect.
I never actually got the scheduling functions to work. The numbers displayed on the clock don’t seem to have any connection to what time it actually is. If I follow the directions to set the clock the time is correct but as soon as I switch out of the setting mode a random number appears. Gourmia has customer service reps at the ready and I expect they would be helpful. As I’ve gotten to know the machine there was never a reason to bother with it though. With water and coffee grounds loaded into the machine it takes only a few minutes from start to finish.
What I have spent a lot of time doing is experimenting. The Gourmia GCM3350 has an integrated scale and settings for the desired temperature as well as water to coffee ratio. Gourmia provides complete control. The water will always cascade over the beans in the exact same circular pattern. The machine will always allow an initial pour to wet the grounds and release CO2. The integrated scale assures there will never be too little, or too much, precisely heated water added. From this foundation the owner can adjust as desired.
An integrated scale makes measuring beans by volume no big deal.
The included, reusable, filter flowed differently than the paper filters I had used before. I also moved and lost the instant hot water spout I had used for years. These were the foundations of new experimentation and I started by playing with the brewing temperature. I spent weeks moving up and down trying to find the combination I liked. Then I realized I actually needed to change the ratio. I had to account for the different extraction of the precise pouring and different filter. From time to time I also like to change up my coffee so there’s that variable as well. In the end I found what I liked and it was the predictability of the Gourmia GCM3350 fully automatic pour over that got me there.
When I have an early morning ride I grind the beans the night before so as not to wake anyone. I put the water in the reservoir and I have my cup waiting. When I come into the kitchen I’m greeted with a beautiful machine that makes perfect coffee every time I ask it to. I expected to write about scheduling coffee for early mornings. As it turns out that isn’t the story that the Gourmia GCM3350 has to tell. That doesn’t make it any less intriguing though. If you are as serious about your coffee as most cyclists the Gourmia GCM3350 fully automatic pour over is a machine worth checking out.
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