Be honest: how often do you clean your coffee brewing equipment? I’m not judging, but I do want to call attention to how important it is to keep your coffee gear clean and shiny.

Your JavaPresse Pour Over Dripper is designed to last a lifetime - or longer. If you take care of it, you’ll never have to buy another pour over cone. If you don’t care for it by cleaning it, you’ll run into some serious problems.

When your used coffee grounds cool, the natural oils begin to jellify. These oils, though tasty in your coffee, can eventually build up and clog the micro holes that make up the dripper’s filter. When enough holes are gelled over, your coffee suffers. After a long while, the oils can even go rancid, destroying your coffee’ flavor.

Luckily, avoiding this coffee doom is easy.

Read: The Ultimate Guide To Pour Over Coffee

Immediately After Brewing

I know how tempting it can be to leave the dripper on the counter once you’ve brewed your coffee. The aromas rise and find your nostrils, begging you to leave the dripper behind while you enjoy your coffee.

However, an immediate cleaning is the best cleaning. It keeps the oils from cooling and plugging up the filter holes and keeps you from having to perform deeper cleanings more frequently.

Set you coffee aside for 30 seconds while you do one of two things. Trust me, it’ll be okay.

1. Quickly wash your dripper with a small bit of hot, soapy water.
2. Throw it in the dishwasher and start it.

Both of these options are quick, painless, and don’t keep you from your coffee for long. This simple step is going to make your dripper last a lifetime.

Read: Making Iced Pour Over Coffee With The JavaPresse Dripper

Monthly Deep Clean

Even with regular care, your dripper may still collect more stubborn oils and minerals. Calcium is a particularly troublesome mineral. It will build and build despite regular cleaning, especially if your local water source has a high calcium hardness rating.

Follow these steps once a month to break down the most stubborn oils and minerals.

The Vinegar Solution

Using vinegar to deep clean your dripper is simple and painless. Since you probably already have vinegar, you don’t need to buy anything special.

1. Submerge the dripper in a 1:3 vinegar:water solution and boil for 20 minutes.
2. Let the solution work its magic as the dripper soaks for for 4-8 hours (overnight is fine).
3. Wash the dripper with soapy water or throw it in the dishwasher to clean away the broken down oils and minerals.

The Oxiclean Solution

Oxiclean provides one of the quickest ways to deeply clean your dripper.

1. Mix 4-5 tablespoons of Oxiclean with enough hot water to submerge the dripper.
2. Submerge the dripper and let it soak for 1 hour.
3. Throw it in the dishwasher or scrub it with soapy water.

The Hydrogen Peroxide Solution

This solution requires some more intense ingredients, but there’s a chance you already have them lying around somewhere.

1. Mix 2-3 tablespoons of citric acid and hydrogen peroxide per 2 cups of warm water.
2. Mix in some dishwashing soap.
3. Soak the dripper for 4 hours.
4. Clean thoroughly with soapy water or throw in the dishwasher.

If you have a dedicated coffee cleaner such as Cafiza or Urnex, feel free to use it for the monthly deep cleaning.

A Clean Dripper Is A Happy Dripper

If you keep your dripper clean, it’ll keep you happy by brewing incredible coffee without any flavor tains. If you let cleaning fall by the wayside, your coffee quality will eventually suffer.

Love your JavaPresse Dripper and it’ll love you back.

For more information on using the JavaPresse Pour Over Dripper to brew incredible coffee that’s rich and rewarding, check out our Pour Over Educational Area.

Happy brewing!