Hario V60 02 vs Kalita Wave 185
The Hario V60 at $30 rewards pour technique with more control and slightly brighter, more nuanced cups, making it the enthusiast's choice. The Kalita Wave 185 at $39 is more forgiving: its flat bed and three small holes blunt pour mistakes for consistent results every time. Pick the V60 to dial in and improve; pick the Kalita to brew great coffee without fuss.
Spec face-off
Bars scaled to the higher value. Coloured = wins that spec.
Full specifications
Strengths & weaknesses
Full comparison
The Hario V60 02 ($30) and Kalita Wave 185 ($39) are the two most popular single-cup pour-over drippers, and they sit at opposite ends of the control-versus-forgiveness spectrum. The $9 gap is irrelevant: this is a technique decision.
The V60 is a conical dripper with a single large hole and spiral ribs. That open design gives the brewer maximum control: your pour speed, agitation, and timing all shape the cup, which means a skilled pourer can extract beautiful, nuanced, bright coffee, and a careless one can channel and under-extract. It rewards a gooseneck kettle and a bit of practice.
The Kalita Wave is the more forgiving design. Its flat bottom and three small holes regulate flow and keep the coffee bed shallow and level, so water contacts the grounds evenly regardless of how precisely you pour. The result is high cup-to-cup consistency with far less sensitivity to technique or kettle choice, at the cost of the V60's ceiling for control and that last bit of clarity enthusiasts chase.
The one practical catch on the Kalita is filters: it requires proprietary flat-bottom wave filters that cost more and aren't as ubiquitous as the V60's widely available cones. Buy the V60 if you enjoy dialing in, want maximum control, and don't mind a learning curve. Buy the Kalita Wave if you want consistently good coffee with minimal fuss; it's the better first serious pour-over for most people.