Melitta Pour-Over Coffee Maker Review: Simple, Cheap, and Makes Great Coffee

I'm about to let you in on a secret: you don't need an expensive coffee maker to brew excellent coffee. This $10 Melitta pour-over cone has been my daily driver for five years.

Here's how it works: you put a paper filter in the cone, add ground coffee, place it on your mug, and pour hot water over it slowly. That's it. In 3-4 minutes, you have a cup of coffee that rivals anything from a $200 machine.

The pour-over method extracts coffee flavors beautifully - you'll taste notes you never noticed with drip machines. It's how coffee was made for decades before Mr. Coffee came along, and it still works perfectly.

The Melitta plastic cone is virtually indestructible. I've dropped it countless times. It takes up zero counter space - it lives in a drawer. There's nothing to break, no carafe to crack, no heating element to die.

The filters are cheap - about $3 for 100 at most grocery stores. You'll spend more on good coffee beans (which you should - life's too short for bad coffee).

For camping, travel, power outages, or just everyday use, this is the smart choice. The $10 investment pays for itself almost immediately versus coffee shop prices.