MODERN · HARIO SWITCH · 7 MIN READ
Hario Switch: The Dripper That Finally Lets You Steep AND Pour
A V60 with a button. It sounds boring. It changed how a generation of baristas brew at home.
Hario released the Switch in Japan in 2017 and globally in 2019.[1] It is a ceramic V60 with a silicone-and-stainless valve at the cone's tip. Push the lever up and the brewer behaves like an immersion device — water sits on the bed. Push it down and it drains like a regular V60.
Why this is a bigger deal than it sounds
For 60 years, filter brewers came in two flavors: percolation (pour-over: water flows continuously through the grounds — V60, Kalita, Chemex) and immersion (steeping: water and grounds sit together — French press, AeroPress, Clever Dripper). Each has tradeoffs. Percolation gives clarity but is grinder- and technique-dependent. Immersion is forgiving but flat.
The Switch is the first widely available hybrid: you can steep first, then drain. Recipe writers — most famously James Hoffmann in his 2021 "Hario Switch Recipe" video — discovered you can also alternate open and closed phases mid-brew, controlling extraction with a button instead of with kettle dexterity.[2]
Hoffmann's two-switch recipe
- Coffee: 20 g, medium grind (slightly coarser than V60).
- Water: 300 g, 95 °C.
- Filter: standard V60 paper, rinsed. Switch closed.
- 0:00 — Pour 60 g, swirl. Let bloom 45 s, valve closed.
- 0:45 — Pour to 150 g.
- 1:15 — Open the valve. Pour to 300 g.
- Total drawdown finishes around 2:30.
The bloom and first half steep gently; the second pour percolates through a wet, settled bed. The cup is sweeter and rounder than a V60, but cleaner than a French press.
What's it actually good for
- Light, fruity Africans — the extended contact develops sweetness without losing acidity.
- Cheap grinders — immersion phase smooths out a wide particle distribution.
- Decaf — decaffeinated coffees often under-extract; the steep helps a lot.
A unique fact
The valve is the same off-the-shelf silicone seal Hario uses in its tea pots. The whole product is essentially a tea pot lid grafted onto a V60. Hario's R&D lead admitted in a 2021 interview that the Switch sold more units in its first 18 months than the metal V60 had sold in five years.[3]
References
- Hario Co., Ltd. "Switch Immersion Dripper" product page. hario.com
- Hoffmann, James. "The Hario Switch Recipe." (2021). YouTube
- Sprudge interview, "Hario at 100," 2021. sprudge.com