title_body: How does Nel Drip compare to paper filtered Pour Over?
upvoted_answer: Lets answer this question with some data! My company uses machine learning, data science, and sensory science to build flavor profiling and quality control tools for the craft beverage industry. 
  
  Lets use some of our 9,000+ full sensory reviews to examine the difference between Paper Filter Pour-over coffees and the Nel.
  
  TL;DR: Nel takes a ton of work to do properly and consistently - but produces a distinct and interesting flavor profile difficult if not impossible to achieve through other brewing methods. 
  
  
  
  The Data
  
  
    Data 
    
    7,371 Reviews of Central American Washed Coffees brewed in Chemex, Beehouse, kalita wave, or  V60 with a paper filter
    
    Average of 7 day old coffee with a SD of 5 days, the data is evenly dichotomously split between a ratio of 40:600 and 35:400 (up-dose) grams of water : grams of coffee
    
    
    
    2,143 Reviews of Central American Washed Coffees brewed in Nel;
    
    Average of 30 day old coffee with a SD of 10 days, brewed at approx 50g coffee to 180 ml water
  
  
  
  
  Differences in the Beans - before preparation
  
  Proper Nel uses old beans, usually a month past roast - often considered stale! This is a historical antecedent - fresh coffee was hard to come by when the dutch we're the only trading partner (for some time, and the only one shipping coffee) for Japan.
  
  Pour-Over Methods produce the best flavor profile using fresh coffee (less than 14 days from roast, on average). 
  
  
  
  Differences in Preparation
  
  Nel: Very high coffee to water ratio, hovering around ~50g coffee to ~200g water. Very slow pour. It should take at least 6 min to pour the water through the grinds.
  
  Pour-over: More standard coffee to water ration, often around ~40g coffee to ~600g water. Standard pour rate, with total brew time around 4 min. 
  
  
  
  Differences in Flavor Profile
  
  For this section of the analysis, I will be using the Gastrograph to communicate complex flavor profiles consistently and simply. On the Gastrograph, the intensity is shown ranging from 0, the center of the graph, to 5 (the outer most point).
  
  Let's look at the difference in flavor profiles of Central American Coffees below: 
  
  Pour-over methods using paper filters: 
  
  
  
  And we can compare to: 
  
  
  
  
  
  Want further analysis? Just leave a comment!