Want Pour-Over Coffee Without the Fuss? This $65 Machine Does the Hard Work for You

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Written by  Pamela Vachon

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Pamela Vachon Contributor

Pamela is a freelance food and travel writer based in Astoria, Queens. While she writes about most things edible and potable (and accessories dedicated to those topics,) her real areas of expertise are cheese, chocolate, cooking and wine. She's a culinary school grad, certified sommelier, former bartender and fine dining captain with 10 years in the industry. When not sitting at the keys, she leads in-home cheese classes, wine tastings and cocktail demonstrations.

Expertise Wine | Cheese | Chocolate | Cooking

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Tru Automatic Pour Over Coffee Maker

Pros

• Small size to fit in any kitchen
• Lightweight and easy to move around for storage
• Inexpensive Adjustable temperature
• Consistency of brewing
• Easy to operate
• Thoughtful design
• Carafe and plastic dripper are dishwasher safe

Cons

• "Automatic" operation requires several steps/stages and feels long
• Only one-cup capacity

• Want Pour-Over Coffee Without the Fuss? This $65 Machine Does the Hard Work for You
• Tru Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker at a glance
• How the Tru coffee maker works
• What I liked
• What I didn't like
• Final verdict

Pour-over brewing is hailed for delivering balanced coffee, but the process is objectively fussier than other methods. Unlike automatic drip machines, pour-over brewing demands precise ratios, careful temperature control and proper timing. The payoff for this extra effort? It's one of the most affordable ways to make outstanding coffee.

Tru's semi-automatic brewer delivers pour-over precision while streamlining the process.

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Tru's Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker mimics the mechanics of pour-over coffee, minus (some of) the fuss. Priced at just $65 at Walmart or Amazon (regularly $90), it's still on the relatively inexpensive side, where automatic coffee makers are concerned. If you want to dabble in pour-over for a more precise cup, here's everything you need to know about the Tru Automatic Coffee Maker before buying.

Tru Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker at a glance

• Style: Semi-automatic pour-over
• Dimensions: ‎4.10" W x 9.67" D x 9.74" H
• Watts: 1,000
• Weight: 3 pounds
• Price $65 (regularly $90)

How the Tru coffee maker works

You can precisely control water temperature and the ratio of water to coffee grinds, just as with manual pour-over brewing.

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The Tru Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker automates the pour-over process, allowing for precise temperature adjustment. It has an easy-to-operate digital panel and measures the volume of water with a helpful marker inside the reservoir. 

It mimics the circulating action of the pour-over process with its motion water spout, which provides the necessary agitation and therefore better extraction of coffee grounds. The program for brewing coffee also includes a step for "blooming" the grounds, whereby a measured amount of water is released to steep the grounds and promote extraction before the full amount of water is dispensed to complete the brew.

A unique spout mimics the circulating action of the pour-over process.

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The operation of the Tru Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker happens over two cycles. 

First, a rinse cycle heats the water in the reservoir, dispenses a small amount of water which purposefully moistens the paper filter, and heats the plastic dripper and glass carafe. That water is tossed, and grounds are added to the filter inside the plastic dripper.

Then, a brew cycle automates the pour-over process in three stages: an initial dispensing of water to bloom the grounds and two further cycles to dispense the remaining water until completion. All of this is managed via a digital touchscreen that is easy to operate and gives a visual representation, though not an actual timer, of how much of the cycle remains while brewing.

What I liked 

Kitchen scale not included, but 16 grams is the recommended dose.

Pamela Vachon/CNET

What I liked most about the Tru Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker is the final product, plain and simple. Suppose you've been mostly drinking K-Cup or automatic drip machine coffee, or even French press coffee. This will doubtlessly be an upgrade, provided you're using appropriate grounds for a pour-over process: medium-fine grind, high-quality, freshly roasted beans. 

As someone whose coffee-making supplies have varied over the years between the types above, plus variations on espresso machines, I found the coffee from this machine to be balanced, flavorful and a perfect temperature for sipping.

Read more: Want a Perfect Pot of Coffee? Experts Suggest the 'Golden Ratio.' Here's How it Works

Price-wise, this isn't a massive investment. Its footprint is tiny among coffee machines, even if it's likely more expensive and requires more space than typical pour-over accessories. As someone not likely to commit to learning all of the steps of pour-over, though, I liked that it automated the trickiest parts. 

The temperature control was easy to change, and I experimented with the different settings to determine which was right for me. There was a noticeable difference in flavor between the settings.

Its design is thoughtful, and the coffee carafe seems sturdy and high-quality, while the machine is very lightweight. Its small size means it's easy to store in a cabinet or on a shelf when not in use, if counter space in your kitchen is at a premium. The moving parts -- carafe and plastic dripper -- are dishwasher safe.

What I didn't like 

While it's far simpler than making pour-over manually, there is still some attention to detail required.

Pamel Vachon/CNET

While the Tru Automatic Pour-Over Coffee Maker requires less effort than an actual pour-over, and the resulting coffee was to my standards, it might still feel fussy to some. This model isn't a set-it-and-forget-it operation, such as K-Cup machines or automatic drip coffee makers. 

The rinse cycle is its own step, lasting 1 to 2 minutes, according to the instructions. After the rinse cycle, you dump the dispensed water and add measured grounds. The manual advises 16 grams, but also offers 1.5 to 2 tablespoons as a guide, providing a significant variance in the water-to-grinds ratio. Once you hit brew, the cycle moves through various phases, according to the manual: 

• 35mL of hot water dispensed over approximately 10 seconds
• 30-second pause to allow coffee grounds to bloom
• 125mL of hot water dispensed over approximately 40 seconds
• 5 to 10 seconds pause in brewing
• 95mL of hot water dispensed over approximately 25 to 30 seconds to completion

The whole operation, including time to measure and load the grounds, takes less than 5 minutes, but it feels like something you have to preside over. And that's to produce a single cup of coffee -- if you were making brew for two, it's kind of a long time spent managing the mechanics of an "automatic" machine. 

The plate below the carafe is also fussy. If it's not perfectly in place, the water will heat, but nothing will be dispensed.

Final verdict 

The Tru delivered precise coffee brewing in a mostly automatic setup.

Pamela Vachon/CNET

I really liked the cup of coffee this machine produced. Still, I feel like there's a limited and specific target market here: single households who absolutely prefer pour-over, and are willing to put up the small fuss required for this machine rather than the big fuss that actual pour-over necessitates.