Portland Artist Develops Zero-Waste Design To Brew Coffee

The pour over has become one of the easiest and most popular ways of brewing coffee. But it relies on a filter, which is typically made of paper. Yes, there are alternatives such as stainless steel filters and using a piece of fabric, made of cotton.

But those didn’t cut it for Portland-based Etai Rahmil. He’s a glass artist and he decided in 2018 that he could come up with something better: a reusable glass filter that did the job, but also looked beautiful.

“There are two things that I do everyday, without fail: drink coffee and make glass art,” he says. “One day, we ran out of paper filters in the glass shop, and the idea of combining those two things came to mind. I’m an engineer at heart, so the challenge of using glass to accomplish something like making coffee in a non traditional way was super exciting. Plus, running out of paper filters in the middle of a work day is no fun, which happened way too many times.”

Rahmil started testing out ideas. The first couple iterations didn’t work. It didn’t just have to be eco-friendly but also produce coffee he’d want to drink himself. After six months of experimenting, he decided on the “inverted design,” he says. “To produce an evenly saturating self-regulated pour with minimal agitation we incorporated a diffuser lid that rains onto the coffee grounds, an important part of the brewing process. It cuts down on agitation which lets the bottom cake remain intact.”

Pure Over launched on Kickstarter with his new design in August 2020, amidst the pandemic, when there were a lot of people brewing coffee at home. While it was risky, Rahmil says that the daily art of brewing a cup of coffee had become even more important to keep one’s rituals alive. Turns out, he was right. During the 35-day campaign, he achieved $3,517% of his Kickstarter goal (he had initially set out to raise about $10,000). Instead 5,000 people backed the project, raising $351,745.

Rahmil had found a customer base for a new business, and was inspired by the potential impact it could have on the environment. “We learned that it takes 1.5 million trees to make the 275 billion coffee filters that are produced every year, and that 25,000 filters are used and thrown away in an average coffee drinker’s lifespan. There’s an opportunity for this industry to be kinder on the environment, and we think Pure Over can help eliminate the 750 million paper filters that go to waste each and every day,” he says.

The product comes in plastic-free shipping. He’s cracked the art of shipping glass safely as well, using only cardboard boxes that are shaped to fit his product perfectly, in an effort to minimize packaging waste. And in addition to the filter, he’s designed a simple contemporary glass base that completes the look.

While it’s not a design that’s going to make all coffee aficionados happy, it does offer a zero-waste way of brewing coffee that has its benefits: just wash in the dishwasher and repeat the process the next morning. Plus, it looks beautiful on display —- something that you don’t see with other sustainably-minded products; it’s not compromising on its looks to offer an eco-alternative. Plus, the same design could be creatively used to brew loose leaf tea, if you’re limited on counter space.

The small business — currently a team of four— has also found a way to give back. Rahmil teaches glass blowing and art classes through the Crucible, an Oakland-based nonprofit art school which works to make the arts accessible to everyone by providing scholarships and free classes. Rahmil says that he’ll be teaching more classes in 2023 and his company Pure Over will be making yearly donations to the program to support.

With a coarser grind, Pure Over produces a clean, flavorful brew and less trash. Could this be a win for coffee lovers? Quite possibly.