# Karlsbad Coffee Pot

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/karlsbad-drip/
Last updated: 2026-10-19

> A Karlsbad coffee pot is a porcelain pour-over with a glazed porcelain filter and no paper. Warm the pot with hot water, put about 22 g of very coarse coffee in the filter and wet it with a little water at 96°C. After 30 seconds, pour the rest, 350 ml in all, through the water distributor. It takes 4 to 5 minutes; then lift the filter off and put the lid on.

## At a glance

- Ratio: 1:16 (22 g coffee : 350 g water)
- Grind: Extra coarse
- Water temperature: 96 °C
- Brew time: about 4:30
- Category: Metal Gravity Drip & Percolation (Percolation)
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Origin: Czech Republic, 1878
- Also known as: Karlsbader Kanne, Karlsbader Kaffeemaschine, Bayreuth coffee pot, Bayreuther Kanne, Carlsbad coffee maker

## Steps

1. **Warm the pot**: Pour hot water into the pot to warm it, so the coffee stays hot for longer, then tip it out.
2. **Add the coffee**: Put about 22 g of very coarse coffee in the porcelain filter and set the filter on the pot.
3. **Bloom**: Wet the coffee with a little water at about 96°C and wait 30 seconds while it swells.
4. **Pour through the distributor**: Set the water distributor on the filter and carefully pour in the rest of the water, to 350 ml in total.
5. **Let it drip**: Let it drip through the porcelain filter, which takes 4 to 5 minutes in all for 350 ml, and up to 7 for a bigger pot.
6. **Lift off and serve**: When the water has passed through, lift the filter off, put the lid on the pot and serve.

The **Karlsbad coffee pot**, or **Karlsbader Kanne**, is a pour-over made entirely of **porcelain**. It has four parts: the **pot**, a **filter** with a fine, **double-glazed porcelain sieve**, a **water distributor** that sits on top of the filter, and a **lid**. Hot water poured into the distributor spreads over coarse coffee in the filter and drips into the pot. There's **no paper**, so the coffee keeps more of its oils than paper-filtered coffee, though the porcelain sieve still holds back the grounds. Here's how to use one.

## The short version

- **All porcelain**: pot, filter, water distributor and lid.
- **No paper**: a fine, glazed porcelain sieve does the filtering.
- **Coffee Circle's recipe:** 22 g of very coarse coffee, 350 ml of water at 96°C.
- **Bloom for 30 seconds**, then pour the rest through the distributor.
- **4 to 5 minutes** in total.



## How does a Karlsbad pot work?

1. **The water distributor** sits on top of the filter. According to Wikipedia, it has six large round holes (more on bigger models) that spread the water evenly and stop it stirring up the coffee bed.
2. **The filter** holds the coffee. Its base is a fine **porcelain sieve**, glazed so the coffee doesn't stick, with narrow slits that let the coffee through but hold back the grounds.
3. **The pot** collects the coffee. When it's done, you lift the filter off and put the lid on.

Roastmarket suggests **warming the pot** with hot water first, so the coffee stays hot for longer.

## How much coffee and water should I use?

| | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Coffee | 22 g (Coffee Circle) to 25 g (Roastmarket) |
| Water | 350 ml |
| Temperature | About 95–96°C |
| Grind | Very coarse |
| Time | 4 to 5 minutes (up to 7 for a bigger pot) |

For a larger pot, keep the ratio, roughly **1:14 to 1:16**: Roastmarket uses **40 g** for an **850 ml** pot. Walküre, the maker, recommended **8–10 g per cup**, or 16 g for the first two cups and 6 g for each cup after that.

According to Coffeeness, the classic Karlsbad pot comes in **0.38 litre** and **0.85 litre** sizes, and the Bayreuth pot in **0.35 litre** and **0.7 litre**.

## What grind size should I use?

**Very coarse**: Coffee Circle says the coarsest setting on your grinder, and Wikipedia describes grains about the size of salt or sugar, roughly semolina. The porcelain sieve's slits are wider than paper's pores, so anything finer can **slip through** into the pot or **clog** the sieve.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with extra coarse highlighted for the Karlsbad coffee pot](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#extra-coarse "The Karlsbad pot needs the coarsest grind.")

## How do you use a Karlsbad pot, step by step?

These steps follow **Coffee Circle's** guide, with Roastmarket's warming step first:

1. **Warm the pot** with hot water, then tip it out.
2. **Add about 22 g** of very coarse coffee to the filter, and set it on the pot.
3. **Bloom:** wet the coffee with a little water at about 96°C and wait **30 seconds**.
4. **Set the distributor** on the filter and pour in the rest of the water, to 350 ml.
5. **Let it drip**, 4 to 5 minutes in all (Roastmarket says up to 7 for a bigger pot).
6. **Lift the filter off**, put the lid on and serve.

Brew mode on this page times the bloom and the drip for you.

## Where does the Karlsbad pot come from?

According to **Wikipedia**, the original **Karlsbader Kaffeemaschine** came from the **Thun porcelain factory** at Klösterle an der Eger (now Klášterec nad Ohří), near **Karlsbad**, the spa town now called **Karlovy Vary** in the Czech Republic. The factory filed a German patent for its **cross-slit porcelain sieve** on **5 April 1878**. Roastmarket traces the idea further back, to French drip pots. The pots were popular in **Viennese coffee houses**, especially before the First World War.

Many porcelain makers produced them. SPM, the Bayreuth firm that became Walküre, introduced the classic rounded, pear-shaped form in 1913, and in **2007** designer Daniel Eltner created the slimmer **Bayreuth** pot for Walküre. **Friesland** has made the Bayreuth pot since 2020, and Wikipedia lists it as the only remaining maker of either. Its Varel factory burnt down on 29 June 2023.

## Karlsbad pot vs other pour-overs

| | Karlsbad pot | [Melitta](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/melitta/) | [Chemex](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/chemex/) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Filter | Glazed porcelain sieve | Paper | Thick paper |
| Grind | Very coarse | Medium-fine | Medium-coarse |
| Cup | Fuller, with more oils | Clean | Very clean |
| Material | All porcelain | Plastic or porcelain | Glass |

## How do you clean it?

Tip out the grounds and rinse the porcelain sieve under running water from underneath, so nothing stays in the slits. Avoid harsh scourers, which can damage the glaze.

*General guidance only. Porcelain gets very hot and can break if dropped or heated unevenly: hold the pot by its handle, pour carefully, and follow the maker's care instructions.*

## Karlsbad pot vs other methods

- **[Melitta](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/melitta/):** the paper-filter pour-over from Germany.
- **[Chemex](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/chemex/):** glass, with a thick paper filter.
- **[Neapolitan flip pot](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/neapolitan-flip/):** another early drip pot, flipped to start it.
- **[South Indian filter coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/south-indian-filter/):** a slow metal drip for a strong decoction.

Explore every metal-filter method in the [gravity chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/gravity-metal/).

## Words used in this guide

- [Pour-over](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/pour-over/): Pour-over is a way of making filter coffee by hand: you pour hot water over ground coffee in a filter cone and let it drip through into a cup or jug.
- [Bloom](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/bloom/): The bloom is the first small pour of water in a brew, usually 2–3 times the weight of the coffee, followed by a 30–45 second pause.
- [Agitation](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/agitation/): Agitation is any movement of the coffee and water during brewing, such as stirring, swirling or a turbulent pour.

## FAQs

### How does a Karlsbad coffee pot work?

It's a pour-over made entirely of porcelain. Hot water is poured through a distributor onto coarse coffee in a filter with a fine, glazed porcelain sieve, and drips into the pot below. There's no paper filter.

### How much coffee do you use in a Karlsbad pot?

Coffee Circle uses 22 g of coarse coffee for 350 ml of water at 96°C. Roastmarket suggests 25 g for a 350 ml pot and 40 g for an 850 ml one. Walküre, the maker, recommended 8–10 g per cup.

### What grind does a Karlsbad pot need?

Very coarse: Coffee Circle says the coarsest setting, and Wikipedia describes grains about the size of salt or sugar. Anything finer can slip through the porcelain sieve or clog it.

### What's the difference between a Karlsbad and a Bayreuth pot?

The Bayreuth pot is a modern redesign of the Karlsbad pot, created in 2007 by designer Daniel Eltner for Walküre in Bayreuth, Germany, with a slimmer, straighter shape. It has the same four porcelain parts and is used the same way.

### Where does the Karlsbad coffee pot come from?

Wikipedia says the original came from the Thun porcelain factory near Karlsbad, now Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, which patented a cross-slit porcelain sieve in 1878.

## Sources

- [Step by step: coffee preparation with the Karlsbader pot and the Bayreuther pot](https://coffeecircle.com/en/e/karlsbader-coffee-maker-how-to)
- [Karlsbad-style coffee maker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlsbad-style_coffee_maker)
- [Karlsbader Kanne](https://www.roastmarket.de/magazin/karlsbader-kanne/)
- [Making coffee with the classic Karlsbader](https://www.coffeeness.de/en/karlsbader-coffee-maker/)