# Kono Meimon Dripper

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kono-meimon/
Last updated: 2026-10-19

> The Kono Meimon is a Japanese cone dripper with ribs only on the lower part of the cone. Rinse a cone filter, add 12 g of medium coffee and bloom with 30 ml of water at 93°C for 30 seconds. Then pour 50 ml, and two pours of 55 ml about 30 seconds apart, to 190 ml, without letting the bed run dry. It finishes in about 2:30 to 3:00.

## At a glance

- Ratio: 1:15.8 (12 g coffee : 190 g water)
- Grind: Medium (sand)
- Water temperature: 93 °C
- Brew time: about 2:45
- Category: Pour-over & Drip (Percolation)
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Origin: Japan, 1973
- Also known as: Kono dripper, Kōno Meimon, Kono cone

## Steps

1. **Rinse the filter**: Fold a cone paper filter, set it in the Kono and rinse it with hot water. Pour the rinse water away.
2. **Add the coffee**: Add 12 g of coffee, ground medium, and level it.
3. **Bloom**: Pour 30 ml of water at 93°C and wait 30 seconds.
4. **First pour**: Pour 50 ml slowly in the centre.
5. **Second pour**: Pour 55 ml, before the bed drains fully, leaving 2–3 cm of water above the coffee.
6. **Third pour**: Pour the last 55 ml, to 190 ml in total.
7. **Drain**: Let it drain, finishing at about 2:30 to 3:00.

The **Kono Meimon** is a Japanese cone dripper first released in **1973** by Kono's **Coffee Syphon Co.** At first glance it looks like a [V60](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/v60/): a cone with one large hole. The difference is the **ribs**. On the Kono, they only run **part of the way up** the cone, so the paper filter **clings to the smooth upper walls**, which slows the flow. It's closely tied to a slow, patient, **drip-by-drip** way of pouring. Here's a recipe to start with and how it differs from a V60.

## The short version

- **A cone with one large hole** and **short ribs** low in the cone.
- **The paper seals higher up**, slowing the flow.
- **Project Barista's recipe:** 12 g of medium coffee to 190 ml at 93°C.
- **About 2:30 to 3:00** with that recipe; much longer with a drip-by-drip pour.
- **Released in 1973** as a simpler alternative to the nel cloth filter.



## How does the Kono work?

Most of the water flows out through the **single large hole** at the bottom, as in a V60. But where the V60's ribs run the full height of the cone, the Kono's are **shorter**, so the upper part of the paper **seals against the wall**. Water can't escape around the sides as easily, so more of it goes through the coffee bed, and the flow is **slower and more controlled**. Kurasu counts **twelve ribs** on the Meimon, running from the bottom to the middle of the cone. Project Barista notes that other Kono versions, such as the Classic, have longer ribs, so check the one you buy.

The Meimon is made of **acrylic resin**. The common two-cup model, the **MDN-21**, measures about 12 × 10.3 × 8 cm.

## How much coffee and water should I use?

**Project Barista's Kono recipe:**

| | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Coffee | 12 g, medium to medium-coarse |
| Water | 190 ml at 93°C (see the note on heat below) |
| Ratio | About 1:16 |
| Pours | 30 ml bloom, then 50, 55 and 55 ml |
| Total time | About 2:30 to 3:00 |

## What grind size should I use?

**Medium**, or a touch coarser. Because the Kono's flow is slower than a V60's, many people grind a little coarser than they would for a V60.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with medium highlighted for the Kono Meimon](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#medium "Start around medium for the Kono.")

## How do you brew with a Kono, step by step?

1. **Rinse a cone filter** in the Kono and pour the water away.
2. **Add 12 g** of medium coffee.
3. **Bloom** with 30 ml at 93°C for 30 seconds.
4. **Pour 50 ml** slowly in the centre.
5. **Pour 55 ml**, before the bed drains fully: Project Barista leaves 2–3 cm of water above the coffee.
6. **Pour the last 55 ml**, to 190 ml.
7. **Let it drain**, finishing at about 2:30 to 3:00.

Brew mode on this page times each pour for you.

## What is the Kono drip-by-drip method?

The Kono is closely linked with a very slow pour. As Coffee Chronicler describes it, the kettle is held as close to the coffee as possible, and **small drops** of water are poured continuously into the **centre** of the bed. It's the same technique used with the nel cloth filter. It takes practice and a kettle with fine control, and it's very different from the circular pours usually used with a V60.

## Kono vs V60

| | Kono Meimon | [V60](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/v60/) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ribs | Short, low in the cone | Spiral, full height |
| Paper | Clings to the upper walls | Free to vent all the way up |
| Flow | Slower, more controlled | Faster |
| Typical pour | Slow, central, often drip by drip | Circular pulses |
| First made | 1973 | 2004 |

## Where does the Kono come from?

Kono's **Coffee Syphon Co.**, founded in **1925** and long known for its siphon brewers, released the **Meimon** in **1973** after about five years of development. According to Ayanoma, a café that uses it, the dripper was developed with the coffee researcher **Makoto Inoue**, to make the flavour of **nel** flannel filters, then the standard in kissaten, simple for anyone to reproduce. Project Barista says the first version was called the **Drip Meijin**. Some sources call it the first Japanese cone with a large hole and ribs, but others are more cautious, so I wouldn't rely on the "first".

*General guidance only. Take care with hot water. Kurasu says the supplier rates the resin Meimon to 90°C, and Project Barista notes it tends to crack above that, even though its recipe uses 93°C. Kurasu keeps using cracked ones as long as they don't leak, but check the care instructions for yours.*

## Kono vs other methods

- **[V60](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/v60/):** the fully ribbed cone.
- **[Nel drip](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/nel-drip/):** the flannel method the Kono was designed to simplify.
- **[Kalita Wave](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kalita-wave/):** a flat-bottomed dripper with three small holes.
- **[Origami dripper](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/origami-dripper/):** a ceramic cone with deep folds.

Explore every pour-over method in the [pour-over chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/pour-over/).

## Words used in this guide

- [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.
- [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.

## FAQs

### What's special about the Kono Meimon?

Its ribs only run part of the way up the cone, so the paper filter seals against the smooth upper walls. That slows the flow compared with a fully ribbed cone, and suits slow, controlled pouring.

### Kono vs V60?

Both are cone drippers with one large hole. The V60's spiral ribs run the whole height of the cone; the Kono's are shorter, so the paper clings higher up. They're brewed differently too: the Kono is often brewed with a slow, drip-by-drip pour in the centre.

### What is the Kono drip-by-drip method?

A very slow pour: the kettle is held close to the coffee and small, steady drips fall into the centre of the bed. It's the technique traditionally used with both the Kono and the nel cloth filter, and it takes practice and a kettle with fine control.

### When was the Kono Meimon made?

Kono's Coffee Syphon Co. released it in 1973, after about five years of development, together with the coffee researcher Makoto Inoue. It was intended as a simpler way to get the flavour of the nel cloth filters used in kissaten.

### What filters does the Kono use?

Cone-shaped paper filters in the matching size. Kono makes its own. The common Meimon MDN-21 is a two-cup dripper.

## Sources

- [Our favourite Kono Meimon dripper](https://kurasu.kyoto/blogs/kurasu-journal/kono-meimon-dripper-in-seven-colours)
- [Kono dripper: recipe and brewing guide](https://projectbarista.com/what-is-pour-over-coffee/kono-dripper-recipe/)
- [Why we use the conical dripper by Coffee Syphon Co.](https://ayanoma.ge/en/kono/)
- [Kono Meimon vs Hario V60](https://www.home-barista.com/brewing/kono-meimon-vs-hario-v60-t45835.html)
- [The evolution of pour-over coffee](https://coffeechronicler.com/what-is-pour-over-coffee/)
- [Kono Meimon Japanese pour-over coffee dripper for 2 cups (MDN-21)](https://japanesetaste.com/products/kono-meimon-coffee-dripper-for-2-cups-pour-over-brewer-mdn-21)