# Sowden SoftBrew

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/soft-brew/
Last updated: 2026-10-19

> A Sowden SoftBrew is a porcelain coffee pot with a fine stainless steel filter fixed inside. Put medium-ground coffee in the filter, using Sowden's scoop guide for your pot size, and pour in almost boiling water. Leave it for about 4 minutes, or up to 8 as the directions allow, then pour: the grounds stay in the filter, so there's no plunger.

## At a glance

- Ratio: Sowden scoop guide by pot size
- Grind: Medium (sand)
- Water temperature: Almost boiling
- Brew time: about 4:00
- Category: Immersion & Steeping (Immersion)
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Origin: United Kingdom
- Also known as: SoftBrew coffee pot, Soft Brew Pot, Sowden coffee pot, Sowden Oscar

## Steps

1. **Add the coffee**: Put medium-ground coffee in the filter, using Sowden's guide, such as 3 to 5 scoops for the 4-cup pot. Warming the pot first is optional.
2. **Pour**: Pour in almost boiling water and put the lid on.
3. **Steep**: Leave it to steep for about 4 minutes. The directions allow anywhere from 4 to 8 minutes.
4. **Pour**: Pour straight from the pot. The grounds stay in the filter, so there's nothing to press.

The **Sowden SoftBrew** is a coffee pot that looks like a teapot. Inside its **porcelain** body sits a fine **stainless steel filter**, made by **photo-etching** thousands of tiny holes into the metal. You put the coffee in the filter, pour in hot water, leave it to steep and pour. The grounds stay in the filter, so there's no plunger, no paper and nothing to press. It was designed by **George Sowden**. Here's how to use one.

## The short version

- **A porcelain pot with a fine steel filter** fixed inside.
- **Medium-ground coffee** to start, using **Sowden's scoop guide** for your pot.
- **Almost boiling water**, as George Sowden uses.
- **Steep for about 4 minutes**, then pour. Some steep longer.
- **No plunger and no paper**: the filter holds the grounds.



## How does the SoftBrew work?

It's a **full immersion** brewer, like a [French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/). The coffee steeps in hot water inside the **filter**, a cylinder of thin stainless steel with a very large number of tiny holes, which retailers say are made by photo-etching. Sowden's own leaflet says it has **up to 160,000 holes**, fine enough to block all grounds larger than **150 microns**. When it's ready, you just pour: the filter keeps the grounds in the pot.

## How much coffee and water should I use?

Sowden's leaflet gives the coffee in **scoops** by pot size:

| Pot | Coffee |
| --- | --- |
| 2-cup | 2 to 3 scoops |
| 4-cup | 3 to 5 scoops |
| 8-cup | 6 to 8 scoops |
| 12-cup | 10 to 12 scoops |

Start in the middle and adjust: more coffee for a stronger cup, less for a lighter one. Coffee Companion's reviewer used **40 g to 24 oz** of water.

## What grind size should I use?

**Start with medium.** George Sowden says there's **no recommended grind** and suggests starting at medium; he uses quite a fine grind himself, though not as fine as espresso. Coffee Companion also suggests grinding finer than for a French press. Coffee Review's tester found a fair amount of **sediment** in the cup, so go coarser if that bothers you.

![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with medium highlighted for the Sowden SoftBrew](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#medium "Sowden suggests starting with a medium grind.")

## How do you use a SoftBrew, step by step?

1. **Add the coffee** to the filter, using the scoop guide. Warming the pot first is optional: Coffee Review's tester got his best results without it.
2. **Pour in almost boiling water** and put the lid on.
3. **Steep for about 4 minutes.**
4. **Pour.** The grounds stay in the filter.

Sowden also suggests **cold brew**: fill the pot with cold water and leave it in the fridge overnight, for about eight hours.

Brew mode on this page times the steep for you.

## How long should it steep?

**About 4 minutes** is a good start. The directions allow **4 to 8 minutes**, George Sowden says his takes about four, and Coffee Review's tester poured his first cup at four. Because the grounds stay in the water while it sits, the coffee keeps brewing: if it turns bitter, pour it all into cups or a jug once it's ready.

## SoftBrew vs other steeped brewers

| | SoftBrew | [French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/) | [Espro Press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/espro-press/) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Filter | Fixed, fine steel cylinder | Mesh plunger | Double micro-filter plunger |
| To serve | Just pour | Press, then pour | Press, then pour |
| Vessel | Porcelain | Glass or steel | Steel or glass |
| After brewing | Keeps steeping | Keeps steeping | Espro says it stops |

## Who designed the SoftBrew?

**George Sowden**, a designer best known for his work with the **Memphis group**, founded in Milan in 1981. SoftBrew coffee pots are sold under his own **Sowden** brand, in several models, including **Oskar** and **Jakob**, and in sizes from **2 to 12 cups**. He has also designed SoftBrew teapots.

## How do you clean it?

Tip out the grounds, rinse the filter well from the inside out so the tiny holes don't clog, and wash the pot. If the filter starts to slow down, check the care instructions that came with yours.

*General guidance only. Porcelain and hot water can scald: hold the pot by its handle, pour carefully, and follow the care instructions for your SoftBrew.*

## SoftBrew vs other methods

- **[French press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/french-press/):** the classic steep-and-press brewer.
- **[Espro Press](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/espro-press/):** a French press with a double micro-filter.
- **[Coffee bags](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/coffee-bags/):** steeping one cup, with no equipment at all.
- **[Clever Dripper](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/clever-dripper/):** steep, then drain through paper.

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

## Words used in this guide

- [Body](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/body/): Body is how heavy and textured coffee feels in your mouth, from light and tea-like to thick and syrupy.
- [Steeping](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/steeping/): Steeping is leaving ground coffee to sit in water so its flavour dissolves out, as in a French press or cold brew.
- [Immersion vs percolation](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/immersion-vs-percolation/): Immersion brewing steeps all the coffee in all the water at once, as a French press does.
- [Fines](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/fines/): Fines are the very small, dust-like particles that every grinder produces alongside the main grind.

## FAQs

### How does a Sowden SoftBrew work?

The coffee steeps in a fine stainless steel filter that sits inside the porcelain pot. When it's ready, you pour, and the filter holds the grounds back. There's no plunger or paper.

### How long should you steep coffee in a SoftBrew?

About 4 minutes is a good start: George Sowden says it takes him about four minutes, and the directions allow 4 to 8. Taste it and adjust.

### What grind should I use in a SoftBrew?

Sowden says there's no recommended grind: start with medium and experiment. He uses quite a fine grind himself, though not as fine as espresso.

### Who designed the SoftBrew?

George Sowden, the designer best known for his work with the Memphis group, founded in Milan in 1981. SoftBrew pots are sold under his own Sowden brand, in several models and sizes.

### SoftBrew vs French press?

Both steep ground coffee in hot water. The French press pushes a mesh filter through the coffee; the SoftBrew keeps the coffee inside a fixed filter, so you just pour.

## Sources

- [Equipment review: Sowden SoftBrew](https://www.coffeereview.com/sowden-softbrew-review/)
- [Sowden SoftBrew coffee care](https://www.davidmellordesign.com/media/care/127_Sowden_Coffee.pdf)
- [George Sowden designs SoftBrew teapots](https://www.dezeen.com/?p=470996)
- [Sowden SoftBrew: a brewer disguised as a teapot](https://coffeecompanion.com/2010/06/sowden-softbrew-a-brewer-disguised-as-a-teapot/)