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In recent years, I’ve noticed a common theme cropping up in my life: The universe seems to be beckoning me (and in some cases literally forcing me) to slow down. For instance, I moved from New York City to the West Coast (slow), I found out I was pregnant (slower), I had an infant to take care of (inching along), and a global pandemic brought my postpartum return to work to a screeching halt (full stop). All of these things caused me to move at, as was said in The Devil Wears Prada, “a glacial pace.”
Eventually I picked up on the vibes my life was sending me and succumbed to the slow. And that’s what brings me to my newest housewares obsession, Yield’s Pour Over Carafe.
It’s a genuinely beautiful, functional item. It’s sculptural and modern, and catching a glimpse of its hourglass silhouette on my countertop brings me joy. But there’s a catch: to have it in your life, you have to be comfortable with a tortoise-like speed. As in, keep in mind how long it takes at Blue Bottle for a barista to make one cup (if you know, you know)—then multiply that by six, the amount that the Yield, well, yields.
While the ideal brewing process for this maker might seem complex at first, all of the necessary details are thoroughly outlined on a card that comes in the box. First, you’ll need medium-ground coffee, a cone-shaped filter (I opted for this reusable one from Able), and hot water. Next, you evenly saturate the grinds by pouring slowly—and I mean slowly—in a circular pattern.
It took me a few tries to get all the steps down, but now that I have worked through the kinks, I’ve been rewarded with not only amazing coffee but an equally awesome side effect: the joy of the process. Unlike pressing a button on a machine, my morning brew is a 10-minute routine at the start of my day where I’m present and focused only on the task at hand, and it’s become the most lovely part of my a.m. ritual.
Because the carafe is large enough to hold six cups, I’m able to share this ritual and its contents with my husband/coworking space companion (yes, we are still working from home together) over the course of the morning—it’s a little thing, but it’s a lovely way to connect with ourselves and each other. And even though my days have been moving slower, if we’re being honest, the caffeine boost helps.