Do It Yourself

The CafeSolo, another sexy newcomer to the brewing world, is an alternative to a plunger pot—a low-tech way to brew that involves pouring hot water over ground coffee, stirring, and pouring the brewed coffee through a filter after four minutes of steeping. In place of the glass cylinder of the plunger pot, which is easy to break if the coffee is too finely ground, is a curvaceous, sturdy flask with a flared top (a ringer for the carafe that used to come with mix-it-yourself Italian dressing), and instead of a screen attached to a plunger is a fine-mesh metal funnel that goes almost all the way down into the coffee mixture.

The official reason for the enthusiasm is a cup that shows off the high notes of a ...