VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: The last pour-over you’ll ever buy
There’s a surprising overlap between coffee lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, so you’d expect there to be a plethora of camping-focused coffee gear on the market. And you’d be right. The VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set is one of those coffee-enthusiast-slash-camping-equipment products, and I’m all here for it. It’s definitely up there with some of the best pour-over coffee makers.
Although pricey, at $55/$80 (for two mugs), you also get a lifetime warranty. Yes — Lifetime. Warranty. So, although $55 feels quite expensive for what is essentially a smaller Hario V60 + thermal travel mug, you will literally never have to buy another camping pour-over kit ever again. The clue’s in the name: lifetime warranty.
So, could the VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set be the perfect product for you? Are you a camper who can’t live without fresh coffee, even in the wilderness? Then it just might be. To find out, keep reading this VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review.
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: Cheat sheet
- Who is it for? Coffee + outdoor lovers = VSSL enthusiasts
- What does it do well? It’s so portable and has a little sleeping bag
- What does it cost? $55 / £54
- What are its weaknesses? Might not impress extreme coffee snobs, but it impressed me (a medium coffee snob)
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set: Specs
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: Price & availability
The VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set is $55 from Amazon U.S. and in the U.K. it can be bought for £54 from Amazon U.K. or VSSL or Wildbounds (both £54). This is pretty pricey — but you do get a lifetime warranty (more on that later). Similar outdoor-focused options would be the $60 Yeti Rambler Pour-Over, $26 Stanley Perfect Brew, and the $34 Wacaco Cuppamoka.
For $80 / £80, you can get the VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Kit, which includes two 10oz mugs. If you’re often on camping trips with another person, I might recommend getting the ‘kit’ over the ‘set’ for the double mugs. However, you still only get one dripper and one filter.
As I touched on briefly above, $55 for what is essentially a conical piece of metal and a travel mug is quite pricey. However, you’re getting a lifetime warranty. The Yeti Rambler Pour-Over is $60 for a mug and a dripper (no lifetime warranty), and the Stanley Perfect Brew and Wacaco Cuppamoka are less for coffee fanatics and more for everyday users. I’d probably recommend the Yeti and VSSL if you’re more snobby about coffee (relatable).
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: Design
As you might expect from an outdoor-focused pour-over, the VSSL Nest is both rugged and gorgeous. It’s constructed from 80% recycled stainless steel — nicely aligned with the general ethics of many outdoor lovers — and stacks into one 7-inch cylinder between uses.
You also get a carry bag that looks way too much like a sleeping bag for it to be a coincidence. I inadvertently anthropomorphized the VSSL Nest every time I tucked it into its little bed.
Cute sleeping bag aside, the VSSL Nest works hard and plays hard. Everything stacks into itself (like the Wacaco Minipresso GR2 or Wacaco Picopresso), which means it’s perfectly portable. The screw threads felt a little gritty at first, but after a few uses, they loosened up.
As you might expect from an outdoor-focused pour-over, you get a reusable mesh filter rather than the (albeit compostable) single-use filters you might be familiar with. This mesh filter is considerably smaller than the standard V60 #2 or Kalita Wave filters. The filter’s compact size means there’s a smaller chance of funnelling — but you still have to pour carefully if you’re seeking perfection — but I didn’t get on with it as well as I’d hoped to.
The filter is pre-folded, but I found the stitching around the seams meant that the filter folded awkwardly when placed inside the dripper. Even so, this didn’t result in a bad coffee, but it’s just something to think about if you’re that aforementioned person seeking perfection.
If you want more than one, you can buy additional reusable mesh filters for $28 on Amazon. The pour-over kit and set both come with just one filter, so if you wanted to double brew with the two 10oz mugs in the ‘kit’, you’d need to buy more filters (and dripper). Of course, you could just use the same filter for both mugs, but you’d need to wait.
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: Performance
As the VSSL Nest Pour Over is an outdoor-focused product, you’ll be pleased to know that it has a sturdy, weighty metal bottom so it’ll stay upright even on bumpy surfaces. The dripper itself screws into the cup, so don’t worry about errant hands knocking your drink into the campfire.
Again, as the VSSL Nest is a pour-over, it works just as any other pour-over. I will note that while it has the controlled grooves you might expect from a V60 or the Yeti Rambler, the filter is so thick that these may as well not exist, so perhaps this is less for perfectionists or coffee snobs and more for genuine enthusiasts.
This isn’t to say the VSSL Nest makes a bad coffee, not at all. It might not have the same snobbish complexity as you might expect from a V60, or the same intensity as a Kalita Wave, but the VSSL Nest makes a delicious brew with zero bitterness. I used medium-roast Colombian beans for this test; I could taste the delicate fruitiness at the top of my tongue, a satisfying amount of sourness around my tongue, and a pleasant richness rounding it all out.
The double-walled insulation mug also keeps coffee warm for hours. I enjoyed my coffee slowly — and the final sip was just as warm as the first.
To show you how easy the VSSL Nest is to use, I’ll share my go-to routine now.
My go-to VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set routine
As the VSSL Nest is a pour-over, it’s very easy to use. There are no centralized grooves like in the Hario V60 to force water through the middle of the filter, but the small dripper means there’s little room for error. Just be sure to pour slowly and ‘tuck’ the water behind the coffee, to prevent funnelling. This just means you should pour the water behind the coffee, in between the grounds and filter, rather than on top of the coffee.
- Grind 16g of coffee beans to a medium coarseness for 295ml of coffee. I used my Comandante C40 MK4, a great hand grinder perfect for camping trips.
- Heat water to at least 196°F, no hotter than 210°F.
- Pour around 50ml of water to ‘bloom’ the grounds.
- Once the grounds have expanded and released their gases, pour in another 100ml of water in a slow, controlled, circular motion.
- Once this water has passed through, repeat until you reach 295ml. Ensure you are tucking the water behind the coffee to prevent funnelling.
- Enjoy!
And that’s it! Of course, you can adjust the grind size and ratio to suit your tastes. If you want it stronger next time around, just add more coffee at the first stage!
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: Storage & maintenance
Now, let’s get into arguably the most impressive spec: the lifetime warranty. Yes, I’m serious, and no, that’s not a typo. The VSSL Nest has a lifetime warranty. In VSSL’s world, this is called ‘Geared for Life’.
VSSL offers Geared for Life on the Nest Pour Over Set and the Kit, so worry not if you want to get the $80 Kit instead of the $55 Set.
Comparatively, Yeti offers a 5-year warranty, which is still impressive — but obviously not as impressive as a warranty that’ll expire when you do. VSSL confirmed to me that lifetime means lifetime. There are no time limits on this warranty, so as long as VSSL is in business, it’ll repair or replace your Nest.
Even so, Yeti replaces parts, should you need to do so (like the sippy slider) and has detailed instructions on how to care for its products on its site.
And, as I’ve already gushed over, the VSSL Nest comes with a cute little sleeping bag for storing your Nest between uses. Everything (including the filter) stacks inside neatly.
Finally: cleaning. VSSL recommends you only hand-wash the Nest, so no dishwasher adventures, please! The mug, dripper, and mesh filter are all perfectly easy to clean, although be prepared to get your hands dirty when you scrape out coffee grounds from the inside of the filter. If you’re on a long camping trip, you might want to check out compostable single-use U-shaped #1 filters to avoid needing to clean on the trail.
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: How does it compare?
The VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set is a great product for outdoor lovers or simply coffee lovers who are short on space and need a portable, stackable coffee maker. I’d recommend the Yeti Rambler for sticklers — if you can’t live without grooves in the dripper — but for coffee lovers who aren’t fussed about said grooves, the VSSL Nest will be great.
I’d recommend the VSSL Nest over the Wacaco Cuppamoka — which probably wouldn’t impress serious coffee nerds — and the Stanley Perfect Brew. But, if you want to save as much money as possible, check out either of those cheaper options.
I was able to get a delicious, easy pour-over with very little stress. The screw threads ensured the pour-over was steady, even on uneven surfaces, and the reusable mesh filter is better for the planet than single-use paper filters.
VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set review: Verdict
If you want an outdoor-friendly manual coffee maker that’s not afraid of uneven ground and comes with its own sleeping bag, I wholeheartedly recommend the VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set. This functional and stylish coffee maker combines usability with finesse for a versatile, enjoyable brewing experience.
Although yes, it’s pretty pricey at $55/$80 for two mugs, you do get a lifetime warranty, so… You win some, you lose some. You’re kind of futureproofing yourself with the splurge. And, while some serious coffee perfectionists might turn their noses up at the thick filter covering the directional grooves, this was a non-issue for me.
For campers and coffee lovers, the VSSL Nest Pour Over Coffee Set is a great option that’ll see you through every camping trip for the rest of your life — literally.
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