The Kalita 101 is the classic trapezoidal dripper that predates the Wave by decades. It uses a wedge-shaped bed and three small drainage holes — the same philosophy of restricted, even flow that Kalita later refined into the Wave. Filters are shared across the 101 size with a universal standard, so finding paper is rarely an issue.
The 101 is the one-to-two-cup size, suited to 12–18 g of coffee. The wedge bed creates a deeper, slightly narrower slurry than the Wave, which tends to emphasise body and sweetness at the expense of clarity. A medium grind, 1:15 ratio, water at 92–95 °C, and three pours over 3:00 to 4:00 is the baseline recipe.
If you find the V60 too bright or the Wave too easygoing, the 101 sits in the middle: more forgiving than a cone, more textured than a flat-bottom. It is also a great introduction to dripper brewing because its drainage speed leaves a wider margin of error on both grind and pour rate.
