GOAT STORY GINA REVIEW: IS A SMART COFFEE BREWER WORTH IT?

I’m honestly uncertain if the Gina Smart Brewer justifies its price tag, but it sure brews delicious coffee! 

The Gina Smart Coffee Maker is here to make you rethink pour-over coffee. Its industrial-chic design, innovative three-in-one brewing system, and built-in Bluetooth scale set it apart. But should you need an app to enjoy a morning brew? And how smart is it, really?

I spent several weeks testing the Gina, and to be honest, I came away with mixed feelings. It’s lovely to look at, and it brews undeniably fantastic cups. But I think you should read this review and decide for yourself if it’s worth its price.

The Full Goat Story Gina Smart Coffee Maker Review

The Gina Smart Brewer caught the attention of coffee lovers worldwide in 2016 when Goat Story set up a Kickstarter campaign. Coffee geeks are used to seeing ever-more-advanced electric coffee makers, but the integrated tech on a manual coffee maker was something novel. Add the option of three different brewing methods, and Gina made waves in the community.

The company also offers the Gina Basic, which looks identical but doesn’t feature an integrated scale. It’s a bit more affordable and would be a great option for anyone who already owns a smart scale. For this review, I was testing the smart version.

How I Rated It

• Aesthetic appeal
• Ease of use
• Brew control
• Coffee Flavor
• Value for money

4.4

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First Things First: What Is The Gina?

The Goat Story Gina is a coffee maker with the option to brew your coffee in three different ways, making it even more versatile than the famously multitasking Hario Switch and Clever Dripper. 

With the valve open, the Gina works like any other pour-over coffee brewer. Closing the valve during the first pour eliminates dripping, giving you complete control over your bloom time. 

Or keep the valve closed throughout the brewing process to craft an immersion brew. The coffee grounds steep in the hot water until you open the valve. The Goat Story team has thoughtfully included a ceramic lid for the cone to ensure your coffee stays hot while steeping. 

An extra bit of kit is provided to make cold brew coffee. A small glass chamber sits inside the pitcher to hold ground coffee. The precision valve becomes the most important feature, as it can be adjusted to the precise drip rate for your slow-drip coffee recipe.

What It’s Like Using The Goat Story Gina

Despite the “smart” nametag, the Gina is still a manual coffee maker. The technology guides you through making coffee and improves your technique, but it doesn’t make coffee for you. The Ratio 8, this is not – nor is it supposed to be, according to Goat Story’s CEO (3).

The Gina is designed as a learning tool. Give a man a coffee, and he’ll drink for a day; teach him to make coffee, and he’ll drink for a lifetime – to borrow from an old parable. 

The Gina smart app connected to the scale has been redeveloped in the years since I first reviewed the Gina. You can tell they took user feedback into account and created a more seamless and user-friendly experience.

One thing to note is that after downloading, the app sends a confirmation email to finish the setup. My North American account filtered the email from the Slovenia-based company straight to trash. Check there if you feel stymied.

Using the Gina App

The Gina app is connected to the scale via Bluetooth, so it communicates directly with your phone. 

Select your brewing method at the opening menu. Then you’ll be asked for your desired coffee-to-water ratio and brew timing. It helps you weigh the coffee before you start, then continues to monitor the weight of added water in real-time, guiding you through the process for whatever recipe you choose.

The Gina definitely shortens the learning curve if you’ve never brewed pour over coffee before, like a barista coach guiding you through the art of great coffee. It helps you perform steps in the correct order, teaches you about the bloom phase, and ensures you nail the coffee-to-water ratio. However, you’ll still need to dial in the grind size, brew temperature, and pouring technique independently. 

I suspect that pour over coffee pros will find the app teaches them little they don’t already know. But even experienced baristas will benefit from the community of coffee lovers the Gina has gathered. Anyone with the app can upload recipes, photos, and coffee tips, creating a fun and collaborative atmosphere to find new ways to brew.

My Biggest Complaint

The biggest downside to Gina’s setup is that the scale has no display. So you’re forced to use the app every time you brew, at least if you want to weigh anything. Not being able to brew a good cup of coffee because my phone is dead or the Bluetooth won’t connect is a modern problem I never expected to encounter.

Some reviews of the Gina claim that the valve gets hot, especially during immersion steeping, so I made a point of checking it out. I had no such issue. Perhaps this has been corrected in newer models.

How Does The Coffee Taste?

The three brew methods each yield a different coffee flavor. In fact, if you consider yourself a bit of a coffee nerd, I highly advise brewing the same beans all three ways to taste the difference. It’s a wonderful (and delicious) way to add to your coffee education. 

Pour Over Coffee

The Goatstory Gina smart coffee maker brews exceptional pour over coffee thanks to the extra level of control added by the valve. This method is ideal for showcasing unique single origin specialty coffee as it yields bright, clean, and complex cups of coffee. The included Goat Story filters are relatively thick and produce a coffee similar to Chemex, but the Gina is also compatible with standard V60 coffee filters.

Immersion Coffee

Immersion coffee is known for its more robust flavor, perfect for showcasing a bold coffee. While you can easily brew light roasts this way, I especially love it with sweeter medium and dark roasts. Brewing with a paper filter produces the bold flavor of a French press without the heavy body and rich mouthfeel. But the Gina is also compatible with Kone metal filters, so you can keep those natural coffee oils in your cup if desired (4).

Cold Drip Brew

If you love cold brew but have never tried Kyoto-style slow-drip cold brew, you’re in for a treat! 

This is the finickiest method to master with the Gina, but the coffee is stunning once you’ve perfected the drip rate.

It’s ultra-smooth, sweet, and low-acid like standard steeped cold brew but with far more complexity of flavor. Brewing a single-origin medium or light roast with the Gina cold brew set-up will open your eyes to what cold brew can be.

Goat Story Design Never Disappoints!

This coffee maker has a minimalist, elegant look I can’t help but love. It has a luxe industrial feel that would look perfectly at home in an airy loft apartment or a fancy chef’s kitchen – or my modest condo. That’s not just my opinion; it was awarded a Red Dot Design Award in 2018 for its “clear, charming appearance and flexible functionality” (1).

The Gina comes in black, white, or steel colorways so that you can find the perfect look for your kitchen. There’s no plastic in sight. A ceramic funnel at the top drips into a borosilicate glass pitcher via a copper valve. The brewer is held together with a quality steel frame.

Portability

I typically consider portability when evaluating pour over brewers, as most are simple cones. The Gina is closer to a drip coffee machine in scale and scope – minus the built-in heater. If you’re looking for a travel brewer, this is not it. 

The Gina coffee maker is large, unwieldy, and somewhat fragile. It has a fairly compact footprint, just 5.9 x 6.7 inches, but measures a towering 14 inches tall. This is a coffee maker designed to stay put on your kitchen counter.

That is not to say this isn’t a durable design when used as intended. The ceramic funnel and steel frame are sturdy, and the borosilicate glass flask is well-equipped for heat stress. Just don’t toss it in your backpack (2).

Is The Gina Good Value For Money?

Prepare for a bit of sticker shock. The Gina is about ten times as expensive as a typical pour over cone, costing around $220. And you will need to factor in the cost of a good grinder and gooseneck kettle for best results. But I’m not here to talk price; I’m here to talk value.

The Gina also outperforms every other pour over brewer by a wide margin. A fairer comparison for this one-of-a-kind coffee maker would be to take the price of a pour over dripper, a French press, a slow-drip cold brewer, and a Bluetooth-enabled smart scale all added together. And remember that it’s also a beautiful piece of art for your kitchen.

The app is free, and it’s worth mentioning that the access it provides to a community of coffee lovers around the globe adds further value to this coffee maker. But if you prefer to go app-less, you can get the Gina Basic for about $80 less.

To see how Goat Story Gina compares to other pour over brewers, see the table below:

Brand	Goat Story	Hario	Chemex	Kalita	Hario	Origami	HandyBrew	Zero	Hario	Hario
Model	Gina	Switch	Chemex	Wave	V60	Origami Dripper	Clever Dripper	Bee House Dripper	Woodneck	W60
Coffee Style	Pour over, immersion, slow drip cold brew	Pour over, immersion	Pour over	Pour over	Pour over	Pour over	Pour over, immersion	Pour over	Drip pot	Pour over
Shape	Conical + carafe	Conical	Conical	Flat-bottom	Conical	Conical	Conical	Wedge	Conical	Conical
Flow control	Small hole with valve	Small hole with valve	One large hole	Three small holes	One large hole	One large hole	Small hole with valve	Two small holes	One large hole	One large hole
Available sizes	One size (1-5 cups)	02 (1-4 cups), 03 (1-6 cups)	3 cups, 6 cups, 8 cups, 10 cups	155 (1-2 cups), 185 (1-4 cups)	01 (1-2 cups), 02 (1-4 cups), 03 (1-6 cups)	Small (1-2 cups), medium (1-4 cups)	One size (1-4 cups)	Small (1-2 cups), large (1-5 cups)	Small (1-2 cups), large (1-4 cups)	02 (1-4 cups)
Available materials	Ceramic	Heat-proof glass	Borosilicate glass	Stainless steel, ceramic, glass, Tsubame steel	Plastic, glass, ceramic, stainless steel, copper	Ceramic, AS resin	Tritan plastic	Ceramic	Heat-proof glass	Ceramic
Baseplate included	Includes carafe and stand	Yes	Includes carafe	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Includes carafe	Yes
Dishwasher safe	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Filters	Standard conical filters	Conical V60 filters	Double-bonded Chemex filters	Flat-bottom wave filters	Conical V60 filters	Standard conical filters	Standard conical filters	Standard conical filters	Hario handled cloth filters	Conical resin mesh
Weight	49 oz	17.6 oz	21.6 oz	5.6 oz	14 oz	6.4 oz	9 oz	7.2 oz	14 oz	17.6 oz
Dimensions	6.0" x 6.7" x 13.8"	4.6" x 4.5" x 5.2"	8.5” x 5.3” x 5.3”	2.8’ x 4” x 4.4”	5.5” x 4.7” x 4.0”	3.4” x 5.5” x 5.5”	6" x 5" x 6"	3.5” x 4.5” x 4.5”	3.7" x 3.7" x 6.6"	6.2" x 5" x 4.3"
Current Price	$190.00	$44.50	$49.50	$39.99	$20.00	$40.00	$25.00	$23.99	$28.40	$43.50
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Do Not Buy The Goat Story Gina Coffee Maker If…

• You’re on a budget: Much of the cost of the Gina stems from its built-in scale and beautiful design. If you’re willing to pass on those features, the Clever Dripper and the Hario Switch are two more affordable options that let you choose between immersion and pour over. However, neither can do slow drip like the Gina.
• You only want to brew drip coffee: If you just want to make a great pour-over coffee, stick with the classics. The Hario V60 and Kalita Wave are my top picks, and you can buy both for less than the cost of the Gina.
• You don’t want to use an app: If you like to avoid your phone for as long as possible in the morning, I can relate. To bypass the need for an app, the Gina Basic is the same brewer without the Bluetooth scale. It’ll save you some cash, but you might want to spend that money on a decent coffee scale to go with it. 

The Verdict

There’s no denying that this is an expensive piece of gear. But the Gina Smart Coffee Brewer by Goat Story has an appeal that’s hard to resist. If you want to mix up your coffee brewing without buying extra equipment, or if you want to be guided through the pour-over process each time, or if you can’t resist a work of art, the Gina smart coffee instrument will make a lovely addition to your kitchen.

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