Coffee Filter Facts...Just the Facts, Ma'am...

Customers often ask if filters play a part in the final cup of coffee. The short answer is an emphatic yes.

One of the first things I tell customers is that they should rinse their coffee filters under warm tap water. This will help get rid of the paper taste, dust, and warms up the coffee filter.

There are different types of filters and I will touch on a few of them here. Some of you use the Chemex filter and these are great and will definitely produce the cleanest and least offensive cup of coffee. However, the cup of coffee may lack body so beware.

The Melitta oxygen bleached filter is another very common method and one of my favorite for pour over brewing. The advantage to Melitta filters is that they will not leave behind a paper tatste and will provide a heavier and fuller bodied coffee. For those of you that prefers the Melitta unbleached natural filter, you will sometimes find a woody taste in the coffee and you will definitely taste the paper.

The Hario V60  is known for producing a brighter and more complex cup of coffee. Done right, notes of sweetness and fruitiness will shine through, with only a hint of acidity.

SOCK CLOTH FILTER

if you enjoy a full-bodied cup of coffee a soft cloth filter will make you very happy. The cloth allows the coffee’s natural oils to come through. This produces a syrupy fill and crates a very full-bodied coffee. A cloth filter will produce a cup of coffee somewhere in between that of a metal and paper filter.

Another benefit of using a cloth filter is that it can be used for a very long time. In our high-volume coffee shop, we can get about a month out of them, and we rotate coffee on the hour. They are also very efficient for transporting in that you only need one filter instead of lugging around a package of paper filters or a metal cone.

One side note to using a sock cloth filter is that it will definitely produce the strongest flavor. Be ready for this and some people definitely are turned off by this.

OUR RECOMMENDATION?

If I were to make a recommendation I would say to use the Hario V60 filter. I believe this filter will produce the most reproducible cup of coffee that offends the least amount of people.

PAPER VS STAINLESS STEEL

ABLE KONE

The Able Kone is not really a filter as much it is an actual coffee brewer. The Able Kone is not cheap but it does work very well. It is very well designed and should last you a lifetime if properly maintained. It works perfectly with a Chemex pour over and is 5 inches in diameter and 4 inches in height.

Taste

in our opinion, stainless steel coffee filters bring a lot of value to the coffee game. They allow the natural oils and flavors to be passed on to the cup instead of being trapped in the paper or fabric filter. This equates to a more robust and flavorful cup of coffee while still having that clean taste that pour overs are known for.

Disadvantages of the Kone Coffee Filter

the only negative point of the Kone coffee filter is that the filter holes go all the way up to the top of the filter itself. This can lead to water passing through the holes without passing through the coffee grounds first. Obviously, this can lead to a weaker cup of coffee. If you’re careful, this should not be a problem, and no one coffee filter is absolutely foolproof.

Also, it takes a bit more time to brew your coffee because you need to add the water in smaller amounts so that the water does not overflow the coffee grounds. This can be a bit frustrating in the mornings when time is limited. But then again, anything worthwhile takes time.

Conclusion of the Kone coffee filter

The Kone permanent coffee filter from Able Brewing creates a cup of coffee much like that of the French press without the mess. They also have a gold-plated version for those of you who like to go big…

Another plus about the Kone coffee filter is that it fits nicely inside of a Chemex. The Kone coffee filter will take your Chemex to a whole new level. You can also brew a Kone coffee filter in anything that will support it.

Able also makes stainless steel reusable disks for the AeroPress, called The Disk. With the Disk, you will find a big difference in brewing. There are two different versions of this device. A standard and fine version. The fine version produces a very clean cup of coffee while the standard version produces a very full-bodied cup of coffee.

If you have any further questions, feel free to email us at mike@vinaccio.coffee or give us a ring at 425.327.1339.