Pour Over Filters

[Bobonli]

I have a little dripper cup like this that I use every morning. I typically use Moccamaster #4 filters in it. I'm down to my last six in the box of 100 and when I went shopping at that big online shopping place, I noticed that the price range is all over the place. I paid $5 for the last box but they are selling for more than that now, and only in bulk packs. That got me to feeling guilty about throwing out that filter every morning!

Whaddya suggest as a replacement for the paper filter....or is there such a thing?

[Too Tall]

I have a little dripper cup like this that I use every morning. I typically use Moccamaster #4 filters in it. I'm down to my last six in the box of 100 and when I went shopping at that big online shopping place, I noticed that the price range is all over the place. I paid $5 for the last box but they are selling for more than that now, and only in bulk packs. That got me to feeling guilty about throwing out that filter every morning!

Whaddya suggest as a replacement for the paper filter....or is there such a thing?

When I was doing pour over at some point I tried a gold mesh re-usable filter. That reusable filter was terrible. Pony up.

[robin3mj]

I have a Blue Bottle branded ceramic dripper that I use with brown paper cone filters. And a fancy looking glass thing that came with a stainless reusable cone that clogs up like nobody’s.

The former is miles better than the latter. There are probably fifty other easy things you can do to shrink your footprint versus using a reusable filter; caffeine intake is no place to cut corners.

[Tristan]

I've tried reusable steel mesh filters on both an Aeropress and V60-style pour-over and found paper filters to be much better on both.

[Octave]

We use the Kone in our house and it's quite nice. It works best with a very consistent grind because the actual micron size is slightly larger than with paper, and any "dust" you get in an uneven grind may make for a slightly less clean cup but honestly I don't think it's too noticeable.

Sure, in the end the paper filters can be composted and aren't really that much paper, but every bit counts right? Disposable culture is the pits...

[kytyree]

Paper filters on that online shopping place are price gouged in a ridiculous fashion, that it is still going on shows how little some people apparently care about spending money.

I know I can order directly from Chemex at a better price than Bezos lets them gouge me. Last I checked Chemex had some protections in place to keep people from buying too many and I am assuming cleaning them out to resell online.

A place I buy coffee from once in awhile has a fair price on the Chemex filters I like now and so I just buy a box from them whenever I order something else. I only make pour over a couple times a week at most so 100 goes a long way but I don't see me straying from the nice paper filters.

[lumpy]

Imho there is no substitute. I use Melitta No. 4 filters that are about $3.70 for 100 and I've never found anything better, and I can buy them at my local supermarket.

[guido]

I like the re-usable gold mesh filters. Although I do like dark, thick and bitter coffee...

[Scott G.]

'ave a Brewologist, stainless filter, doesn't clog.
But a use a cheesy burr grinder and like 30w beers.

[tanghy]

paper filters make a cleaner cup, but dont' forget to rinse them first to remove the papery taste

[Jamie Medeiros]

I use paper filters and throw them in my compost pile. They compost nicely.

[s_curran]

For our chemex I really cant get away from paper. We do compost it when possible. Does anyone else notice a difference from the white (bleached) filters to the brown? I havent ever done a back to back but seem to notice a little. And yes, always pre rinsed. Im leaning towards sticking with the un-bleached ones and extra rinsing in the interest of keeping as much bleach out of the world as possible.

That said, I probably print drawing sets on a weekly basic that used more bleached paper than I will use in ten lives in coffee filters...

[froze]

Pour over coffee is the least expensive way to make coffee but a tasty way, you don't need anything fancy like a Chemex, nor do you need a fancy filter, all you need is a coffee cup and white cone shaped filter that you can get at any grocery store, plus some rubber bands. You first rinse the coffee filter with water, then place the filter into the cup and fold about 1/2 inch over the side of the cup (or more as long as the bottom of the cone doesn't contact the coffee when your done) and use the rubber band to secure the filter to the cup; put in whatever amount of coffee grounds you desire into the cone, pour slowly enough hot water to cover the grounds to get them to "bloom", once the blooming is complete pour in the rest of the water slowly making sure you cover all the grounds equally, and your done, when you remove the filter you can squeeze it gently but not too hard or it could rupture the filter then all the grounds will dump into your cup to get the coffee liquid out of the filter so it doesn't drip all the way to the trash can.

I now use a ultra light coffee maker when I go bike camping that's cheap and super lightweight made by GSI called the Ultralight Java Drip, I use this instead of the method I described above because the cup I use while camping is smaller and thus I can't get the filter far enough up to give me enough coffee in the cup, so this thing solves that issue.

I have used the above method to make coffee at home as an experiment, and it works just fine, typically however I make either Moka pot style, or French Press, or AeroPress, or the Flair Espresso maker. You can actually make pour over coffee using the AeroPress! all you do is put the filter in the little filter holder, pre rinse the filter, screw the filter holder onto the AeroPress, dump some coffee down the tube, place the AeroPress over a cup, do the bloom thing, and slowly pour water over it like you would with using just a filter and a cup, no need to plunge it. Easy peasy! All the methods I use makes the coffee taste different, and I like the different variety of taste I get from all those sources.

I'm waiting for a local coffee shop to make Turkish coffee the traditional way which they should be getting the sand pit in about a month custom made in Turkey, and I want to try it, it's supposedly the strongest way to make coffee, if I like it, which I'm pretty sure I will since I like strong tasting coffee, then I will buy a Cezve pot, and I know where to get a coffee grinder that will grind it powderly fine, and make it at home. The guy at the coffee shop said I don't need the sand pit, that's for show, but customers want the show, at home I don't need to put on the show, so just using my stove will work just as good. I did discover an automatic Turkish coffee maker but the coffee shop guy said to stay away from that because it cost too much, and I don't need it, plus it won't make the coffee as good as the Cezve pot will.

[Too Tall]

Hey Froze, you'll like Turkish coffee. It is ok to not use all that sugar trust me. Also, I really enjoy tossing a small amount of whole cardamon seeds into the grinder with beans.

[Bobonli]

Paper it is, then.
Lately I've been infatuated with my Bialetti and that is paper-free.

[froze]

Imho there is no substitute. I use Melitta No. 4 filters that are about $3.70 for 100 and I've never found anything better, and I can buy them at my local supermarket.

THIS! This is the cheapest option and they're great filters, and they can be found at any grocery store or Walmart store.

[rwsaunders]

Speaking of pour over, my middle kid asked for a pour over system for his birthday. Chemex, Hario...what do folks like?

[Wisco]

IMHO The best beginner system, meaning most forgiving of technique but still able to extract a great cuppa, is the Kalita Wave 185. The flat bottom controls the flow better than a Chemex or Hario V60 and thus are less pour/water flow dependent. Also get a Hario scale/timer and some kind of decent grinder, and you're good to go.

I am more of an Ethiopian light roast guy seeking berry and high toned flavor notes.

[ericpmoss]

When I had a shop, I used washable muslin fabric filters. The resulting cup was still sludge-free, but had some of the thicker mouthfeel of the mesh filters. You should be able to make one out of bedsheet or cotton/linen/hemp shirt or handkerchief. It discolors, but IMO works great without needing pre-rinsing with boiling water the way most paper filters do.

[AngryScientist]

i use a hario v60 whenever i'm home for coffee and the brown hario branded filters that i buy by the 100 pack.

i keep a compost bin and just throw the filter and grounds right in the bin. the paper filters do compost, so there is no waste. it all goes back to the earth. my tomato plants seem to like it.