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How to Choose Coffee Filter Paper? How to Use Coffee Filter Paper? What Types of Coffee Filter Paper Are There?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style). How to choose coffee filter paper? How to use coffee filter paper? What types of coffee filter paper are there? Many coffee enthusiasts who buy their own coffee beans, use grinders, and purchase equipment to brew coffee will choose their commonly used convenient filtering methods. The following analysis compares filter paper,

Professional coffee knowledge exchange - For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

How to Choose Coffee Filters? How to Use Coffee Filters? What Types of Coffee Filters Are There?

Many coffee enthusiasts who buy their own coffee beans, use grinders, and purchase equipment to brew coffee choose their preferred convenient filtering methods. Below is an analysis and comparison of filters, metal screens, and cloth filters. These tools are not only convenient but also easy to use - Beginner's Brewing Guide | Simple Hand-Pour Equipment Selection.

Coffee Filter Paper

Using coffee filter paper in pour-over coffee allows for more uniform and thorough soaking to extract coffee essence, resulting in purer coffee flavor.

How to Choose Coffee Filter Paper?

Bleached vs. Unbleached Filter Paper

Coffee filter paper is mostly made from wood. The pulp from steamed wood is typically brown and requires several bleaching processes to become white.

The differences between bleached and unbleached coffee filter paper are as follows:

1. Bleached: Refers to coffee filter paper that has undergone bleaching treatment, making the filter paper appear whiter.

2. Unbleached: Refers to coffee filter paper that has not undergone bleaching treatment, making the filter paper appear light brown.

Simply put, filter paper is generally used for pour-over coffee. You place ground coffee beans (coffee powder) and extract the coffee liquid into a cup. The filter paper also filters out coffee oils, resulting in clean coffee solution. Good filter paper can remove impurities, making the coffee taste smoother and more aromatic.

Advantages: Highly convenient, disposable after use, and can switch brands; produces cleaner taste; fewer impurities and off-flavors.

Disadvantages: Less environmentally friendly due to paper usage; unbleached paper may have a paper taste; oils are filtered out, resulting in coffee without oily mouthfeel, producing a cleaner taste. Daily Brewing | Sharing experience on brewing a balanced coffee extraction with oils

Although we've been comparing bleached and unbleached coffee filter paper, these aren't the only differences between filter papers. Filter paper quality is also important for maintaining coffee equipment cleanliness and good filtration flow rate. This might sound simple, but it actually has a significant impact.

Additionally, be sure to choose filter paper that fits your filter cup size, and pay attention to thickness and density - paper that's too thin or loose will allow water to flow too quickly, while paper that's too thick or dense will filter out more coffee oils (like Chemex).

Do You Really Need to Rinse Filter Paper? Rinse or Not? That is the Question...

For beginners, the standard procedure is to fold the filter paper, rinse it, warm the filter cup - just follow the steps. However, some experienced Japanese brewers don't rinse their filter paper, which might make you wonder, "Why do I have to rinse filter paper?"

Don't worry, let's analyze this in detail:

1. Considering removing pulp taste

In fact, as mentioned above, unbleached filter paper hasn't been rinsed, so the wood pulp taste is still quite strong, which is why you need to rinse the filter paper. As for bleached filter paper, residual paper taste and bleaching taste vary by brand. High-quality filter paper can indeed be processed very cleanly, making little difference whether rinsed or not.

2. Considering filter cup fit

Rinsing filter paper helps improve its fit with the filter cup, aiding the cup's rib design and brewing principles. However, in most cases, brewing without rinsing results in slightly poorer fit between filter paper and cup compared to preheated and pre-rinsed conditions.

3. Considering filter paper absorption of coffee oils and initial extract

When brewing without rinsing filter paper, the paper will absorb some moisture and oils during the bloom phase, and may bring out some questionable off-flavors.

Therefore, considering the completeness of extraction flavor, it's more appropriate to rinse filter paper.

[Common Filter Paper Specifications]

Introduction to 11 Types of Cone Filter Paper

Hario VCF-01-40W, bleached version, relatively soft texture, no obvious paper taste, but there are many counterfeits on the market, so be careful when purchasing. 0.6-0.8g/sheet

Hario VCF-01-40W, unbleached version, also a relatively soft filter paper with no obvious paper taste, but I felt the scent was slightly different from the bleached version when I smelled it. Don't ask me what I mean by scent - I'm just that kind of sensitive person. 0.8-0.9g/sheet

Kono MD-25, a popular filter paper used by many coffee shops, colorless and tasteless, slightly stiffer than Hario. 0.9-1g/sheet

Kono MD-25, same model as above but unbleached version, slightly harder than bleached version with very faint paper taste. 0.9-1g/sheet. Kono MD-26c, cotton material, very hard texture, extremely smooth inside filter paper, with some unknown fragrance. 1.2-1.3g/sheet

Mola bleached filter paper, colorless and tasteless, legend says it's OEM from Sanyo factory, made with same machines as Kono, not sure if true, but similar texture and good value is real. We'll see the data later. 0.9-1g/sheet

Mola unbleached version, also no obvious taste, quite soft to touch, other aspects close to bleached version above. 0.9-1g/sheet

Mola linen filter paper, slightly harder than their other two filter papers, no obvious taste, but has some fresh scent for some reason. 0.8-0.9g/sheet

Kinto SLOW style, relatively hard texture, feels thick, coarse texture, also cotton filter paper with special fragrance. 1.1-1.2g/sheet

National brand Bonavita, no obvious paper taste but very hard, relatively sparse texture, feels like notebook paper. 1-1.2g/sheet

Kanazawa-ya cotton filter paper, the last cotton filter paper, still has a faint fragrance but lighter than the previous two cotton filter papers, relatively light texture, medium-hard category. 1.2-1.3g/sheet

Filter paper family photo, image source: PTN Retired Baristas Activity Center

Metal Coffee Filter

Metal filter screen eliminates less environmentally friendly filter paper - just clean after use and it can be reused. Made of stainless steel, it's also durable and sturdy.

Recommendation: After use, clean gently with a clean toothbrush and use food-grade baking soda to remove oils, so it won't affect the next brew's taste. Metal coffee filters allow oils to be extracted, resulting in fuller flavor closer to coffee beans' original taste. You can feel the difference from filter paper even in blind tests.

Advantages: More environmentally friendly, reusable through washing; can better taste coffee's original flavor, fuller mouthfeel.

Disadvantages: Fine powder easily causes over-extraction leading to excessive bitterness; fine powder passes through filter into coffee, may cause gritty texture.

Coffee Filter Cloth

Usually used for flannel filter cloth and siphon brewers, the trouble is cleaning and storage. If oils on filter cloth aren't thoroughly cleaned, it will affect taste over time. After cleaning, it needs to be soaked in water and stored in refrigerator, can't be used multiple times in one day - quite troublesome. The brewed coffee flavor is between metal and filter paper, balancing the advantages of both.

Recommendation: Filter cloth cleaning and storage must be done properly, otherwise it might develop a rag-like smell. Recommend using baking soda for cleaning. Flannel filter cloth has better permeability and heat retention, producing coffee with more saturated and rich aroma and flavor.

Advantages: Fibers are coarser than filter paper, oils attach allowing water and coffee to contact and fuse for longer time.

Disadvantages: Storage is not easy, requires time and effort; requires more practice and skill.

Comparison of Three Filtering Methods

All three have their own advantages and disadvantages. Filter paper is just one small part of coffee brewing - there are many factors affecting coffee taste. Each filter paper's taste varies due to different flow rates. You can try several types. Friends who prefer coffee's original flavor can refer more to filter cloth and metal filters, which better retain oils and original flavor. Those who prefer clean, refreshing taste can use filter paper.

Making a pour-over coffee isn't difficult, but making a good pour-over coffee isn't easy either. Like espresso, there are many variables you need to control - filter paper is one variable, plus water quality, water amount, dripping time, coffee grind degree, etc. You need to control each variable and constantly adjust to finally find the experience your taste buds need -

We at FrontStreet Coffee still prefer this KONO coffee filter paper pour-over hand-pour filter paper. It works with any conical filter cup - whether Hario V60 type or KONO cups. The Japanese-imported KONO filter paper has medium texture, neither too thin nor too thick, medium-strong water permeability, and very ideal fit with filter cup when pouring water.

Drip Coffee Bag

Finally, introducing another type of filter paper, even more convenient - drip coffee bags!

The coffee powder used in drip coffee bags is ground from freshly roasted coffee beans. Drip coffee bags can maximize retention of coffee's original flavor, usually through hot extraction.

Because there will be coffee grounds, you need filter bags!

Filter Bag Material

The material for drip coffee bags is called degradable non-woven filter bags.

The inner membrane of drip bags has such mesh filtering layer - these holes help uniformize coffee flow speed.

When hot water seeps through coffee powder, it extracts its essence and oils, and finally coffee liquid seeps out evenly from filter holes.

Grind degree: Based on this design, the grind cannot be too fine, close to sugar crystal size.

There's also bagged coffee on the market, similar to tea bags. It grinds freshly roasted coffee beans and packages them by cup in disposable filter bags, making convenient coffee packs. The material is like tea bag material, mostly non-woven fabric, gauze, etc. This material needs to be soaked.