How to Choose Pour-Over Coffee Filters? What's the Cost of Coffee Filters? What's the Difference Between Bleached and Natural Wood Filters?

Although coffee filters account for a small portion of the investment in pour-over coffee, they significantly impact the flavor and quality of the coffee. If you've discussed coffee with enthusiasts, you've likely heard keywords like "paper taste" and "fit"—both related to these small but important filters. FrontStreet Coffee would like to share some experience on selecting coffee filters this time.

Fitting

Before purchasing coffee filters, you must first identify which type of dripper you're using. If you're using fan-shaped drippers like Melitta or Kalita, you'll need fan-shaped filters. For cone-shaped drippers like V60 or Kono, cone-shaped filters are required. If you're using flat-bottom drippers, you'll need basket filters.

The size of the filter should also match your dripper size. Currently, there are two common specifications: small filters for 1-2 servings and large filters for 3-4 servings. Using a large filter on a small dripper can make pouring water inconvenient, while using a small filter on a large dripper creates obstacles when brewing coffee with large amounts of grounds. Therefore, it's best to ensure proper matching.

Another issue concerns fitting. You can refer to "Filter paper doesn't fit the dripper? There's actually a technique to folding filter paper!" for more details. As an additional point, if you're using a ceramic dripper, you might encounter fitting problems at the bottom. This occurs because ceramic is coated with glaze in the final production stage, and this glaze has thickness that slightly alters the 60-degree angle. In this case, when folding the filter paper, don't use the seam line as a reference. Instead, first place the filter paper on the dripper and press to create an actual fitting mark. This is precisely why FrontStreet Coffee prefers using resin materials with higher precision in our production.

Unbleached vs. Bleached

The biggest complaint about unbleached filters is their paper taste. Since we don't want to detect filter flavor in our coffee, FrontStreet Coffee almost never chooses unbleached filters nowadays.

FrontStreet Coffee prefers bleached filters because their paper taste is negligible, allowing for greater restoration of the coffee's original flavor. Many people worry about potential "toxins" in bleached filters. Indeed, traditional bleaching methods like chlorine and oxygen bleaching can leave harmful residues. However, with technological advancement, most major filter brands now use advanced enzymatic bleaching, which utilizes biologically active enzymes for the bleaching process. This technology is widely used in the medical field, and any potential harm can be considered negligible.

Many friends, influenced by discussions about paper taste, insist on wetting filters before brewing. In reality, bleached filters from major manufacturers today are virtually tasteless. Whether to wet them or not depends entirely on personal preference.

Paper Quality

Interested friends can purchase several popular filters on the market to compare—observe their textures, feel their hardness, and test their flow rates. You'll find differences in almost every aspect. Neither faster nor slower flow rates are inherently better; they need to align with your brewing philosophy.

At FrontStreet Coffee, we tend to choose filters with soft material and fast flow rates. Our advice to you is that filters aren't expensive anyway, so buy several brands to compare, and you'll surely find one that suits your preferences perfectly.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473