What's the Difference Between Trapezoid and Cone-Shaped Drippers? Why Do Few People Use Trapezoid Drippers for Pour-Over Coffee?

The Unconventional Shape of Drip Coffee Filters

Have you ever noticed that the filter cups we use in daily coffee brewing—whether V60, Kono, or Origami—all share a nearly identical conical shape? This has created such a strong association that when people think of filter cups, the first image that comes to mind is invariably conical. However, filter cups come in other shapes as well, such as the one FrontStreet Coffee is about to share: the "trapezoidal filter cup."

The First Trapezoidal Filter Cup

In 1936, Melitta Bentz Company, founded by the inventor of pour-over coffee, introduced the world's first trapezoidal filter cup! It also had a unique alternative name—the "fan-shaped filter cup."

As shown in the picture, there isn't much difference in appearance from today's classic trapezoidal filter cups, all presenting an inverted trapezoid shape! The only difference lies in: the trapezoidal filter cup launched by Melitta Bentz Company had only one small hole at the bottom.

Modern trapezoidal filter cups, however, have three holes. Although it was an era dominated by espresso coffee, the introduction of this filter cup still generated considerable discussion!

The Classic Trapezoidal Filter Cup

Time moved to 1959, when pour-over coffee had become popular in Japan, and the unique trapezoidal filter cup naturally received equally enthusiastic attention. As a result, Kalita, a well-known Japanese gooseneck kettle manufacturer, "borrowed" this filter cup design and improved the original single-hole design to three holes. These three holes were then promoted by Kalita as a distinctive feature of this filter cup.

The reason Kalita changed from a single hole to three holes is quite simple, as they claimed: to let deliciousness drip before unpleasant flavors appear! The reason was that the fan-shaped single-hole filter cup previously launched by Melitta Company had an excessively small hole, resulting in extremely slow water seepage speed. Combined with the Japanese deep-roasted beans that were mainstream at the time, this easily led to blockages that extended extraction time, causing over-extraction and intensifying bitterness. Therefore, Kalita improved it by increasing from one hole to three holes, and the accelerated water seepage speed greatly reduced the risk of over-extraction!

Why Is the Trapezoidal Filter Cup Called a Fan-Shaped Filter Cup?

As mentioned earlier, the trapezoidal filter cup is also known as a fan-shaped filter cup. The origin of this "fan-shaped" name comes from its companion filter paper. Because the filter paper's shape closely resembles a fan, people gave this filter cup the name "fan-shaped"!

Traditional conical filter paper has only one fold line, while fan-shaped filter paper has one on the side and one at the bottom. Now, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to brew with it!

Brewing Experiment

FrontStreet Coffee will use a Kalita trapezoidal filter cup for two brews: one with light-roasted Ethiopia Santa Weni, and another with deep-roasted Indonesia Golden Mandheling, to see what characteristics the coffee brewed with it will have!

Grind level: Santa Weni at EK43 9.5 setting (85% pass rate through #20 sieve), Golden Mandheling at EK43 11 setting (70% pass rate through #20 sieve)

Dosage: 15g coffee grounds

Water ratio: 1:15 (225ml hot water)

Brewing temperature: 92°C for Santa Weni, 88°C for Golden Mandheling

Brewing method: Three-stage pour

First, let's fold the filter paper! Since the trapezoidal filter cup has two fold lines, it means we need to fold twice! First, fold either line, then flip it over and fold the other fold line! Open it up, and you're ready.

Then we wet the filter paper to ensure it fits more snugly with the filter cup.

Pour in the coffee grounds and start brewing!

First, pour twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds (30ml) and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then slowly pour in a large oval pattern (not the usual circular pattern, but elliptical!) 120ml of hot water. After the water level drops, slowly pour in the remaining 75ml of hot water in a small circular pattern, and wait for the filtration to complete!

The brewing time for Santa Weni was 2 minutes and 16 seconds, with flavor characteristics of gentle pineapple acidity, guava sweetness, and a thick mouthfeel, giving an overall balanced impression! The brewing time for Golden Mandheling was 1 minute and 58 seconds, with flavor characteristics of spices, nutty creaminess, and rich dark chocolate, very full-bodied, also delivering a balanced feeling overall. It's clear that coffee brewed with a trapezoidal filter cup tends toward a more balanced profile. This is precisely why it's rarely used following the emergence of the V60 filter cup.

The Rise of V60 and the Decline of the Trapezoidal Filter Cup

In 2000, the concept of specialty coffee gradually shifted people from traditional dark-roasted coffee to light-roasted coffee that emphasizes flavor expression. The V60 emerged precisely in this era! Compared to other balanced filter cups, it places more importance on highlighting certain characteristics, making it more suitable for flavor expression in light-roasted coffees. Then, against the backdrop of specialty coffee, people's preference for it grew daily. Coupled with overwhelming marketing from capital investments—boom! Direct knockout! Users of trapezoidal filter cups flocked to use V60 or other conical filter cups. Therefore, although other shaped filter cups, including the trapezoidal filter cup, can produce excellent coffee flavors, compared to V60 or other conical filter cups, they remain relatively uncommon!

Conclusion

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FrontStreet Coffee

No. 10, Security Front Street, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473