What Does Origami Mean? What's the Difference Between Origami Dripper and V60? What Filter Paper Does Origami Dripper Use?

As we all know, most dripper and filter paper pairings are fairly fixed. A conical dripper can only take conical filter paper, a cake dripper can only take cake filter paper, and if you want to use cake filter paper in a conical dripper, you can only change the dripper's internal structure with an accessory like the Lily Drip.

Among all drippers, though, there is one designed to work with both conical and cake filter paper: the "Origami," designed by Yasuo Suzuki, one of the founders of TRUNK COFFEE BAR in Japan.

The word "Origami" comes from the Japanese word origami, meaning paper folding, so it translates to "origami dripper." Frankly, it is one of the few drippers that caught FrontStreet Coffee's attention on looks alone. Not only is its design extremely unique, its color schemes are also highly attractive. What stands out most, of course, is its ability to pair with different filter papers. (This is not an advertisement.)

Being able to pair one dripper with different filter papers gives coffee brewing more options. That is exactly what Mr. Yasuo Suzuki intended when he designed it: he wanted it to be as lightweight as paper, and for coffee brewing to hold the rich possibilities of paper origami. It has also created a dilemma for many users, though: should I use conical filter paper or cake filter paper with this origami dripper?

FrontStreet Coffee's answer may sound a little ambiguous, but the choice of filter paper really depends on your coffee preferences. Different filter papers change the uniformity of extraction, causing variations in the substances dissolved from the coffee, which in turn affects taste and texture. So today FrontStreet Coffee would like to share what the origami dripper does when paired with cake filter paper versus conical filter paper, and how the resulting cups differ in texture.

Origami Dripper with Conical Filter Paper

Different filter paper pairings mainly affect two things: the flow rate and the structure of the coffee bed. When the origami dripper is used with conical filter paper, the water flows through the coffee bed more quickly, meaning a faster flow rate, because the conical paper does not sit as snugly against the dripper. The dripper's prominent ribs support the paper and create many deeper grooves, giving the coffee more channels for gas to escape during brewing, reducing water resistance, and naturally increasing the flow rate.

At the same time, conical filter paper creates an inverted-triangle coffee bed that is relatively thick. The center is thicker while the edges thin out. Since bed thickness varies by area, different parts of the coffee dissolve at different rates. Combined with the fast flow rate, conical filter paper produces a less uniform extraction, which yields coffee with richer layering and more prominent flavors.

Origami Dripper with Cake Filter Paper

Although not a perfect fit, cake filter paper sits more snugly against the dripper than conical paper. As the image below shows, the creases of the cake paper embed perfectly into the dripper's twenty folds. From FrontStreet Coffee's explanation above, you can probably guess that the flow rate through the bed will slow down, because the high degree of fit reduces gas-release channels and thus increases water resistance.

In addition, cake filter paper has a flat-bottom structure, so its bed lacks the narrow-bottom, wide-top shape of a conical dripper, making the coffee distribution more balanced and relatively thinner. Because the bed is thinner and uniform, different parts of the coffee reach similar extraction efficiency, and the poured water can quickly contact the coffee at the bottom. Combined with the slow flow rate that comes from the snug fit, steeping forms more easily during brewing, further improving extraction uniformity.

So when we brew with the origami dripper and cake filter paper, we can easily produce coffee with a solid texture, balanced flavor, and prominent sweetness. Concepts alone are hard to grasp, though, so next FrontStreet Coffee will use the same coffee beans to compare how the origami dripper performs with different filter papers.

Comparing Origami Brews in Different Forms

For this comparison, FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Boquete Geisha from the bean menu, with identical parameters: 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, Ek43 at grind setting 10, 75% pass-through with a #20 sieve, fine sugar grind, 92°C water, three-stage brewing, and time controlled at 2 minutes.

The Boquete Geisha brewed with conical filter paper shows prominent jasmine fragrance, bright citrus acidity, honey sweetness, and an oolong tea aftertaste. The overall texture is smooth, clean, and transparent, with rich, distinct layers. The Boquete Geisha brewed with cake filter paper also has jasmine fragrance, but more subdued and less prominent than the former; its citrus acidity is rounder, its honey sweetness more prominent, and its aftertaste is still oolong tea but more persistent. Its overall body and sweetness are higher than the former, with balanced flavor and a long finish.

In summary, if you prefer coffee with more prominent flavors and richer layers, choose conical filter paper to pair with the origami dripper; if you prefer coffee with high body and high sweetness, choose cake filter paper. Beyond matching filter paper to the texture you want, you can also decide based on brewing difficulty. If you are new to brewing, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend using cake filter paper with the origami dripper, because the flat-bottom bed is friendlier to beginners, has a higher fault tolerance, and makes it easier to brew a delicious cup.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Once you start experimenting with drippers and filter papers, the beans deserve just as much attention. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Guodingding carries vivid citrus, berry, and floral notes with a green-tea sweetness on the finish, and its soft, bright acidity makes it a fine first stop for anyone getting into specialty coffee.

For a more fruit-forward cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui is prized for its tropical aromatics of strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee, with obvious sweetness and very little bitterness. If you lean toward something deep and mellow instead, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling from the Gayo Mountain region of Sumatra is full and even, with a low defect rate, and after medium-dark roasting gives a clean, full-bodied black coffee that suits those who dislike acidic coffee.