Which Coffee Filter Paper Brand is Best? Features of Non-Woven Filter Paper & Choosing the Right Filter for Pour-Over Coffee

Filter Paper: The Essential Tool for Pour-Over Coffee

Filter paper is undoubtedly the most mainstream filtering tool in today's pour-over coffee scene. It not only offers excellent filtration performance but is also very affordable. Moreover, as a disposable consumable, we can discard it directly after use without cleaning, providing exceptional convenience. With these three advantages combined, filter paper has become an essential pour-over filtering tool for every household.

The Drawbacks of Filter Paper and Coffee Oils

However, filter paper is not without its shortcomings! Compared to coffee brewed using other filtering materials like mesh screens or cloth filters, coffee brewed with filter paper lacks the same aromatic intensity and richness in body. The reason for this lies in the filter paper's overly effective filtration, which also removes some substances that contribute to coffee's aroma and body (Note: this doesn't mean filter paper is bad!). And this substance, as FrontStreet Coffee believes, is something everyone is familiar with—coffee oils.

When we think of coffee oils, the first thing that comes to mind might be the rich, dense, golden-brown Crema floating on the surface of espresso. This is a specific product that can only be generated through pressurized extraction, which is why it's often called "the soul of espresso."

Indeed, Crema can give espresso a more intense aroma and a smoother mouthfeel. However, what FrontStreet Coffee is referring to is not entirely Crema itself, but one of its main components—the inherent oils of coffee. During the coffee extraction process, what we call emulsification occurs. The oils originally hidden within the coffee are broken down into extremely tiny droplets and blend into the coffee liquid, forming a mixture similar to an emulsion. This mixture traps the gases released from the coffee grounds, creating bubbles that eventually evolve into the golden Crema floating on the surface of espresso in the cup.

In other words, Crema has two main components: oils and carbon dioxide. What primarily enhances the coffee's aroma and body are the coffee oils. As long as we use appropriate parameters, even without pressurized extraction, we can still extract the coffee oils, giving the coffee a more intense aroma and a richer, smoother mouthfeel. However, the amount of oils in the coffee is influenced by the filtering tool used. The more effective the filtering tool's filtration, the fewer oils can ultimately join the coffee, and vice versa.

Comparison Between Filter Paper and Other Filtering Methods

In summary, the reason why coffee brewed with filter paper is not as aromatic and rich as that brewed with other filtering tools lies mainly in its overly effective filtration, which causes a significant amount of oils to be intercepted, preventing them from joining the coffee. Therefore, if we want to brew coffee with more aroma and a richer, smoother mouthfeel, we can try using tools like mesh screens or cloth filters. The richness and intensity of coffee made with tools like French presses and siphon brewers are also partially due to this reason.

However, FrontStreet Coffee is not suggesting that filter paper is bad—it has many advantages, such as those mentioned at the beginning. At the same time, because it doesn't retain too many oils and doesn't allow fine particles to pass through, the coffee it brews offers a very clean experience both visually and in taste, providing a completely different texture from other tools! Below, FrontStreet Coffee used filter paper and non-woven cloth filter paper with the same parameters to brew two pots of coffee. You can compare the differences between the two through FrontStreet Coffee's tasting descriptions.

Brewing Comparison and Tasting Notes

Brewing Share: For this brewing session, FrontStreet Coffee used coffee beans from their menu—FrontStreet Coffee's Emerald Estate · Green Label Geisha. The extraction parameters are as follows:

• Coffee amount: 15g
• Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
• Brewing water temperature: 92°C
• Grind size: Ek43 setting 10, 75% pass-through rate on #20 sieve, C40 setting 24-26 (because non-woven cloth filter has a faster flow rate, the grind needs to be adjusted one notch finer on these settings)
• Brewing method: Three-stage pour
• Dripper used: V60

The brewing process remains the same: first use 30ml of hot water for a 30-second bloom. After the bloom, use a small water flow in large circles to pour the second stage of hot water, totaling 120ml. When the second stage of hot water has mostly permeated, we can use the same water flow in small circles to pour the third stage of hot water, which is 75ml. Finally, we just need to wait for the coffee liquid to finish dripping, then remove the dripper to complete the brewing.

From the comparison in the image above, we can see the very obvious differences between the two—one pot of coffee has a perfectly clean surface, while the other is covered with oils, so we can see many oil spots in the reflection from the liquid surface. Their corresponding filtering tools are filter paper and cloth filter. Filter Paper Group Green Label: The Green Label brewed with filter paper has a very clean taste, with clear and prominent flavors, allowing one to taste jasmine, citrus, honey, and an oolong tea aftertaste. Cloth Filter Group Dripper: The Green Label brewed with cloth filter, while its flavor performance is not as prominent and clear as the former, has a longer aftertaste, higher body, is smoother, and has a slightly more intense aroma.

Conclusion: Choosing Your Preferred Method

Since the two cups of coffee have different characteristics, there is no absolute comparability between them. If you prefer coffee with higher body and more intense aroma, you can use filtering tools like cloth filters or mesh screens to brew your coffee. But if you prefer coffee with higher clarity and clearly defined flavor layers, then filter paper is the most suitable choice for you.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473