Manual Drip, best filters? Chemex? Other?

[NoYuckyCoffee]

I've been getting along pretty well with manual drip (Melitta w/ plastic cone) for quite some time now. I had been using Melitta paper filters, and about the time I ran out of them, I heard a barista say that Melitta filters "color" the flavor of the coffee with noticable paper flavor. She told me that she had better luck using any other non-Melitta paper filter. I've had bad luck with that change.

I'm thinking about ordering some Chemex filters, to use in the Melitta, and I may also get the Clever Coffee Dripper, and some of the Filtropa filters that Sweet Marias offers.

Has anyone used the filtropa vs. melitta vs. chemex?

[BoldJava]

Has anyone used the filtropa vs. melitta vs. chemex?

Melitta 'whites' are best. I use them, as they are oxygenated, not bleached. I don't care for any of the brown filters. I have used the Filtropa/Aroma (browns) and the Chemex and didn't care for them. Many brown filters introduce a wet cardboard taste into the brew. Hario is an exception but they are pricey.

Stick with Melitta whites and trust your own tastes. I always rinse the filter with boiled water, about two ounces, using that water to pre-heat the filter/cup pourover arrangement. Dump and commence.

B|Java

[NoYuckyCoffee]

Thanks, I like that advice. I'll give the Melitta whites a try.

[mldavis2]

I concur with BoldJava. The brown paper filters do have a cardboard aroma, although rinsing any filter will remove most of the cardboard character. I've used them all. General consensus is that any will do as long as you rinse them with hot water first. I think I would avoid the bleached white.

[NoYuckyCoffee]

OK, Thanks again.

I'll be doing the rinsing thing now.

[tucker85]

I agree with the other posts. I only use Melitta white filters. I've tried store brand filters, brown Melitta filters and Chemex filters. I could taste the paper on all of them.

[BoldJava]

. . . The brown paper filters do have a cardboard aroma, although rinsing any filter will remove most of the cardboard character. I've use them all. General consensus is that any will do as long as you rinse them with hot water first. I think I would avoid the bleached white.

I have cupped them side by side, the white oxygenated Melitta as well as browns. Give it a go. The browns all (except Hario) had hints of that wet cardboard for my palate, despite an just-off boil rinse. Your mileage may vary.

Truth is, I knew which was which. Blind test? Not sure as I gave away all the brown ones, except for the Harios. I will have the Czarina run a blind test at me some day between the Melitta white and Hario brown.

B|Java

[NoYuckyCoffee]

Thanks again

[martin]

I've recently found another way to look at the difference between white and brown filters that might be of interest. I've preferred non-bleached #2 filters in the old Mellita small pourover for years now. 'way back (must be fifteen years ago, maybe more) I did a trial of various brands of both sorts and decided that while, yes, the unbleached may have lent a bit of a woody presence to the brew, I preferred that to what I tasted from the bleached filters. I'm afraid the identities of the various contestants in this experiment are lost in the mists of memory erosion...

So when I ordered my first CCD last month I would have gone with the brown Filtropas, but they were out of stock so I got the whites; just one of those accidents of coincidence. I've been very happy with them, and don't find the sort of chemical spoor that I disliked in the ones I tried so long ago. When I ordered another CCD - if you only have one, just wait until the day you almost bounce it off the floor while cleaning up, and are struck by the vision of having to go back to more primitive brew methods: bet the order goes in before you brew another cup - the browns were back in stock and so naturally I ordered them.

After only a couple brews, I don't have any clear feelings about flavor and aroma differences, even without a pre-rinse. What I have noticed is that the brown filter consistently drains more slowly than the whites... and that makes me wonder if much of what I liked about browns in the past was that anything that helps increase the steep time in a small-batch pourover is likely to cause a net improvement in the results. So, what have I been finding here?

CCD with 20g beans, ground to what is probably FP range; 320g of hot water; 4 minute steep with 1, 3 and 4 stir (plus I stir, mostly to slosh the liquid around to keep more of the filter surface wetted, from about 45 seconds of filtering onwards). Water is added with the CCD loaded & tared on the scale. My goal is to recover about 5/6 of the weight of water added, so I'd like to see 54g post-drain (1). In fact I can get close to that after about 2 minutes with the whites (run ~65g at 1:30), but with the brown filter I always have 90-some grams at 1:30, and 70-80 after the extra 30 seconds (or even a bit more - the timer runs out at 2:00 after start of draining). This is comparable to what I was getting with the whites before I backed off to a coarser grind (from what was probably a nominal drip grind).

(1) this is around the point where the water level is just at the height of the settled grounds. with some dissolved solids in the water that's drained into the mug I expect this would actually be somewhat less than 5/6 yield by volume, but I don't normally hit that anyway...

[NoYuckyCoffee]

Cool, Thanks for the additional info!