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paper filters white or brown?

The white ones are bleached. The coffee likely won't taste any different, but my preference is always the untreated paper just in case.
 
Why not forgo the paper altogether and get a SwissGold permanent filter? They really let the flavor and oils through. Dont settle for a substitute though...get a SwissGold filter or stay with paper. The metal filters from discount stores are junk. Just my $0.02.:001_smile
 
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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
I can't tell the difference, but I like the idea of the unbleached ones.
 
I use fine mesh cotton cloth. The one I use is a speciality item with couple layers of thin cloths which work very well with tea, coffee, and other drinks that need filtering. One cloth for each type of drink.

The closest one that I found here in the West is a cotten filter in some health food stores like Noah's. I don't know if this chain is in the States.

Or you can go to the fabric store and ask for fine mesh cotton cloth and see if it would do the job.

It is extra work to get the cloth but once you have it, it is cheaper, environmentally friendly, and healthier.
 
I prefer oxygen bleached paper.

non-bleached paper imparts a.. well.. paper taste to the cup.

Rinse well with REALLY hot water before using it to brew.
 
Unbleached, when I use them. Usually it's a gold filter. Once you get the grind just right for the porosity (that's a word, right?...doesn't seem right as I type this), you get a nice brew with just the right amount of solids. I like it when there's a little oil slick on the top of my brew, but paper filters soak up that oil so I usually don't use them.
 
I prefer oxygen bleached paper.

non-bleached paper imparts a.. well.. paper taste to the cup.

Rinse well with REALLY hot water before using it to brew.

you are right! I bought some Melitta brown filters and my coffee tastes "woody".:tongue_sm I am going back to white filters ASAP!
 
...Rinse well with REALLY hot water before using it to brew.

Unfamilar with this step. You're referring to the paper filter? Curious as to how one would undertake that step (REALLY hot water).

Have gone back and forth between the paper filters/gold swiss filters/paper filters. Currently we use the Melitta Natural Brown filters. We still get some of that "oil slick" in our cups. There might be a flavor difference, but without brewing side-by-side I don't guess it is significant enough to notice.
 
I use a Chemex - used both white and unbleached (brown) in it. I stick with the brown - the white imparted a really strange "off" flavor. I use the unbleached in other makers as well.
 
Unfamilar with this step. You're referring to the paper filter? Curious as to how one would undertake that step (REALLY hot water).

Have gone back and forth between the paper filters/gold swiss filters/paper filters. Currently we use the Melitta Natural Brown filters. We still get some of that "oil slick" in our cups. There might be a flavor difference, but without brewing side-by-side I don't guess it is significant enough to notice.

Somehow it manages to work with coffee in it, so why not without?

Just stick the filter into your filter holder, and run some really hot water through it to give it a rinse.

The newer Melitta filters have "flavor pores" that do allow a little oil through, though not as much as a Swiss Gold (but they do filter out more sediment).
 
To what benefit does the pre-wetting serve?

I did try it today, but I was unfamilar with the coffee and coffee pot (drip) used, so I still don't have a point of reference. I used water as hot as my hands would tolerate, got the filter wet, squeezed the excess, carefully (so as not to tear) opened the filter and placed it in the filter holder.
 
I just stick the filter in the holder and run some water over it. If there are any papery particles hanging about, it will wash them away, and in principle it will help a bit with any paper taste in your cup. Probably just being persnickety, but so be it.
 
In desperate times, I have used a paper towel as a substitute for a filter. Works pretty good!

Then again, I was raised in a swamp. :biggrin:
 

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
The white ones are bleached. The coffee likely won't taste any different, but my preference is always the untreated paper just in case.

That make sense. I however stopped drinking filtered coffee. I'm using a mini-Italian espresso maker for the past 4 years now - 2 espresso cups at the time.

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