We put this to the test at the roastery to see how much of a difference filters can actually make in your brew.
In recent years we’ve seen a big boom in the variety of filters with a lot of new brands and companies making some pretty big claims. Higher extractions, greater clarity, silkier mouthfeel, the list goes on. But if you line them up can you really see the differences? And does the increase in price really make them worthwhile?
Today we will be taking a look at the following Origami, Sibarist Cone Fast and the Hi-Flux High Fast filters. The Origami as our most every day filter and the Sibarist and Hi-Flux fast filters representing the mid-higher price points. Both being commonly seen as a choice for brewers cup competitors as of late.
Our coffee of choice was the Los Magnificos Geisha from Monkaaba, something with good sweetness and a lot of complexity. All made in our daily driver, the ceramic Origami dripper. As some basic parameters all coffee was brewed in rounds of three, with 15g coffee to 250ml water at 93°c. As control, all brews hit within 1ml of this target.
Now rather bore you with the details of every single cup let's get down to our findings.
On all brews we could see that the Sibarist and Hi-Flux were always 25-30 seconds faster on drawdown (Hi-Flux being slightly faster) Also that the fast filters gave you more coffee in the cup, measuring at an average of 219ml out for Sibarist, 221 out for Hi-Flux and the Origami with 215ml. While TDS was tested we found no real discernible difference with maybe the fast filters being .01 higher per brew.
But when it came down to it, how did they really taste? In a side by side comparison when nothing is changed but the filter paper, all brews did taste quite different.
The Origami presented balance and sweetness while highlighting the coffee's floral notes. Having a very familiar mouthfeel and body. Using a finer grind saw more negative flavors popping up with overextraction. Overall quite solid and not prone to any stalling.
The Sibarist came with bright sparkling acidity, clarity and a very clean cup. As advertised they really brought a transparent feel to the coffee. Sitting at a premium price point you’d have high expectations, they do deliver but maybe difficult to justify for some people.
The Hi-Flux had a juicy mouthfeel, sweetness and highlighted the tropical notes of the coffee. Great value for the performance these offer, still being quite distinct from the Sibarist. The filters are flat so you have to fold them yourself, while simple it may be a bit of a hassle for some. They also have a very interesting texture to them, almost bordering on traditional cloth filters.
The faster filters also let through more oils into the cup, which you would think could lead to a more viscous mouthfeel. But in practice they were lighter. While you could grind much finer with both faster filters I did feel this gave some dryness to the coffee when hot. Despite having some very fast brews they tasted great, compared with finer grinds and aiming for traditional brew times. Outside of this testing we have noticed it much easier to brew larger (eg;30g) amounts with faster filters, possibly their biggest advantage.
Overall all the filters felt like a viable option to use and had their own merits. Rather than preferring one over the other maybe it is simpler to view the filters as a tool. Not that one performs any better but maybe they just have different uses. If you have a very dense coffee that stalls, maybe try one of the faster ones. A coffee lacking body and sweetness maybe a slower filter would be better. Case by case it’s easy to see all of them being useful.
Exciting to see how much flavor can be adjusted with only the filter.