The Kaffeologie S-Filter – Marco.org: “Most coffee nerds will tell you that paper filters block flavorful oils from getting into the brewed cup, while the superior metal-mesh and perforated filters will let these oils through for a superior taste.”
(Via. Marco.org)
I continue to be amazed that so many coffee nerds don’t realize the first rule of hot beverages, as bestowed upon me a long time ago by a Japanese Tea expert: Never let hot water touch metal. Period.
Metal will do a lot more to destroy the flavor of your coffee or tea than anything else you do. You might as well pour dirt into your cup.
You’re going to go through the trouble of getting yourself a $300 grinder, the best fresh beans you can find (4 Barrel in San Francisco is my personal favorite), a scale, and an Aeropress. And THEN you’re going to geek out on special “recipies” Inverted brewing methods, measuring your beans to the nearest 100th of an ounce, blah blah blah. And then you’re dumb enough to be filtering through a piece of metal?
You might as well have gone to Starbucks.
That goes even more for a metal kettle, by the way. Sacrilege. I use the Chemex Handblown Glass Kettle. Glass is the only way to go.
Everyone knows that glass is superior to metal when it comes to liquids. That’s why bottled beer tastes better, bottled milk tastes better, etc. The effect of the metal gets exaggerated when the temperature rises or falls from room temperature.
It’s why we use glasses or ceramic cups instead of metal cups, despite the fact that metal cups would be far less prone to breakage.
Now, I’m exaggerating, of course, the effect of a metal filter on taste. (Not the kettle. The kettle will absolutely kill your coffee.) As Marco points out, you can’t really tell the difference in the filter when the coffee is pressed through so quickly. But the idea that people get all snobby about how much better a metal filter is makes me laugh every time. There’s a reason why cheap tea pots have a metal sieve, while the more expensive good ones don’t.
Paper filters are more convenient for cleaning. They’re so cheap the cost amounts to a rounding error compared to the rest of the brew. (You can get a year’s supply for about $10.) And they do a superior job of keeping fine grinds out of your brew. End of story.
