How to choose coffee filters

1. Find the filter your brewer names

Check the manual or the maker's page for the filter it recommends. The SCA's standard for home brewers requires manuals to name the filter type that gives the best results, so certified machines should tell you.

Some examples from the makers:

• Hario's V60 takes V60 paper filters sized 01, 02 or 03 to match the dripper.
• Kalita's Wave 185 dripper requires Kalita Wave 185 filters.
• Chemex's Bonded filters fit its 6, 8 and 10 cup Classic brewers, but not the 3-cup models.
• Bonavita sells flat-bottom filters for its 8-cup and Enthusiast brewers, and #4 cone filters for its 5-cup brewer.
• Fellow's Aiden takes Melitta #2 cone filters for a single cup and standard 8 to 12 cup basket filters for a batch.

2. Match the shape to the basket

Use a flat-bottom filter in a flat-bottom basket and a cone in a cone. Bonavita puts it plainly: its flat-bottom brewers need a filter shaped to match, "not a generic cone that changes how water flows through the grounds."

The SCA tests machines the same way. When a maker does not supply filters, the lab uses Melitta filters in conical baskets and Mr. Coffee filters in flat-bottom ones.

3. Choose paper by flow, based on your grind

Pick a faster paper if your brews stall, and a thicker one if you want a cleaner, slower cup. This is where your grinder comes in.

Coffee ad Astra found that grinding too fine can stall a V60 entirely. With burrs that made very few fines, the author could grind much finer before a brew choked. If your grinder makes more fines, a fast paper buys you room.

If a V60 brew runs long, see how to fix a slow pour-over drawdown before changing paper. The grind is usually the first fix.

4. Decide between white and natural paper

Choose either, and rinse it. Hario sells its V60 02 filters in white and natural brown, made without glue. Bonavita's filters are unbleached virgin pulp. Chemex says its white papers are oxygen-cleansed in a bleach-free process that leaves no chemical residue. Kalita's Wave 185 papers are white.

Chemex says its process imparts no taste to the paper. Rinsing is cheap insurance either way.

5. Pre-wet the filter before you brew

Pour hot water through the empty filter, then discard the water. Kalita tells you to pre-wet its Wave filters before brewing. Rinsing also warms the dripper and seats the paper against the walls.

6. Buy enough of the right size

Buy filters in the exact size for your brewer, and keep a spare box. The V60 02 paper fits a V60 02, not an 01 or 03. Kalita's Wave 155 and Wave 185 papers are different sizes. For drippers that need their own filter, running out means you cannot brew. See how to choose a pour-over dripper if you are still deciding on the brewer.

Do filters change how coffee tastes?

Yes, through flow and what they hold back. Chemex says its Bonded papers remove fats, sediment and bitterness that other filters leave behind. Faster papers drain sooner, which changes extraction at the same grind. Our filter glossary entry covers paper, metal and cloth.