Paper Coffee Filters
Paper coffee filters explained: cone and basket shapes, Melitta, Hario and Chemex sizes, bleached vs unbleached, rinsing, and what paper takes out.
Do paper coffee filters make a difference?
Yes. Paper traps fine particles and the coffee's oils, including cafestol, which metal and cloth filters let through, so paper-filtered coffee tastes cleaner and lighter-bodied. Filters must match your brewer's shape and size: Hario 01, 02 or 03 for a V60, Melitta 1×2 or 1×4 for wedge drippers, Chemex's own thicker papers. Rinse them first.
Paper coffee filters are the thin sheets that hold the grounds in a pour-over dripper, drip machine or AeroPress. They look like a disposable detail, but they shape the cup: paper holds back the finest particles and most of the coffee’s oils, giving a cleaner, brighter coffee than a metal or cloth filter. This page covers shapes and sizes, bleached or unbleached, and what paper takes out.
The short version
- Paper traps oils and fines; metal and cloth let them through.
- Match the filter to the brewer: cone, wedge, basket, disc or Chemex.
- Rinse before brewing if you notice a papery taste.
- Bleached filters are safe; dioxin-producing chlorine gas went in the late 1980s.
- Paper removes cafestol, the compound in coffee that raises LDL cholesterol.
What does a paper filter take out of coffee?
Coffee filter paper weighs about 100 g/m² and is made of fibres around 20 micrometres wide, which let through particles smaller than about 10–15 micrometres, Wikipedia says. It also removes the oily diterpenes, cafestol and kahweol, which metal, nylon and porcelain mesh filters don’t.
| Filter | What gets through | Cup |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | Very little oil; only the finest particles | Cleaner, brighter, lighter body |
| Cloth | More oil than paper | Fuller |
| Metal or porcelain mesh | The oils and more fine particles | Fullest body, some sediment |
Source: Wikipedia, Coffee filter. Coffee from paper filters is said to taste somewhat fruitier than from permanent filters.
That matters for health as well as taste. In a 2025 Uppsala University study reported by ScienceAlert, paper-filtered drip coffee had a median of 11.5 mg/L of cafestol, against under 90 for French press. See how to choose a brewing method for more.
Which filter fits which brewer?
| Brewer | Filter | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hario V60 | Hario cones 01, 02, 03 | 01 for one cup, 02 for 1–4, 03 for 1–6 |
| Wedge drippers (Melitta-style) and many drip machines | Melitta 1×2, 1×4, 1×6; US #2, #4, #6 | The 1× filters share a base about 49 mm wide and a 54° angle, so they swap between holders |
| Drip machines | Basket filters | 8–12 cup home sizes are common in the US |
| Chemex | Chemex half-moon, square or circle papers | 20–30% thicker than regular filters; 3-cup models take the half-moon |
| AeroPress | Standard or XL discs | XL only for the XL and Clear XL |
Sources: Wikipedia; AeroPress FAQ.
Bleached or unbleached?
Both are made, from long-fibre pulp, often from fast-growing trees; Melitta has used up to 60% bamboo since 1998, Wikipedia says. Bleached (white) filters used to be whitened with chlorine gas, which made dioxin as a by-product. In the late 1980s the paper mills switched to a process that uses a chlorine compound instead, which eliminated the dioxin, AeroPress says.
Should you rinse a paper filter?
Some baristas say paper filters give a “paperish” taste and recommend washing the filter with a flush of hot water before adding the coffee, Wikipedia notes. If you do, pour the rinse water away before you brew.
Who invented the paper coffee filter?
Melitta Bentz, a German entrepreneur, devised the first commercial paper coffee filter, a 94 mm disc, on 8 July 1908, to stop over-brewed, bitter coffee, Wikipedia says. She patented it and founded the company Melitta. Conical filters followed in the 1930s, and Melitta’s wedge-shaped Filtertüte in 1936 or 1937. Paper had been used before: in 1782 Johann Georg Krünitz described brewing coffee through blotting paper in a metal cone.
Filters and other kit guides
- Hario V60 dripper: the cone the 01, 02 and 03 papers fit.
- Gooseneck kettle: for rinsing and pouring.
- Chemex: the brewer with the thickest papers.
Questions & answers
Should I rinse a paper coffee filter?
Many baristas say so. Some claim paper gives a "papery" taste and recommend flushing the filter with hot water before adding the coffee, Wikipedia notes. Pour the rinse water away before brewing.
Are bleached coffee filters safe?
Yes. Until the late 1980s filter paper was bleached with chlorine gas, which produced dioxin as a by-product; mills then switched to a process using a chlorine compound instead, which eliminated it, AeroPress says.
What size filter do I need?
The one made for your brewer. Hario V60s take 01, 02 or 03 cones; wedge-shaped drippers use Melitta-style 1×2, 1×4 or the US #2, #4 and #6; drip machines often take basket filters; Chemex takes its own. Melitta's 1× filters share the same base and angle, so they swap between holders.
Do paper filters remove cholesterol-raising compounds?
Largely, yes. Paper removes the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol, which metal, nylon and porcelain filters let through, Wikipedia says. A 2025 Uppsala study found far less cafestol in paper-filtered drip coffee than in French press or boiled coffee, ScienceAlert reports.
Sources
- Coffee filter. Wikipedia
- FAQ. AeroPress, Inc.
- How You Make Your Coffee Could Affect Your Cholesterol Levels. ScienceAlert