Switching to Paper Filters. Worth It?
I recently bought a five-cup Krups drip brewer (the Cafe Aroma 5) to replace an old ten-cup Nikko brewer I’d been using for a few months already. While this particular model does come with a plastic mesh filter, I decided to try paper filters. For one, these are easier to clean. I just throw out the paper filter and wash only the carafe and the filter basket itself.
However, there seems to be a disadvantage, and that is my brew now usually lighter and less bitter. I prefer my coffee bitter. I often drink it black or just with one sugar.
Brewing with a paper filter produces clear, light-bodied coffee, which is free of sediments, but lacking in some of coffee’s oils and essences, which are trapped in the paper filter.
I found an interesting discussion over at 50plus.com, which was mostly about how paper filters did produce less bitter coffee. But if you’re a tree hugger, then I think you would rather reduce your carbon footprint and opt for the plastic filter instead of the disposable paper ones.
Frankly, I do want my coffee strong, as a matter of preference and sometimes necessity (I have to put in long hours at night writing and managing blogs). With my old brewer, I had found how to make that perfect brew (right amount of coffee grinds, right brand of coffee, right amount of water). But right now I’m still experimenting.
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