Paper vs Metal Filters for Pour Over: Which Cup Do You Want?
Large pour-over brewers split into two camps. Chemex, Hario and Kalita brew through paper. Bodum and Coffee Gator ship with a permanent stainless steel mesh. The choice changes the cup more than the shape of the brewer does.
What paper does
Paper traps the fine particles and most of the coffee oils. The result is the cup pour over is famous for: clear, light-bodied, with the flavours of the bean easy to pick out and no sediment in the bottom of the mug. Thicker papers filter more; Chemex's bonded filters are thicker than standard cone filters, which is a large part of the Chemex taste.
Costs: a few cents per brew, and you need to keep the right size in stock. Chemex specifies its own filters; the V60 03 and Kalita Wave 185 each take their own shapes.
What metal does
A steel mesh filter lets the oils and some fine particles through. Makers describe this as fuller flavour, and that is fair: the cup is heavier, rounder and a little cloudy, closer to a French press than to a classic pour over, with a small amount of sediment at the bottom.
Costs: nothing after purchase. Rinse it after each brew and give it a proper wash weekly, because oils build up in the mesh and go stale.
Which to choose
- You like clarity and brightness, or drink light roasts: paper.
- You like body and weight, or came from a French press: metal.
- You are brewing for guests who add milk: either, but metal's heavier cup stands up to milk better.
- You hate buying consumables: metal, or a brewer that takes widely available cone filters.
Can you mix?
Yes. The Bodum and Coffee Gator carafes will accept a paper cone filter dropped into the metal basket in a pinch, which gives a cleaner cup and keeps the mesh as a backup. And paper-filter drippers like the V60 can be paired with a metal cone filter sold separately, though the flow changes and the recipe will need adjusting.
The honest answer for a household brewer
Most people who buy a large pour-over want it to taste like the single-cup pour over they fell for, and that was almost certainly paper. Start there. If you find the cup too thin for the crowd you brew for, the metal-filter carafes are the fix, and they cost less to run.