Drip coffee maker filters: Melitta vs. Mr. Coffee styles

[Greg Who Cooks]

I'm pretty sure you're tired of hearing this stuff, but I just scored an eight cup Chemex with glass handle at a thrift for $4.24 out the door. That's eight 5 oz. cups or four 10 oz. mugs, two cup minimum. Nice pot for one or two. Not hand-blown, but nice enough. Makes good coffee.

So which type of filter does it use?

 

[gadzooks]

So which type of filter does it use?

Chemex filters. Square or round. They are folded into quarters and opened into a cone with three thicknesses of filter paper on one side and a single thickness of paper on the other. The triple layer side is placed on the vent. It's thickness keeps it from collapsing into the vent channel and forcing the displaced air in the pot to percolate up through the grounds. I already have unbleached pre-folded square filters for the other Chemex. Tried it this afternoon. Chemex coffee...sweet, rich and low acid, no mud. Perfect for one or two people. I will probably get rid of it, though, as I already have a Chemex, but the price was too good to pass up. Clean it up nice and fill it with fresh roasted whole beans and give it to one of my low-rent compadres along with a box of filters as a housewarmer.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Okay, "cone" fits into my theory that a conic shape is better for making coffee than a flat bottom. Sounds like a nice gift!

 

[gadzooks]

Okay, "cone" fits into my theory that a conic shape is better for making coffee than a flat bottom. Sounds like a nice gift!

But I also have a Revere Drip-O-Lator that uses either no filter or a paper basket-type filter with a flat bottom that makes excellent coffee. I think it has to do with the beans, roast, grind, water quality and temperature and brew time...and the filter type, basket or cone...heeheehee. The biggest thing, I think, is that with a separate kettle and a pour-over brewer, I can control all the elements listed, and none of them get left to the whims or shortcomings of an electrical appliance that can accumulate mineral scale or decide to change its mind about water temperature or brew time.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I think it has to do with temperature, flow rate, evenness of coffee distribution and porosity of filter. A cone naturally centers the wet coffee rather than letting a bare spot form and allow unbrewed water to seep through.

 

[gadzooks]

I think it has to do with temperature, flow rate, evenness of coffee distribution and porosity of filter. A cone naturally centers the wet coffee rather than letting a bare spot form and allow unbrewed water to seep through.

Manual pour over drip coffee pots, also known as dripolators, have a cure for those bald spots in the basket. They have a plate inserted above the basket, a close seal around the edge, that has tiny holes in it. The plate sits above the filter and below the water reservoir. They regulate water flow into and distribution in the basket. The outer perimeter of the holes in the upper plate always falls inside the perimeter of the filter below, so the water does, too. Always a great cuppa... Their advantage over cone filters is the size of the water reservoir and the regulator plate above the basket. Makes it a single pour operation. Of course, I have yet to see a dripolator, even a Revere, as pretty as a Chemex. I should probably post pix of the two, side by side. A real right brain v. left brain example of coffee brewing.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Go ahead and post it. I'm having some difficulty picturing your description.

 

[gadzooks]

OK, let's see if Dr. Technical can do this...first pic is the dripolator, disassembled. There is a pot, a water reservoir, a regulator plate and a lid.

Next, the reservoir, with basket filter and coffee grounds in place.

Then, the regulator plate in place.

Last picture, the assembled 8 cup Revere Ware Dripolator and a 13 cup hand blown Chemex.

The Chemex takes multiple pours from a kettle for best brew, the dripolator has a fixed reservoir, so it's just one pour. Both are designed for optimal brew time, and I like them both. Even better, they both make consistently excellent coffee. I didn't take pix of my kettles, but I use a glass whistler that has cup markings on it for the Chemex and I have a large old Revere Ware whistler for the dripolator. I have a piece of stainless steel that looks like a choreboy scrubber rolled into a short cylinder that fits through the spout of the Revere kettle. Minerals in the water bind to it and I remove it once in a while and roll it between my hands to break the deposits loose, rinse and put back into the kettle. The dripolator has also been on numerous camping trips. It is probably older than I am, and I'll be 60 in a week. The glass object in the neck of the Chemex is a Hornitos Tequila shot glass, shaped like a horn. It makes a good lid and only cost a quarter.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Tyvm

 

[gadzooks]

Tyvm

Welcome. There is someone on Ventura Craigs List selling a Revere dripolator, in very nice shape, in Woodland Hills/Thousand Oaks, for $10. Not me, btw. http://ventura.craigslist.org/atq/3063984625.html Just a mention, since you're in LA. Maybe you get up that way...Revere Ware 1801 Copper Clad Over Stainless Drip Coffee Maker/Pot

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I'm not in acquisition mode at the present. All my gourmet cooking stuff is inn storage. I have a Mr. Coffee here that I stare daggers at every morning, hoping it will die. So far death stares haven't worked. Anyway I have maybe 50-60 filters left, so that's 50-60 days until I reach the next decision point. One can always hope it burns out before then!

Actually I want an electric, fill it the night before and hit the button when I wake up. I have a Melitta filter cone, filters, and a sauce pan that I make coffee with in emergencies (like power failures). It's my faithful camping coffee maker. Probably makes coffee as good as the Chemex...