A barista in Portland told me to stop rinsing my paper filters and I wish I hadn't listened

I was at a little shop in downtown Portland a few months ago and the barista there said rinsing filters was a waste of time and water. She said the paper taste is a myth and you lose heat by wetting the filter. I tried it for like two weeks straight with my V60 and every single cup came out with this cardboard-like aftertaste. Finally went back to rinsing and the difference was night and day - my brew was clean and bright again. I'm genuinely curious if anyone else has actually had success skipping the rinse or if I just got bad advice from someone who was in a hurry. Have you ever tried going without rinsing and noticed a difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbara_taylor8326d ago

Yep I tried skipping the rinse once and my coffee tasted like a wet cardboard box.

sam_wood6026d ago

That paper filter taste is a real thing, isn't it? I swear it's even worse with those natural brown unbleached filters. Did you use tap water or filtered water when you tried skipping the rinse? I found that made a bigger difference than I expected when I was testing different methods. Sometimes it's not just the filter, it's what's in the water reacting with those paper fibers.