Basket Filters

Basket coffee filter papers - history

On 8th July 1908 the first paper coffee filter was invented by German housewife Melitta Bentz. She wanted to remove the bitter taste caused by boiling loose grounds or using the typical method of linen to brew coffee. She patented her invention and formed a company to sell the coffee filters, hiring her husband and two sons to assist her as the first employees.

Basket coffee filter papers – how are they made? The raw material (pulp) for basket coffee filter papers are coarse long fibres, often from fast growing trees. They are often available in bleached (white) or unbleached (brown) types. Typically, Basket coffee filter papers are made up of filaments approximately 20 micrometres wide, which allow particles through that are less than approximately 10 to 15 micrometres.

Basket coffee filter papers - sizes. Basket coffee filter papers are available in many sizes from very small (used in domestic machines) to very large (used in commercial bulk brew machines). There are several methods used to size them however the most accurate method is to lay the basket coffee filter out flat on a table. The diameter of the base is measured along with the overall diameter of the filter circle. Thus an ‘80/200’ size basket coffee filter would have a nominal base diameter of 80mm and a nominal overall diameter of 200mm.