Ceramic Coffee Filters: Magical or Maddening?
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I first came across ceramic filters about ten years ago in Japan but I heard from a lot of you recently with curiosity to understand why they exist and how they work. I hope this helps to explain the unusual choice of material and the process of how to brew with it.
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James Hoffman: the man who makes me enthusiastically watch reviews of products I’ve never heard of, and have no interest in getting.
I don't even drink coffee.
@@drumedorable
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Is this true? You guys don't drink coffee? 🙂 Maybe we can change that
@@johnnynighthawk156
I do. I use a blue bottle pour over with an electric gooseneck kettle. I get my whole bean coffee monthly from atlas coffee Club and grind it in a burr grinder
@@johnnynighthawk156 James Hoffman and I are part of an Anglo-American exchange program. He drinks lots of good coffee, despite being English, and I drink lots of good tea, despite being from you-know-where - a place where 99% of the tea is leftover sweepings in teabags, after they've shipped the good stuff to the British Isles.
I love that you addressed the lack of sustainability. The zero waste market is being tapped into by companies that are encouraging different kinds of waste.
But not addressing the people blindly buying these products when their hobby of coffee is extremely wasteful and not eco friendly.
The only reason it's not zero waste is because he wants to clean it until it's like new. Why try to make a clay filter platform like a paper one. Faulty logic.
If you want a clean brew just use paper, if you want to not go to the store since you want coffee right now use the clay.
The eco friendly think is just to get dumb people to buy it and never use it
@@PaendaTube I think in this case, it would take similar energy to produce (and for 100% sure less energy to clean) using a metal filter. I got one for 5 euros from HEMA that doesn't leak almost any fines through. If you are worried about waste of production and want a more "filter paper taste" you can use a coffee sock. Those are much less energy to produce and require marginally more care than the steel mesh.
@@bengerber4542 id argue against that. (Prereply edit, im not trying to come at you at all here i just am passionate about this sort of stuff and have a lot to say)
The amount of energy needed for metallurgy is immense. There are so many steps in that process and each step in the process consumes heaps of energy. Stainless steel especially requires so much. I wish I remembered all of the steps and the energy cost of each. I think I've got a textbook on it on my shelf but i couldnt be bothered to confirm atm. Plus where do you get common metals like iron? Deep within the earth extracted using mines that fuck up ecosystems. Ceramic on the other hand can be made relatively easily with low energy and with common surface level materials. Perhaps the energy that the factory uses to make ceramic into ceramic filter would be comparable to making stainless steel + plastic into filter, but the materials used themselves severely differ in energy cost. And thinking about it, the ceramic might only require a mould and the ceramic material plus maybe heat? To make the filter. Whereas cutting and bending and hole punching the stainless steel and that getting that inside of plastic that needs to be molded to fit would have way more steps in terms of the factory and I mean each step you use, you're probably using more energy.
Sooooo all around ceramic is going to be "greener" than metal filter.
Maybe the next question is, how many cups off coffee do you need to make w the ceramic filter in order to overcome the energy cost per paper filter? Paper filters might be really energy efficient to make. Maybe it takes hundreds of brews before you're using less energy. Ceramic has high initial energy cost, but doesn't really have that recurrent energy cost. Paper has low per brew energy cost but builds up over time
@@PaendaTube Eco friendly is a misnomer many of the eco-friendly products have a higher upfront waste to produce. Considering this is a ceramic product that probably requires some kind of baking at a high heat to make it and all the energy waste used to produce it. I'd be interested in the waste comparison to standard filters over the standard lifetime of this product and the waste produced by manufacture.
Unfortunately there are many zero waste products that have a very wasteful production process it's just hidden from the end user so people on the end think because they are re-using the produce and not producing waste at home that it must be more friendly to the environment where in many cases it's a wash and in quite a few other cases it's actually less friendly.
@@dylanmiley5642 Paper may be more energy efficient but the process to get that paper usually is destructive to the environment in different ways. Plastic straws for paper straws sure sounds great in theory but that paper has to come from somewhere. Disposable bamboo from what I understand is a better option for disposable utensils at least.
Anyway end of the day the consumer really doesn't care about eco friendly. I mean in a way I do but I'd care a lot more if mandates on big businesses happen. I'm sick of being told things like take shorter showers. There are companies who use 60,000 times the amount of water in a single hour than I will use in the next 30 years having showers. As a consumer, until big business changes leave me alone to be quite frank as my impact on the environment is insignificant. I digressed a bit, heh. Kinda also passionate about this topic.
I've found that pouring my coffee through an array of crazy straws improves the flavor as well, particularly with Jupiter visible in the night sky during a Waning Crescent moon.
🤣 mine's better on rainy and low stress days. Sun is usually optional but I heard it adds some vitamin D, for health.
I mouth brew. Whole beans in mouth. Grind with teeth. Brew with body temp spit. “Drink”
@@TeensierPython this similar to army instant coffee method. very brilliant during war times 😆
th-cam.com/video/X_UreBEPfxM/w-d-xo.html
Sommeliers be like
@@TeensierPython I have a friend who regularly did that with espresso beans
Coming from a ceramic industry perspective, this looks almost exactly like the material grinding wheels are made from. The material probably contains no clay, and is made from grains of an arc fused mineral (brown alumina grinding wheels are made from aluminum oxide fused by an electric arc at around 2200 degrees Celsius.) This material would be ground, graded to a very consistent grain size, and pressed with some type of organic binder (probably a glycol of some kind) and fired until the particles are sintered together, which also destroys the binder. Firing temperatures for this are probably very high (1300 to 1650 degrees C) the rough surface is necessary for flow, as smaller pores would have a higher capillary force and require significant pressure for water to flow through.
There is much more, but I don't know the finer details of how this particular product is manufactured.
Huh, I was under the impression aluminium is quite bad to consume (aluminium foil for cooking used normally doesn't give off enough to be enough of a risk), but would this sort of thing be as safe as that?
@@Call-me-Al Aluminum oxide is very different from aluminum metal. ALL commercially available ceramic dishes and cookware contain large amounts of aluminum oxide (its second to silica aka silicon dioxide). Clay is the primary mineral (family of minerals really) in practically all consumer ceramics, and contains a large amount of aluminum oxide.
@@theshannonlimit1114 thanks!
If it had no clay in it can be really call it a ceramic?
@@CatherinePuce yes ceramic is about the phase and arrangement of matter, not the ingredients per se
I used to be a researcher in optics and lasers a few years ago, so I can add some perspective with the physics at least of FIR.
I suspect the claims around FIR are purely marketing. All objects at everyday temperatures emit FIR by a mechanism called black body radiation. The FIR range of the EM spectrum is predominantly what makes up the heat radiation we generally feel near hot objects. Dark coloured materials tend to emit more black body radiation, so a dark ceramic might make it more emissive than some other materials. However, it seems unlikely that this would be particularly meaningful to the brewing of coffee, particularly as water is not even very transparent to FIR.
Anyways, great video!
"I suspect the claims around FIR are purely marketing."
I used to be in marketing and I say... duh!!
Yeah, I was gonna say FIR is just... heat. So, it improves taste by retaining more heat I guess.
indeed a marketing gimmick,
as a medical doctor, ive seen a lot of patient delaying their evidence based medical therapies and got tricked into alternative medicine like infrared/ magnetic therapy to find out their disease are progressing to get worse without an appopriate therapy.
@@Jeremy-fy1sz "Some marketing points are valid"
Like Vitamin C prevents scurvy? Or their coffee is gluten-free? Even the truth is coated in bullshit. Marketers don't care whether their claims are true or misleading or whether they even make sense as long as they can't be sued. They only care whether people will buy the idea and then the product.
Perhaps it actually cooling the coffee, so when comparing something brewed with this and a normal V60, the V60 is hotter and thus "worse"
Two videos in less than 24 hours‽ What a rare treat!
He double dipped.
Solid use of an interrobang.
Hoff-daddy knows what we really want in life
I had no idea that this ‽ punctuation mark existed. That's rad. The interrobang‽ Thanks for showing me the light.
i honestly thought i overslept for two weeks..
The second you mentioned a porous ceramic, I knew cleaning will be an issue.
Depending on the water used, you may also get scaling.
Ho boi, that's going to be an ass to clean out of the ceramic matrices.
Pool acid fixes a lot of problems.
@@peterwexler5737 Hydrochloric acid FTW!
i think the biggest mistake is the grind size, this brewers were designed for japanese style brew, than means the grind is coarse and the roast is dark... that is why a lot of people complaint about the clog issue but is because was used wrong.
Me too. And that the only solution would be the purchase of a crucible oven.
The Bripe having a place of honor on the shelf is so important.
Yes, I like the the idea of using fancy coffee stuff - that's basically useless - as dekor to make it less useless.
The bripe is a wonderful invention that has put a smile on the face of many.
@@Zraknul how much did they pay you to say that
I really appreciate this kind of product review. It’s clear, logical, and the delivery is to-the-point. I also appreciate your pointing out the green-washing. Water waste is often overlooked.
It’s waste tap water.
Paper plants use an incredible amount of water, and the filters are bleached. At the end of the day I’d rather have tap waste than chlorine runoff leaching into the ground water.
@@AveragePicker considering that each paper filter is barely a gram of paper i would be interested to see the numbers of how much waste water is actually produced per filter. Also unbleached filters are a thing if youre concerned about the impact on the chlorine on the environment.
And as a side note i feel like if you are regularely drinking coffee then the water usage for making the filter is probably less relevant than the water needed to actually grow and handle the coffee in the first place
@@Lasesus a quick Google search says anywhere from 6 gallons of water per pound of paper to around 4.4 gallons for a single sheet.
It does take a lot of water to produce paper. And that's for generic printer paper.
At least in germany, the common household "safes" so much water that our canalisation and water treatment plants are short of water. The system needs to have a steady flow of a certain amount of water to function properly. We have to target our efforts at the food, chemical, clothing idustry etc., instead of the individual, who has only limited control over their water consumption and even then, the impact is minuscule compared to the wastage from the industry.
Waste water is often overlooked, and especially the energy you use to make hot water which is then immediately flushed down the drain. It's not nothing :)
I appreciate just about every part of this review. While I have no idea who you are mystery coffee man, you seem reasonable and covered a lot of the questions I had about this. Thank you
Its products like this that make me love my French-press even more. I don't know if the French-press is super-hip in today's coffee world, but I really enjoy mine. No filters, minimal cleaning, fun to use. What more could I want?
Thanks for making such an informative review!
I use a French press every morning. Super easy to use.
I prefer immersion brewing rather than pour over brewing anyways.
They are annoying to clean
@@boygenius538_8 How do you clean yours? I usually just rinse all parts in soapy water and it takes me less than 1min!
I simply rinse the assembly and beaker with hot water and then dry.
Once you try a Hario Switch I doubt you'd go back to French Press.... At least I didn't
I like the implication that the people interested in this ceramic filter are also proud owners of bripes.
I use a Bripe, and would never buy this filter.
The bripe reference was welcome (bripe fam here), but bear in mind that the bripe is the internet troll of coffee brewing. Yes, we are absurd to bripe. But by that point in the video, it was just a roast; a polite burn (mind the pun). The implication seemed to be that even We The Company of Absurd Bripers and Weird - nay, Fringe - Coffee People approach with caution. TLDR: He seems to assume that it piques everyone's interest and not us specifically.
guilty
lol bripes are hilarious
Well I just learned a new word today, this should be interesting
The fact that porous clay can affect the taste of the brew is a well known fact in the world of tea. With certain clays and teas it's actually a highly desirable trait. It then comes down to figuring out the right pairing of clay and tea, and combined with the fact that if you "marry" the two together the clay will absorb the flavour of the tea over time, it can really enhance the experience. I wonder if the same could be true with coffee if this was explored further, however then there's the convenience factor, which will probably make this unpractical. Brewing tea with clay is no more or less practical than brewing with porcelain or glass, but this does seem pretty messy.
A big difference here is the oils that the coffee will leave behind in the filter. Even if you do the 15 minutes over a gas stove flame, you're just going to be getting burned coffee oils in the pores. And that might adhere to the surface of the clay, pretty much forever making your coffee tasted burned. If you don't go the burn it out route, then you're going to eventually have rancid coffee oils in the pores, which will taste just as bad. Neither of which take into account the fact that no matter how you grind it, there are going to be fines that get stuck in the pores.
There's really no way you want old coffee taste to linger on like you would with tea. Old coffee taste is absolutely disgusting.
. . . like the chalky taste of Greek yogurt. One swallow and I quit. I haven't had yogurt now for years, fearing that I will encounter that taste, as I try avoiding the American syrup we call yogurt.
@@gaslitworldf.melissab2897 damn what kinda greek yogurt you eating?
@@ccapwell that's was my first thought about this brewer as well! Not treating it very much different than you will with a Yixing teapot, but, I do gotta say that oils in coffee are very different from oils present in tea. Even Yixings will need eventually a full cleaning with lots of hot water and maybe bleach for some extreme cases. The difference with teapots is that we get a patina and that pleasant smell the inner walls acquires after some time. So I guess that just like the chemex, this brewer it's a thing to enjoy more visually rather than making a huge impact on the coffee itself. Which is not a bad thing if it makes you enjoy even more the ritual of making coffee. I do like the idea of Gongfu Cafe ^^
It sort of reminds me of my molcajete, in that the more I grind up spices, herbs, and vegetables in it, the more the oils from the food will infuse into the rock, seasoning it and making it provide better flavor down the line.
Could it be possible to 'season' your coffee filter in the same way? Given the nature of coffee oils to go rancid, and the fact that it needs to be thoroughly rinsed to prevent clogging, I'd be inclined to say 'no', but it would be an interesting experiment
Basically, it's like having any porous material, it's create an area where mold, bacteria or fungus can grow. You can also get a bio-film that would clog the filter. That's the reason you should cook it on a gaz flame. The heat will go inside the porous cavity and kill everything. It's basically a bad design and could be a health risk.
I did a rough carbon footprint analysis when deciding whether to default to the cloth filter or paper filter when using my V60. Depending on one's particular set up things may vary, but I have a very efficient natural gas water heater (~70%), heat the water by ~45°C, and found that it took at least a litter of hot water to adequately clean the cloth filter. Given these figures, I found that the carbon footprint of heating the water to clean the filter to be ~0.014 kg of CO
2. The carbon footprint of 1.5g of paper (the weight of my filters) is ~0.0018 kg of CO2. I should note that manufacturing, packaging, and transporting the filter will certainly add to this carbon footprint, but given how much more carbon intensive heating water is (nearly 8x), I'm fairly certain the paper would come out way ahead regardless. Obviously, if you have a carbon free source of hot water, that changes the calculus.
I suspect the carbon footprint of the coffee itself dwarfs the footprint of a paper filter.
@@RobertBlair For sure, from the numbers I've seen about an order of magnitude greater ~.01 kg/CO2 per gram of coffee, or ~.15 kg/C02 for a 15 gram dose. Though that number can change dramatically, being highly dependent on the farming and processing practices.
"I have a very efficient natural gas water heater (~70%)" - and that gas is not popping up magically. It has to be purified, compressed, transported to your house and all of that isn't very efficient either, so from the well to the heater there goes, let me pull an estimate out of my behind, another like 30% to 40%, sort of..?
@@brixomatic My understanding is that since natural gas lines are relatively low pressure, the transportation energy usage through those is only ~10%, so long as the municipal gas supply has a direct pipe links to wells (which is the case in most of North America, including where I live). That's why I didn't include it, just as I didn't include transportation for the paper filters. If the natural gas supply has to be trucked or shipped as compressed or liquified natural gas, then the losses will be much higher.
Must you wash in hot water?
This seems like a case of: "If it were great we would have heard more about it already."
Sadly not always true, however definitely in this case.
Just here to say I really appreciate your content! Came across it when I was depressed as all hell during the covid pandemic and quality filter coffee every day is now integral to my self care & a little bout of happiness every day :)
For as iffy as they are, I do love mine for my home bar. I tend to make a lot of clarified milk punches as tiki mixes, and the uniform porosity of these really helps speed up the process and cut waste filters. For most people the filters used are not an issue, but sometimes going through a dozen or more conventional paper filters really ups the waste and costs... this can just be hit with the faucet and your good to go.... essentially using it as a VERY fine mesh strainer works a treat. As far as the odd flavor goes, running some high proof neutral spirit through before firs use really cuts all of the odd pepperiness flavor it has.
But how much are you spending on water for rinsing, and how much on gas or electricity to heat that water? Pouring gallons of water down the drain is not zero-waste.
@@beeble2003
I have well water with a 50 m deep well and low drought concerns
1 kg × 9.8 m/s² × 50 m ÷ 50% efficiency ÷ 1 kg = 980 J/kg
980 J/kg ÷ 3600000 J/kWh = 0.00027 kWh / kg
So about 0.00005 USD/kg at $0.20/kWh, to pump the water
Local municipal water currently costs 0.004256 USD/kg, or about 85 times the cost to pump it from a well (they maintain the pipes, pump it more, and chlorinate it, so this makes sense).
I'll assume I'm heating the water by 50 K, so
4186 J/kg•K × 50 K = 209300 J/kg
209300 J/kg ÷ 3600000 J/kWh = 0.058 kWh
So add 0.0012 USD/kg at $0.20/kWh, to heat the water.
If I wanted to save money I could install a heat pump hot water heater, those have COP values of 2 to 5 depending on model and the weather, so divide that 0.0012 by 2 to 5. Alternatives include solar and natural gas water heaters.
In total, that's roughly 0.0055 USD/kg for hot municipal water, or 0.0013 USD/kg for hot well water. Paper coffee filters are roughly $0.05 each, so unless I use around 9 kg (2.4 US gal) of very hot municipal water rinsing (or 38 kg of very hot well water, possibly 100 kg of well water with a heat pump, or more with solar), it's cheaper than the paper.
@@beeble2003 I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all solution, but some people live on sustainable properties where they collect and recycle grey-water, excess heat from appliances, and energy from the sun. A person like that would prefer to be able to brew coffee that they grow on-site without the need for any manufacturing byproducts, such as paper filters. I can imagine backpackers and climbers would prefer it as well, since it's light-weight and produces no waste other than the grounds themselves.
James Hoffmann is impressive in his curiosity and commitment to coffee, a knowledge sharer.
Here in Glasgow, the best coffee I have had in two years is filter coffee in an M & S cafe : I have the feeling only James could say why.
9:02 - Finally, a second use for the Bripe’s lighter!
I wonder what the btu output is...
As we know, you can't Bripe in Metric!
The bripe IS the second use for the lighter. In fact, coffee is the second use for the bripe itself. ;)
I once had a lighter like that to light coals for my shisha
He's also used it to light a coffee-scented candle, because he didn't have matches in the studio.
James is at that point that he has so many chemex that they are now becoming vases for his flowers
Oh - right! Didn't notice that. 😃
I am so glad that you mentioned the additional environmental burden of the rinsing process. Many people will rush to purchase products because they believe (or have convinced themselves) that it is better for the environment.. Thank you for your clarification.
There are better options if you want reusable. Those fine mesh work just fine and are much easier to clean. If they get clogged, you can always throw them through an ultrasonic cleaner, but that's usually not needed. Also, I'm sure that fabric would work fine, even though it would probably be slightly worse for the environment.
I totally agree with James about that "taste" I can't get over. It changes the flavour of coffee too much. I have the original one from Kyumon. Hence, I just use it with my drinking water. It does make my already filtered tap water taste better (I could discern the difference 80% of the time in AB testing).
What does water filtered thru it taste like (i.e. no coffee)? Probably should test with one that has never had coffee in it though.
@@EricScheid I feel like a total nerd typing this haha, but it changes the "texture" of the water somehow, like it's "softer"? Also it's less "sharp" and more mellow. I've only tried using the filter abou two times with coffee before I've decided it wasn't for me for brewing. So I did a thorough boil and clean before using it only for water thereafter.
Paper filters and coffee grounds to some extent are amazing in compost. The acid can be tricky directly on plants but in compost it's amazing. I can actually use paper filters to create more vegetation and food. This thing is the most surface level good but icebergian awful device I have seen in a long time. It's wild it passed R&D.
So many "environmentally friendly" products are like that. All marketing. If you really want to see a wild one, I encourage everyone to look up the studies on disposable plastic grocery store bags vs. reusable organic cotton bags. The numbers are crazy. You'd literally have to keep the same cotton bag for something like 50+ years of continuous use.
qz.com/1585027/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-cotton-totes-might-be-worse-than-plastic/
Totally agre. One of the things I love about the aeropress is that the inventor explains how the paper filter can be reused multiple times. I go the compost route myself but, if needed, I would certainly reuse those small paper disks to make another press of joe.
@@SladeWeston Thats how it is like 90% of the time or more. Its all to look good to others, the "im making a difference" mentality when in reality you did essentially nothing. Or even created more waste in the end.
@@SladeWeston depends on the bag. For example, If it’s made from old clothing it is a good substitute. Or from discarded plastic bags (there are people who weave old plastic bags into tote bags). Also some of the reusable bags are compostable. BTW, I have a vague memory that the number of times you have to use a reusable bag to make it worthwhile is in the hundreds (not 50 years worth). Since I use these bags at least twice/week, using them for a couple of years takes care of that and I’ve definitely had some of my bags that long.
Edited to add: went back and read the article and you were right about cotton reusable bags taking many many years to be worthwhile. But other types of reusable bags need less than 100 uses to be environmentally better than plastic bags. And as I said, cotton bags sewn from old garments are a good environmental choice.
with the amount of HOT water you need to use to clean it, and the "15 minutes over a gas flame" bit, I have a hard time believing it's more environmentally friendly than some paper filters.. not to mention the amount of them that will get used a few times and then thrown out/left to collect dust because the cleaning process is so cumbersome
The whole 'zero-waste' is literally that, a marketing ploy which banks on you not throwing away the product you bought like you would with the regular 'old-fashioned' product.
It doesn't mean that's environmentally friendly at all. It just means that you don't produce waste, like with Metal/Glass straws vs Plastic Straws.
Before this 'green-washing', the product would just be called 'Re-usable'
@@NoraNoita And yet another marketing scheme that places the responsibility for climate change on consumers rather than industrial polluters.
It seems like a really hard sell from that perspective over a reusable metallic filter.
@@heyitsmort7744 it’s both and, not either or.
This is my feeling about almost all green initiatives. Why do they think I’m not already doing it?
Hi James for me unglazed ceramics always taste like stone, as do both clay or stoneware perhaps this is the taste that is added in the brewing. Here's something to try, when it is clean and dry lick around the opening, to avoid where coffee oil residue may be, and see if it has a similarity to the taste you find in the coffee after brewing.
Actual stoneware (clay that has vitrified) should be inert with no flavor or aftertaste glazed or unglazed; trouble is that actual stoneware is non porous.
@@robertopics it def is inert but it doesn’t mean it won’t have a taste. Like stone grinders. You’ll taste if you have sensitive taste bud but won’t cause any harm.
@@Mikey-ym6ok does glass impart flavor to coffee?
@@robertopics is glass the same thing as clay or stone? Have you ever licked a rock as a kid? if you haven't go do it and tell us what you taste. Stone sure as shit does have a taste.
@@blond-diver9998 no glass is not the same thing as rocks or clay that's been fired at relatively lower temperatures. I never lucked rocks as a child but not all rocks are the same. Stone rocks are very porous and can grow bacteria and some react to mild acids like saliva so ymmv.
As a ceramicist, I would assume that the metallic oxides (dark brown/black colorants) in the porous (or perhaps ‘low-temperature’) ceramic material is causing a catalytic reaction with the coffee providing a distinct taste. Much like how ceramic catalytic filters are used in industrial application to modify liquids quickly with heat.
That casual Bripe drop in.
Everyone's got a spare Bripe, if you don't, what are you waiting for?
Mad love for Tokyo hands. A must-visit for anyone ever going to Japan.
Yea Tokyu Hands is an awesome shop especially for those into DIY and crafts
I may have several cleaning suggestions, want to do the experiment?
- using high pressure water jet to reverse cleaning the filter. I always use this method to clean some filter (not coffee filter)
- using ultrasonic cleaner method. maybe it is very easy to vibrate all dirt off with the help of water or with additional solvent?
- vibration with something attached? I think it is the fast and clean method, but it need to test what is the frequency of the ceramic to vibrate to get the best result
Just for coffee? Water jet? Seems like washing my car port. Ultrasonic ? Seems like washing my jewelry, I guess the vibration will do no good, it's ceramic after all.
I was thinking the same. An ultrasonic cleaner would, I suspect, do a great job of removing fine particles.
As a tea drinker myself this reminds me a lot of Yixing teapots (minus the dubious marketing these filters have) where it would predominantly change how well rounded the flavor is in the mouth and the minerality of the tea... err coffee. But its something that you also actively have to find the right coffee to compliment it, so not for daily use for any old coffee but for specific ones that might benefit from that mineral note.
Thing is coffee is far more oily than tea, so leaving a patina of coffee in your brewing device is always a bad thing.
The far infrared thing sounds like the Himalayan Salt lamp being good for you, which is pretty much just a marketing gimmick.
Himalayan Salt lamp has what plants crave!
@@UrbanPaniccorrect - bullshit!
Himalayan salt laps are awesome though, they look beautiful and they double as emergency salt licks xD
@@Call-me-Al, I have thought about the salt lick aspect….
They are pretty tho
10:12 Me showing my non coffee drinking guests the magical ceramic coffee filter...”are you not entertained”
They'll go wild over a Belgian balance siphon coffee maker.
th-cam.com/video/_iw9LOL0Vlc/w-d-xo.html
I bought this when I traveled to Japan. I found it fancy when salesman demonstrated how to use it.
Things begin to change when I got home and brewed coffee with it.
James is 100% right. Coffee brewed with it has sort of old fashion way taste.
What annoyed me most is the cleaning part. It is almost impossible to clean every organic material left in this filter through daily bases.
Therefore, right now, at this moment, it stays in my shelves for a long period.
Put it in the oven on broil.
I have one of these from a recent trip to Japan. At first I really enjoyed it, but yes mine also clogged over time, what started as a 3.5 min pour over became 6-7 minutes. Cleaning it as they recommend every year (the burning) I found after the first year, it was unable to stay good for another year, and the time between deep cleans shortened and shortened until I don't use it anymore.
thanks for sharing the long term use experience
The Far infrared bit sounds like pure quackery. A teeny tiny bit of heat radiated from a coffee filter is far from what even a light bulb used to emit.
I live in Japan and have been curious about it for a while... your content always hits the spot! Thank you!
The "Tokyu Hands" caught me off guard!
@@chynnsuu7605 wasnt expecting that at all
@@chynnsuu7605 he said it perfectly too🤣
I just got a couple of these in my last trip from Japan. I love mine and love the taste vs a normal paper filter. I clean it as instructed and haven't had any issues so far with clogging. It might come later, I have tried with tap water and can taste the difference than if the water wasn't filtered.
Keep it up James. Your research and testing save me a lot of time and money. I am extremely happy with my Breville drip coffee maker that I bought based on your evaluation.
Got one and it makes funny coffee with a thinner body but in a pleasant way. Just that the maintenance is just a bit troublesome and it really will clog easily. And yes after a some time it start to taste like a stale mix of all sorts of coffee it brewed and now it’s more of a collective sitting on the display shelf
This is the kind of thing I really *want* to love. However, if it’s not great for the planet and it’s not great for the coffee, it’s hard to justify
Luckily, ceramic remains an excellent material for cups, saucers, pitchers, serving pots, flower pots .etc
Paper production is also incredibly wasteful when it comes to water, i would estimate that a single filter paper would be about 3 gallons of wasted water
@@hcm5467 I wonder how long you'd need to use a metal plate or mesh filter to balance this out - steel production uses huge amounts of of water & energy also. Or a cloth filter - reusable sure, but they still degrade over time, while you could theoretically use a steel filter for a lifetime
Not great for the planet? Why does “great” have to be the achievable level? It’s likely no worse than paper filters. There are, and going to be, a lot of environmental choices where neither option is great but you mitigate what you can.)
And not great for coffee? When was the last time on this channel you heard about something that was great for coffee. Lol. It’s one nitpick after another.
(There’s also the issue that filters are bleached and the whole paper process puts a lot of chemicals into the ground water…would you rather run a tap a bit, or constantly pour chlorine in your yard?)
@@hcm5467 according to others in this set of comments, it takes about 1/2 liter of water to produce 1g of paper. So the ceramic cone filter is likely worse for the environment.
sweet! I've seen these in Tokyo a few times and thought about purchasing but was hoping to find a review and you've finally done one! awesome!
@James Hoffmann : you are absolutely my most favorite youtuber. Just love sitting at home drinking coffee watching you make coffee! :) nice greetings from Vienna!
Jim: "...feels much closer to..."
Me: "Woo."
Jim: "...difficult-to-prove stuff."
I appreciate how polite and direct James is able to be in these reviews. It makes his saucy moments that much more earned.
James Hoffman drinking makes the funniest yet rarest reviews, you're right about it feeling earned
James delivered a very politely British euphemism for "total horseshit".
I don't own one but I 100% agree with your final thoughts on it. It's less sustainable than even a cloth/metal mesh filter because of all the hot water. Then there's the residual flavor, the buildup of residue over time, the time investment after each brew. Just no. From the very start of the video I knew this was a bad idea.
That driven amp sound is just killer -and seems to love the combo with that fano!
Been curious about these. Thanks James!
Seems like the sort of product that feels super sustainable until you factor in the energy costs of cleaning it and making it in the first place. Interesting concept though and excellent video as always.
As soon as the video started, my immediate thought was around cleanup.... Glad to see that is the primary gripe. Odd that it imparts an off flavor, didn't expect that. Assuming it's giving off some minerality, I wonder if long term use would eventually have the material breaking down with the high water temps and acidic coffee running through it.
A great review - thanks.
I use a V60 cloth filter, as per your review a while ago.
Easy to clean, store and use.
the small smile that I have on my face when James mentions the bripe...... and I love that we all know what that is. Good video!
the ceramic filter probably isn't glazed, so there will be a sort of 'mineral' taste. It's like cooking in a clay pot. Or using a cup that is not glazed. Could that be the funny taste?
If it was glaced, then it wouldn't be pourus anymore. The water/coffee wouldn't be able to go through.
The minerals should be washed away after a few brews so the taste would become less each time if it was this..
Think most ceramic is zirconium/aluminium oxide. Most of those minerals are very insoluble so it's not the ceramic itself. I would have thought the first time you use it should taste neutral and then the aftertaste develops with build up of residue in pore space? I wonder about traditional ceramic water filters (which have an even lower permeability and are used for makeing drinking water safe).I think they have a family neutral taste but can't say I used too often!
The tastes sounds similar to that imparted by "purple clay teapots" in Chinese tea. In Chinese tea, particular purple clay teapots are kept to brew certain subvarieties of tea (particularly oolong), and over time develops a sought after character of their own.
@@jinglongtan2297 I'm interested to know what kind of tastes are wanted from a pot like this. What parts of the tea are brought out? Tea sounds fun and exciting.
I never knew this was a thing. Thank you for educating me
Insightful review James, excellent 👍. I bought one for those awful days that I start a coffee and realize I am out of filters 😞. It doesn't happen often but this thing alleviates that crushing blow. Thanks
This video comes at the best timing - my boyfriend just shared me tiktok videos about this a few days ago and I was looking for some proper review just like YOURS (but couldn't really be found on youtube so I kept having the tab opened up there)
It's official you are the David Attenborough of Coffee ☕
Can't wait for your videos 20 years from now so you'll have the voice of a wise man 😆
When I first saw these ceramic filter/brewers, I thought the only way to clean them would be to put them in a kiln (or the oven at self-clean setting). It's like brewing with a loofah. You're never going to get it very clean (compared with non-porous brewers like glass).
Appreciated the cleaning tip - finally, another use for my bripe lighter!
James, First off, I absolutely love your videos. Second, I appreciate your insight and honesty regarding products. I'm almost exclusively a Chemex, bleached paper filter coffee drinker...but I always watch to see what's out there.
I definitely don't need another filter brewer, but it looks beautiful and I am incredibly tempted.
Completely aside from the filter; really loving the String shelving and the Hasami mug. James’ attention to well-made and aesthetically pleasing things definitely extends outside of just brewing equipment.
Yess, giving the important details here! Was looking for this mug. Great taste might come with the name ;) Thanks!
I absolutely loved how you casually chucked in the Bripe reference again. Goodness that was a tremendous video.
I have been very keen on trying this to filter consommés and other fine sauces! Although the cleaning sounds difficult. Thanks for the video!
Reminds me of sintered glass filters used in chemistry labs. These are made from crushed borosillicate glass cappilaries fused together.
Made me think of the crucibles. Which makes me think that the only true cleaning solution would be a rather large crucible oven. Which doesn’t feel environmentally friendly at all…
As a biologist, I call BS on FIR therapy. Even if bathing in FIR saunas were beneficial, the amount emitted by the tiny mass of the filter would be insignificant. Unless FIR works like homeopathy....
"I call BS on FIR therapy"
I mean - warmth can help, but you might as well just take a hot shower.
I got the Loca brand one some months ago and I was really looking forward to seeing you cover these! I don't drink a lot of coffee and really enjoy the ritual in the morning - before I used to hand-grind beans and do a moka pot thing in the morning and now most days I'll make a cup with the ceramic filter. It's definitely a process and so is the cleaning, but it is, as you said, fun. I don't think I've noticed any "brewer taste", but I'm of course nowhere near your level of refinement when it comes to these things. Coming from mostly drinking espressos or moka coffee, I find the coffee made with this filter pleasantly mild and sort of earthy.
I tried one of those before and I had the exact same reaction regarding the flavor. At first I thought that maybe it was the barista who didn't know how to use it probably but then I realized it was coming from the material this brewer is made of... It is still a very interesting brew méthod and would love to have one in my collection.
It's cool to see you stay true to your word and make the video as soon as possible after talking with a friend of mine! Love your videos man! Genuinely surprised of how fast you made this!
"you could probably get your Bripe's blue flame lighter and have a go at that"
I like that you assume that I have a Bripe just because I watch this channel... I mean I do but that's beside the point.
As my friend said to me once, you are a conceited individual, “stop thinking about yourself”. Or did you really think he was talking to you? If so you need help.
@@user9b2 thanks for your input, I'll be sure to discuss this with my psychologist. You're so wise, you saved my life with your youtube comment.
I totally agree with all of your findings. I wanted to love it. I thought it could be great to save on paper filters, and it fit perfectly into my stainless one cup coffee filter. However I can get very inexpensive paper filters and I compost the coffee and filters so that’s not really a savings. It has a funny taste to me as well. I can’t put my finger on it but it does detract. Additionally it takes longer to brew so the coffee is not as hot by the time it is finished.I have used it for a couple months and it is brewing even more slowly. As far as cleaning it, that’s a bust too. I can scoop out the coffee into my compost bucket pretty easily but it takes so much water to rinse it and I never feel like I can get it fully cleaned.
I might try putting it in boiling water and see if that helps it brew faster and taste better. If that doesn’t work I may plant an orchid in it!
We used to use ceramic water filters in the form of what we called candles, tubes filled with carbon. The water came into a bell housing and was forced by low pressure through the candle. Worked great but did keep clogging up with the matter you were trying to keep out of the tank. They needed scrubbing on a regular basis which wore down the candle until they broke.
James: "I don't love the moment when...."
Everyone: CLENCH.
Hey James, I think that the water issue is more complex. I actually doubt that this requires as much water as paper coffee filters. Paper and cardboard require absolutely massive amounts of water for manufacturing. It's enough that using a bidet actually conserves water relative to TP. And it's not just the manufacturing, there's the transportation, the packaging, the human labor required to stock them on shelves. It all adds up. The ceramic filter is just making the water use more immediately visible to you. I think that a more efficient way to wash it would be to immerse it in water and shake it out a bit. But also--I'm a gardener, and an avid composter. For me I'd use as much water as needed and just use it on my plants or my compost. Plus, on top of all that--even if the ceramic filter IS using more water we have to compare the actual chemical makeup of the waste water. The ceramic filter is just water and coffee--not really a big deal. In contrast, the paper mill wastewater is going to have bleach and various other contaminants. That's not to harp on you, or anyone else using paper filters--between my mental health issues, and grad school I am back on paper filters myself. I'm just pointing out that it's much more complex. I also wonder if using a bigger powered torch on it to incinerate any coffee might work--not that Bripe little one. Or maybe even clean it out with water and put it over an alcohol candle or inside the oven when you bake something.
FINALLY!! I keep thinking about getting one of these but there's almost nothing about them online!!
Thank you very much for that cradle to grave sustainability analysis! I'm always frustrated with expensive fancy items that claim to be "zero waste" but cost 10^10 times what a disposable product does to create.
I use a stainless steel filter that works the same way, and I love it. I drink one cup of coffee a day so an electric coffee pot produces too much, and I really don't like Kcups. This thing doesn't have a lot of the problems that the ceramic does. It doesn't clog, rinses very easily, and doesn't hold or have any taste. I also use finely ground coffee with no problems.
Completely agree, I use a single-layer steel filter and it works beautifully. The single layer means there is nothing to trap the grains so they wash out easily. I’d be interested to hear his thoughts on how it compares to a Chemex or V filter.
When figuring the total cost of ceramic vs paper filtration, don't forget to add in the expense for a plumber to unclog your drain from flushing all the grounds down your sink when cleaning the ceramic filter. The paper filter eliminates this plumbing nightmare.
I have a reusable coffee filter. You toss the majority in the trash, and the rest definitely doesnt affect your plumbing at all
@@skeetsmcgrew3282 with normal reusable filter out is much easier to push grinds from outside or tap them out.
@@paveloleynikov4715 is it super fragile? You cant tap it a few times on the edge of a trash can?
@@skeetsmcgrew3282 frankly, this thing looks really fragile, even if it's not.
For reusability, I'm pretty fond of my filters made out of alternately cotton and linen (sewn from well-woven stuff I found at fleamarkets). I use them almost daily for the grounds that end up too fine for the french press, and keep them submerged in cold water in the fridge. Usually I treat them with some baking soda followed by a good boiling about once a week. Pretty sure the inspiration for this came from one of James' earlier videos. I'm also in possession of a Don Pedro (Bodum) sifon/"vacuum" brewer which makes really good coffe, somewhere in between pour-over and french press to my tongue.
Love the quick Bripe mention.
2 videos in 1 week? Is it Christmas????
Lol, just to clarify, the company is claiming that the black body radiation of the ceramic has an effect on the coffee?? That's hilarious! And absolute pseudoscience, as far as I'm concerned. Lol, calling the black body radiation of a ceramic filter "Far Infrared Radiation" reminds of the Simpsons: "each copy contains a percentage of recycled material" "what percentage?" "Zero. Zero is a percentage"
The key phrase in your comment is “as far as I am concerned.” Complaining about something you think is pseudoscience without citing any science is so funny to me.
@@kevinpenfold1116 wait, your criticism is literally that I used a contraction? And it's not my job to debunk every idiotic claim, it's the idiots making claims. To be clear, my disdain is for the manufacturer, touting this "science", not at James. And if you disagree, where's your sources? Hypocrite.
@@kevinpenfold1116 There's a famous citation: "What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." The original claim (FIR improves coffee) has no evidence behind it, so we can dismiss it. It's not our job to disprove the claim.
@@kevinpenfold1116er, the thing about pseudo science is that there has often not been and studies published. Because who wants to have that study on their CV?
Ok, I would, but I am “that guy”.
@@kevinpenfold1116 If you understood what black body radiation is, you'd understand how hilarious it is to claim it has an effect on coffee, or to call it far infrared radiation and act like it does anything
When a thing gets hot and changes color because of it, thats black body radiation. This ceramic does exhibit that effect in truly, hilariously, outrageously small ways when it comes to making coffee, just like a number of other things do when they get hot. It also doesn't really do anything even in pretty significant amounts, but on the scale of "above room temperature ceramic", it really really REALLY doesn't do anything, and also technically does exist. But only technically.
The only way its going to have an effect on your coffee is if you believe it does hard enough, but that can be said for anything.
Thank you so much for this very helpful video! When I was in Japan last summer I saw these coffee filters for sale, but didn’t buy it ( although much tempted) because I wanted to ‘do the research’ first. Thanks to your analysis- my curious is satisfied - I’m relieved that I didn’t buy it.
A friend shared a gofund me for a similar device and I voiced the same concerns you covered...and I hadn't even tried one. Also, between my v60 and Chemex, another pour over device isn't needed at my coffee bar. So, your question of "who is this really for?", is absolutely valid. I am happy people are trying to reduce out carbon footprint, and while this takes a great stab at it, it just does quite get the job done with the amount of water waste and or time involved. Thanks for this video, love what you do.
This filter reminds me of my Colin's perk bong, it has a similar style percolator, made of crushed glass though. Cleaning has many of the same problems. The porousness traps all the dirty stuff where I can't see it, so I just pour alcohol in and out until it doesn't come out brown, but it almost always has a slight tint to it no matter how many times I clean. I also end up having to use tons of water to rinse it thoroughly. It's a cool idea but really doesn't seem to work any better than a normal percolator with a normal sized hole, and just adds a lot more pain to the cleaning process.
Oh man you’d never get the resin smell out, either. I mean even with my stock standard bong it’s tough to actually get that smell out completely with iso alcohol and salt, but I can get it for the most part. I can imagine it’s impossible with yours.
this is definitely not “zero waste” especially considering the fact that you could just take the coffee paper and grounds and put them in a compost bin where they would break down quickly.
Thank you for the honesty!
Hello Mr. Hoffman. Firstly thank you, thank you, it was a blessing discovering your channel. I have thoroughly enjoyed your videos and the results from following your recommendations. My coffee enjoyment has increased exponentially. I am Colombian and it is great to discover how to honor this product for which my country is famous by trying to brew and enjoy it properly.
I would love to see your take and advice on cold brew, please. My gear(the one I have used since I started watching your channel) Hario grinder, HSL mesh V60 and aeropress. Recently I bought the Hario Smart Handy motor for the coffee grinder and it works very well. Best wishes.
I actually work in porous ceramics in a completely different field (catalysis) and this was a really interesting watch. Can confirm the most easy way to clean (remove organics from) such materials is by heating them to a high temperature. I do that in a oven at +500 degrees C, so not really feasible for home use..
This seems as though it would work well for bold coffees that you brew often. That said, it likely ghosts rather badly over time, similar to a pipe.
I’ve had one for quite a while now and always find myself switching back to something easier. Currently it’s at work. There’s a dish washing station with a spray washer and it’s the only place where cleaning it isn’t a huge hassle. Also, I definitely get that taste specific to the brewer.
I have the loca filter and I must say
that first 4-5 brewings were very good.
Smooth and silky, low on bitterness and
lot's of nutty detail. But more you brew
the harsher the overall taste will become.
So yes, keeping it in a prime condition
is hard and time-consuming.
QAmon is such an unfortunate name in 2021
I have been drinking water from ceramic filters and jugs since forever, and it flavours the water yes it does get less noticeble the more you pass water through it, but for the coffee filter, at the same time you would be getting more old stale coffee flavour.... I don't think it is a good idea.
I'm glad I found this video as I definitely started to think the (almost maddening) slower brewing over time and the (definitely maddening) length of time it took to clean was down to user error. I always bought it to remove waste paper from the equation but unfortunately it's not an adequate replacement.
When I lived in Myanmar we used a water filter that was just a clay pot that had been dipped in silver nitrate, it effectively filtered our water. The tap water wasn't safe to drink so we'd run it through the filter, that's also the water I used for specialty coffee and it was perfect. I had great results with flavor, but it was a much larger filter and I didn't use it instead of a paper filter.
whoa didnt expect you to release another video so fast
is that a super tiny ek43 in the back left!?
Yeah - Malkönig do a little Lego version
Thanks so much. Thanks to your efforts I'll pass this up.
We picked ours up in Kyoto.
We only use it for certain teas to minimize clogging. It does well with short steeps of broader leafed teas like oolong.
Cleaning involves burning off gunk in the oven or over an open flame then rinsing with boiling water until clear.
At first I thought that James is sightly high... from coffee, as he spoke and gesticulated quite fast. Then I understood it was playback tumbler set to 1.25 🙈 What a lovely experience, anyway.
I watch him, and pretty much everything on TH-cam, at 1.5x speed. It allows me to get through my vids in a timely manner.
@@danielseelye6005 I believe, James deserves his videos to be watched in a timely manner and at his usual speed 😌 It's not fastfood he's talking about.