The Reason You Should Rinse A Coffee Filter Before Putting It In Your Drip Machine

Who doesn't love pairing classic butter croissants with piping hot, fresh-brewed coffee? While the conventional steps required to make a decent pot of java using standard drip coffee makers are fairly straightforward, thanks to some worthwhile advice from coffee expert Matt Woodburn-Simmonds, there may be one crucial step in the coffee-making process you've been forgetting. Next to achieving the proper grind and using the right coffee-to-water ratio, wetting or rinsing your coffee filters before use carries more weight than you might initially guess. According to Woodburn-Simmonds, co-creator of the site Home Coffee Expert, most paper filters "have a slight smell to them, and if you don't rinse them, then you might end up with a 'paper' taste in your coffee."

Believe it or not, beyond having a foreign paper-like flavor, most disposable filters also carry various bits of debris like tiny dust particles or dirt that has haphazardly fallen between these thin papery folds during the packing process and generalized storage. While paper filters may not be one of the primary reasons your home-brewed coffee tastes sour, brewing coffee with dry filters can produce lackluster pots of coffee. By rinsing your filters in advance, that initial paper-like taste washes away, and you're able to brew a more full-bodied pot of coffee that isn't clouded by solutes derived from the resulting impact of water to paper. With just a bit of extra preparation, you'll have a delicious pot of drip coffee with an ultra-clean flavor in no time.

With some solid advice from Matt Woodburn-Simmonds, you are one step closer to producing better-tasting coffee. This ex-barista has been in the coffee business for over a decade, not only whipping up quality beverages but also handling the ordering and maintenance of coffee in several restaurants. Therefore, he knows a thing or two about making a delicious cup of coffee with a conventional drip machine. Rinsing coffee filters ahead of time promotes steady water flow and helps water extract flavor from the grounds. Next to keeping your flimsy filter paper in place using the coffee filter folding tip you probably didn't know about, rinsing paper filters has to be done with a gentle hand.

Woodburn-Simmonds advises to "always rinse with some hot water before use" to truly achieve clean, debris-free filters. While you can always pour hot water directly through your paper-lined basket a few times before adding grounds, dust may still become trapped in the fibers along the base of your filter. Instead, when using sturdier filters, do a quick hot water soak. For cone filters, hold the base tip of the filter and dunk it upside down once or twice in hot water. Allowing water to evenly flow through your filter before use leads to a more thorough extraction of your beloved coffee grounds. When you're after a flavorful pot of coffee, follow Woodburn-Simmonds' pro tip and rinse your filters ahead of time.