Paper Coffee Filters: Types, Sizes and Which to Buy

Paper coffee filters come in two basic shapes, cones and flat-bottom baskets, in sizes matched to the brewer. Specialty brewers such as the Chemex, the Hario V60, the Kalita Wave and the AeroPress each use their own paper. The right filter is the one made for your brewer's shape and size; the choice between white and brown paper, and thick or thin, then affects taste and waste.

Cone filters

Cone filters fit drip machines and manual drippers with a V-shaped holder, and they come in numbered sizes. Melitta, which introduced the paper filter, advises checking the brewer's instructions or the filter holder for the correct size rather than guessing. As a general guide, smaller numbers suit one-cup and small brewers and larger numbers suit full-size machines, but a filter that is too small will fold in and let grounds through.

Basket filters

Flat-bottom basket filters fit machines with a round, flat basket, which covers most 8 to 12 cup drip coffee makers. Bunn describes its basket filters as having a flat bottom so the grounds settle evenly, with tall fluted walls to stop overflow, and says they fit most home coffee makers with flat-bottom funnels. A flat bed of coffee extracts differently from a cone, as explained in flat bed vs cone.

Filters for specialty brewers

• Chemex. Chemex bonded filters come as half moons, circles and pre-folded squares. Chemex says the paper is 20 to 30 percent thicker than most, contains no bleach or chemicals, and is compostable. The Chemex Bonded Coffee Filters give the brewer its very clean cup.
• Hario V60. Sized to match the dripper: 01 for 1 to 2 cups, 02 for 1 to 4 and 03 for 1 to 6. The Hario V60 size 02 filters are the most common.
• Kalita Wave. Fluted flat-bottom papers; the Wave 185 filter is made for 2 to 4 cups.
• AeroPress. Small paper discs that AeroPress describes as natural, unbleached and chlorine free, and home compostable. See the AeroPress paper micro-filters.

The two most popular pour over papers are compared brewer to brewer in Chemex vs V60.

Bleached or unbleached

White filters are whitened; brown ones are not. Melitta, for example, says its natural brown and bamboo filters are 100 percent chlorine and bleach free, while its white filters are elemental chlorine free, meaning they are not whitened with chlorine gas. Brown paper can add a faint papery taste, which is one reason many people rinse any filter with hot water before brewing. That is common practice rather than a formal rule, and it also warms the brewer.

Compostable filters

Paper filters and coffee grounds can usually go into compost together. Melitta's filters are certified compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute, Chemex describes its bonded filters as compostable, and AeroPress says its micro-filters are home compostable. Check the pack for a certification if it matters for your local collection.

Paper, metal or cloth

Paper holds back most of coffee's oils and fine particles, which gives a cleaner, lighter cup. Metal filters let more oil and sediment through for a heavier body, and cloth sits between the two. The oils matter for more than taste: a 2025 study from Uppsala University reported that coffee from a drip machine using a paper filter almost completely removed the cholesterol-raising compounds found in coffee from unfiltered machines.

A reusable filter such as the Apace Living Reusable Pour Over Coffee Filter cuts waste and costs nothing to run, at the cost of a fuller, less filtered cup. The rest of what sits beside a brewer is in our coffee accessory reviews.