I don’t know if you have noticed that, except for some large chain brands, we rarely see trapezoidal filter cups in coffee shops. Compared with trapezoidal filter cups, the appearance rate of cone-shaped, flat-bottomed/cake filter cups is obviously much higher. So many friends are curious, why are there so few people using trapezoidal filter cups? Is it because the coffee they brew doesn’t taste good?Of course not! The trapezoidal filter cup also has the extraction advantages of the trapezoidal filter cup! But as to why there are so few people using it, today Front Street is here to chat with you.Similar to the cone-shaped filter cup, the name trapezoidal filter cup comes from the unique geometric design of this type of filter cup. It is an inverted trapezoidal structure with a wide top and narrow bottom, so it is called "trapezoid filter cup". In addition, because the filter paper used with the trapezoidal filter cup is shaped like a fan, the filter cup is also called a "fan-shaped filter cup".The first filter cup born in the world used a trapezoidal design. 1908, GermanyMelittaLaunched the world's first coffee filter cup. As introduced on the front street, it is an inverted trapezoidal structure. There are multiple ribs designed on the inside of the cup wall for exhaust. There is a liquid outlet hole with a slightly smaller diameter at the bottom, which is used with fan-shaped filter paper.However, due to the small number and small diameter of the water outlets, its water discharge speed is very slow. So in 1958, after Pour over(V60) coffee became popular in Japan, Japan's Kalita launched an "improved version".The "improvement" of this filter cup is to upgrade the original single-hole design to three holes, which greatly speeds up the water discharge and the brewing effect is also much better. Thanks to this, this filter cup has become a classic among trapezoidal filter cups. So next, Front Street will use this filter cup to introduce to you the advantages of the trapezoidal filter cup in brewing.Front Street shared with you in an article introducing filter cups that filter cups have three key designs that affect extraction, namely their shape, ribs, and bottom holes.The ribs of the Kalita101 trapezoidal filter cup are vertically designed, and their main function is exhaust.Its shape and structure are wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, so the coffee powder will build a thick powder bed in the filter cup. A thicker powder bed can widen the difference in extraction during brewing. The coffee powder on the surface will be extracted more than the coffee powder at the bottom. This allows the coffee powder in different places to dissolve different amounts of flavor substances, making the brewed coffee more layered.However, because the bottom of the trapezoidal filter cup is designed to be a line rather than a point, the powder bed it builds will not be as thick as that of the conical filter cup, and the difference in extraction will be relatively small.
AlthoughKalita 101There are three drain holes at the bottom of this trapezoidal filter cup, but because their holes are not large, the drain speed will not be as fast as other filter cups. This will allow the coffee to be soaked more during the brewing process, thereby obtaining a more complete extraction. The brewed coffee will have a more balanced taste and a more solid taste.Hearing is better than seeing, so I will use V60 from Front Street to compare it with the trapezoidal filter cup to see the difference in the coffee brewed by them. The coffee beans used in Front Street this time are still Front Street in the bean list.Essai Oiran, the extraction parameters are as follows:Amount of powder used: 15gPink to water ratio: 1:15Grinding degree: 10 scale of Ek43, 75% screening rate of No. 20 mesh, fine sugar grindingBrewing water temperature: 92°CBrewing method: three-stage (30+120+75)Because the brewing process is still a three-stage process, I will skip Qian Street here. However, due to the difference in pore size, there is a slight difference in the extraction time between the two. The time used to brew Oiran with V60 is 2 minutes, while the time used with the trapezoid filter cup is 2 minutes and 20 seconds.In terms of taste, the Oiran produced by V60 has a very rich sense of layering! Orange blossom, tangerine, strawberry, berry, the flavor is prominent and distinct, the taste is sweet and sour, the taste is smooth, and has the aftertaste of oolong tea; although the Oiran brewed with a trapezoidal filter cup does not have the distinct and three-dimensional flavor and layering of V60, its taste will be more balanced, the taste will be more solid, and the aftertaste will be longer.It can be seen that with the same parameters and techniques, the coffee brewed by the two has completely different tonality! There is no one who is better or worse, it all depends on personal taste preference. Friends who like outstanding flavor and light texture can choose V60 brewing, while those who like coffee with a balanced taste and solid taste can choose a trapezoidal filter cup.At this point we return to the topic of "Why are trapezoidal filter cups so rare?"! To explain it simply, it is actually a retreat from the environment. What does it mean? When the trapezoidal filter cup was invented earlier, dark roasted coffee was the mainstream, so the filter cup was mainly designed around how to make the brewed coffee more mellow, and the flavor expression of the brewed coffee would be slightly weaker.But later, the mainstream of coffee changed from dark to light, and began to pay attention to the expression of flavor. Therefore, people’s functional requirements for filter cups changed, and they began to need filter cups that can better display and highlight the flavor. V60 is such an existence, so V60 received a good response as soon as it was launched!The popularity of V60 not only made it famous, and also gave the market of conical filter cups great exposure. Since then, major coffee equipment manufacturers have begun to research and design conical filter cups, and launch various new conical filter cups every year.In contrast, other shapes of filter cups, including trapezoidal filter cups, have become increasingly rare because few manufacturers make a fuss about them. Either they are keen on the design of conical filter cups, or they are researching some filter cups with strange and tricky shapes. The frequency of updates is less, and the proportion in the filter cup is smaller, so naturally, it becomes more and more rare.But as I said before, this does not mean that trapezoidal filter cups or other shaped filter cups are not useful. They still have their own brewing characteristics. For example, the trapezoidal filter cup does not have as high requirements on the barista's water injection proficiency as the conical filter cup because the powder bed is not so thick, the ribs are not so protruding, and the coffee is immersed for a long time.Even a novice can easily brew a cup of delicious coffee without being so proficient as long as he sets the parameters such as powder volume, grinding, water temperature, and ratio. Therefore, the trapezoidal filter cup is often favored by major chain brands. It can shorten the experience gap between novices and senior chefs and steadily provide customers with a cup of delicious coffee.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
