The filter is one of the most important aspects of drip brewing, and the type of filter used determines the body, and the taste. Paper filters are dense, retaining more of the soluble solids in coffee, thus giving you a clear cup.
Because they are so dense they also retain the oils in coffee, which will flatten the taste of your cup. The better alternative is the mesh filter, but with a mesh filter you have to grind coarser and you absolutely need a good grinder that deliver a uniform grind.
You will have to adjust your grind accordingly, but paper filters are the most forgiving in terms of grind consistency and size. With paper filters, avoid the cheap ones, you will love your cup of joe brewed in quality filters. Good brands are Melitta and Filtropa. The best alternative is the gold plated filter which will last you forever. Drink immediately! Coffee should be served right after it was brewed. Leaving coffee on the burner will make the aromas and flavors evaporate and you will end up with a burned tasting cup. The best coffee is fresh coffee.
Only use good quality fresh beans. If your coffee beans are older than a month, they lost all the flavor, and coffee will be insipid. Best places to buy coffee are the small roasters, these roast small batches, and there are lower chances to get old beans from them. Make sure you store coffee properly; check my post about how to store coffee beans, light and oxygen are the worst enemies of awesome coffee. Quality coffee is usually 100% Arabica, make sure you can find marked this on the label. Don’t go for the big brands, they have a marketing army to convince everybody about their perfect beans. In reality, they take shortcuts in order to maximize the profit. Grind the coffee at home, seconds before brewing. Coffee beans start degrading the minute you finish the roasting, but when you grind coffee the process accelerates a few times. The reason is because there is more surface exposed to air, and the oils can disperse easier, when they are not contained anymore.
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A good grinder for home use is the Melitta Molino or Lelit Fred PL043MMI. Blade grinders, or cheap burr grinders are not acceptable, if you want great coffee. Keep your coffee maker clean, the carafe, the water reservoir, and the pipes inside the machine need to be cleaned from time to time. The inside of the machine needs descaling from time to time, to remove the calcium deposits. Those will affect the functionality of the machine, and the taste of your coffee.
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Make sure your coffee is uniformly saturated when it starts to drip. If your brewer doesn’t have a shower head, you can stop the dripping for the first 20 seconds, to accumulate some water in your basket, and then stir the grinds to fully saturate them with water.
If you use paper filter, rinse it with water before adding the coffee. This will clean the filter of paper dust, and will preheat the basket, or cone.
