How to Rinse Paper Filters (and Why You Must)

Rinsing a paper filter means pouring hot water through the empty filter in its brewer, then throwing that water away before the coffee goes in. The National Coffee Association’s pour-over steps include it: “Place your filter in your pour-over brewer and rinse it with hot water, then discard the rinse water.” Hario and Kalita print the same step on their own brewing instructions. The title of this page says you must, but the makers are less strict than that: CHEMEX’s FAQ calls pre-wetting “not a required step.” This guide explains what the rinse does according to those makers and one roaster’s brew guide, how to do it, and where it adds little.

What a Filter Rinse Does

The brewer makers and one roaster’s brew guide give four reasons between them, and none of them gives all four.

Reason	Who says it	Their wording
Removes paper taste or odor	Hario, Kalita, Crimson Cup (roaster)	“remove any odor from the paper filter” (Hario); “remove any paper taste” (Kalita)
Rinses away loose paper fibers	CHEMEX	“rinse away any remaining paper fibers”
Warms the brewer or carafe	Hario, CHEMEX	“to warm the device” (Hario); “heat the carafe” (CHEMEX)
Helps the filter sit against the brewer	Crimson Cup (roaster)	“helps the filter cling to the brewer”

Preheats Your Brewing Equipment

Hario’s basic V60 recipe says to set the dripper on the server and “pour hot water over the entire paper filter to warm the device and remove any odor from the paper filter.” CHEMEX gives heating the carafe as one of its two reasons for pre-wetting. Neither maker gives a temperature drop for an unheated brewer, so this guide does not put a number on it. How much warming matters depends partly on what the dripper is made of; the comparison of glass and ceramic drippers covers that.

How to Rinse Paper Filters: Step by Step

These steps follow the NCA’s pour-over guide and Hario’s V60 recipe.

1. Set the filter in the brewer. Hario says to fold the zippered part of a V60 filter and set it snugly inside the dripper.
2. Put the brewer on the server, carafe or mug you will brew into, so it catches the rinse water.
3. Pour hot water over the whole filter. Hario says “the entire paper filter”. Kalita says to pour until the filter is saturated.
4. Let it drain, then discard the water. Hario, Kalita, CHEMEX and the NCA all say to throw it away. CHEMEX says to dump it out “before beginning to brew the coffee.”
5. Add the ground coffee and brew. In the NCA’s sequence, the coffee goes into the filter after the rinse water is discarded.

None of these sources gives a volume of rinse water, so the amount is simply enough to wet the whole filter. Use water from the same kettle you will brew with; the NCA’s guide heats its water to 93 ± 3°C.

Common mistakes

• Brewing into the rinse water. Hario, Kalita, CHEMEX and the NCA all say to discard it first.
• Wetting only the bottom of the filter. Hario and Kalita both describe wetting the whole filter.
• Adding coffee before the rinse. The rinse is done on the empty filter.

Is Rinsing Required?

Not according to CHEMEX. Its FAQ says pre-wetting “is not a required step in the brewing process” and that “one may do this to rinse away any remaining paper fibers as well as heat the carafe.” AeroPress’s own step-by-step instructions insert the paper filter into the filter cap without a rinse step. Hario, Kalita and the NCA include the rinse in their standard recipes.

So the rinse is standard practice in most pour-over recipes, not a rule every maker sets. If your coffee tastes papery, rinsing is an easy step to try; CHEMEX’s position is that it is optional. A broader look at filter choice is in cheap vs expensive filters.

Does the Filter Type Change Anything?

White vs brown paper

CHEMEX explains its own two colours: the white paper goes through “an oxygen cleansing bath followed by a series of hot water baths,” while the brown paper “goes through only the hot water baths, retaining the ‘natural’ wood color.” The company says it uses no bleach or chemicals in either, and that both “function in the same way.” It does not say that either colour needs more rinsing.

Thick vs thin paper

CHEMEX describes its Bonded filters as “20-30% thicker paper than most of the competition.” Crimson Cup, a roaster, describes the cone-shaped V60 filters as “among the thinnest on the market,” and says they let flavors through “without contributing much paper taste.” Neither source says how much more rinsing a thick filter needs.

Rinsing Filters for Different Brewing Methods

• Hario V60: Hario’s recipe rinses the whole filter with the dripper on the server, then discards the water.
• Kalita Wave: Kalita’s instruction card starts with “Pour hot water over the filter, saturating it to remove any paper taste. Discard hot water.”
• CHEMEX: optional, according to CHEMEX. If you do it, pour the water out of the carafe before brewing.
• AeroPress: AeroPress’s instructions do not include a rinse.

Drip Coffee Machines

The sources used here are all for manual pour-over brewers, and none of them covers automatic drip machines. If you want to try it with a basket filter, the step would be the same one Hario and the NCA describe: wet the filter with hot water away from the coffee, empty whatever collects in the carafe, then brew. Check your machine’s manual first, since its maker may give its own instructions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to rinse reusable metal or cloth filters?

There is no paper to rinse, so the reason is cleaning rather than paper taste. The NCA says metal filters “need to be cleaned thoroughly to remove any lingering residual flavors or oils.” For cloth filters it says to rinse and dry them thoroughly, that mild detergent can be used, and to boil them in fresh water for 10 minutes every six to eight weeks.

Can I rinse with cold water?

The makers quoted here all use hot water, and the warming they describe needs it. None of them tests a cold rinse, so there is no source here for how well it removes paper taste.

How much water should I use?

None of the sources gives a volume. Hario and Kalita describe pouring until the whole filter is wet.

Does rinsing remove the paper taste completely?

Kalita says the rinse is “to remove any paper taste,” and Hario says it removes “any odor from the paper filter.” Neither publishes a taste test, so how complete the effect is cannot be measured from these sources.

What if my coffee still tastes papery after rinsing?

Crimson Cup lists “papery” among the tastes of over-extraction, along with bitter, ashy or smoky dryness. A papery note that survives the rinse may therefore come from the brew rather than the filter, and Crimson Cup suggests small adjustments to grind and coffee amount to fix extraction.

Rinse or Skip: The Short Version

Rinsing a paper filter takes one pour of hot water and one emptied carafe. Hario, Kalita and the NCA include it in their recipes. Hario says it warms the device and removes paper odor, and Kalita says it removes paper taste. CHEMEX treats it as optional and AeroPress leaves it out. If you rinse, wet the whole filter and discard the water before adding coffee.