Why are trapezoidal filter cups becoming increasingly rare? What are the advantages of making coffee with a fan cup? What is the difference between a trapezoidal filter cup and a V60 conical filter cup? How about using a trapezoidal filter cup for making

I don't know if you have noticed that apart from some large chain brands, we rarely see trapezoidal filter cups in coffee shops. Compared with trapezoidal filter cups, the appearance rate of conical, flat-bottom/cake filter cups is obviously much higher. So many friends were curious why so few people use trapezoidal filter cups. Is it because the coffee it makes is not good?

Of course not ~ Trapezoidal filter cups also have the extraction advantages of trapezoidal filter cups! But as for why few people use it, today I will come from Qianjie to chat with everyone. In the same way as the conical 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 a narrow bottom, so it is called the "trapezoidal filter cup." In addition, since the filter paper used with the trapezoidal filter cup is shaped like a fan, the filter cup is also known as the "fan filter cup."

The world's first filter cup was born with a trapezoidal design. In 1908, Melitta in Germany launched the world's first coffee filter cup. As Qianjie introduced, it is an inverted trapezoidal structure. There are multiple ribs for venting on the inside of the cup wall, and there is a liquid outlet with a slightly smaller aperture at the bottom, which is used with a fan-shaped filter paper.

However, due to the small number of water outlet holes and the small diameter, its launching speed is very slow. So in 1958, after hand-brewed coffee became popular in Japan, Kalita in Japan launched an "improved version." The "improvement" of this filter cup is to upgrade the original single-hole design to three-hole design, which greatly speeds up the drainage speed and makes the boiling effect much better. Thanks to this, this filter cup has become a classic in trapezoidal filter cups. So next, Qianjie will use this filter cup to introduce to you the advantages of trapezoidal filter cups in brewing.

Previously, Qianjie 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 vertical, and their main role is to exhaust air. Its outer structure is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, so the coffee powder will build a relatively thick powder bed in the filter cup. A thicker powder bed can increase the difference in extraction when brewing, and the coffee powder on the surface will be extracted more than the coffee powder on the bottom. This allows the coffee powder in different places to dissolve different amounts of flavor substances, making the brewed coffee more layered.

But because the bottom of the trapezoidal filter cup is designed as a line rather than a point, the powder bed it builds will not be as thick as the conical filter cup, and the difference in extraction will be relatively small.

Although the Kalita 101 trapezoidal filter cup has three drainage holes in the bottom, because their pore size is not large, the drainage speed will not be as fast as other filter cups. This will allow the coffee to be soaked more during the brewing process, thus obtaining more adequate extraction, and the brewed coffee will have a more balanced taste and a more solid taste.

Seeing is better than hearing, so the next step is to use the V60 on Qianjie to compare it with the trapezoidal filter cups to see what the differences are between the coffee they make. The coffee beans used in Qianjie this time are still Qianjie Essi Huakui in the bean list. The extraction parameters are as follows: powder amount used: 15g powder to water ratio: 1:15 Grinding degree: 10 scale of Ek43, 75% sieving rate of No. 20 sieve, fine sugar grinding and boiling water temperature: 92°C Brewing method: three-stage (30+120+75)

Because the brewing process is still three-stage, the front street here is skipped directly. Then due to the difference in pore size, there is a slight difference in the extraction time between the two. The V60 takes 2 minutes to brew the flower essence, while the trapezoidal filter cup takes 2 minutes and 20 seconds. In terms of taste, the flowers rushed out of the V60 have a very rich sense of layers! Orange blossom, citrus, strawberry, and berry have outstanding and distinct flavors, sweet and sour taste, smooth taste, and have the tail rhyme of oolong tea; although the flower essence washed out with a trapezoidal filter cup does not have the clear and three-dimensional flavor and hierarchy of the V60, its taste will be more balanced, the taste will be more solid, and the tail rhyme will be longer.

It can be seen that with the same parameters and techniques, the tonality of the coffee brewed by the two is completely different! There is no distinction between who is good and who is bad, and the specific taste depends on individual taste preferences. Friends who like outstanding flavor and light taste can choose V60 for brewing, while friends who like coffee with balanced taste and solid taste can choose a trapezoidal filter cup.

At this time, we return to the topic of "Why are trapezoidal filter cups so rare"! To explain simply, it is actually a retreat from the environment. What does it mean? When the trapezoidal filter cup was invented earlier, deep-roasting 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 turned from deep to shallow and began to pay attention to the expression of flavor. Therefore, the public's functional needs for filter cups changed, and they began to need filter cups that could better display and highlight the flavor. The V60 is such an existence, so the V60 received good responses once it was launched! The popularity of the V60 not only gave it a reputation, but also gave the market for conical filter cups great exposure. So since then, major coffee appliance manufacturers have begun to research and design conical filter cups, and various new conical filter cups are being launched every year.

In contrast, other shapes of filter cups, including trapezoidal filter cups, are becoming 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 increasingly rare. But Qianjie still said the same. This does not mean that trapezoidal filter cups or other shaped filter cups are not easy to use. They still have their own brewing characteristics. For example, because the powder bed is not as thick, the ribs are not so prominent, and the coffee is extracted in a soak mode for a long time, it does not have high requirements on the barista's water injection proficiency like the conical filter cup.

Even a novice can easily brew a delicious cup of coffee without being so skilled as long as you set parameters such as powder amount, grinding, water temperature, and ratio. Therefore, trapezoidal filter cups are often favored by major chain brands. They can shorten the experience gap between Xiaobai and the old master and stably provide customers with a cup of delicious coffee.

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