Filter bubble: A list of coffee paper filters
Last updated - 09/08/2026
Ahlstrom Grade 909 espresso paper (GoodBros)
Shape: Espresso basket
Size: Circle 58mm, Circle 49mm, Circle 72mm, Circle 63.5mm, Circle 55mm, Circle 57mm
Material: Cotton, Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Slow
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Region-limited, Direct
Robert’s opinion:
Highly resistant, you’ll have to coarsen quite a bit to reach the same sorts of flow/timings. The material is surprisingly rigid as well.
April Flat Bottom
Shape: Wave / flat bottom
Size: Kalita wave 155
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.25 (Midrange)
Availability: Direct, Specialty retailers
Robert’s opinion:
If you can get these for cheap, they’re a solid, consistent pick for wave filters .
Cafec Abaca
Shape: Conical, Trapezoid
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, Hario conical 03, Trapezoid 101, Trapezoid 102, Trapezoid 103
Material: Abaca, Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available, Specialty retailers, Direct
Robert’s opinion:
The gold standard. If you can’t make a great cup with this and you’re feel you must use a more expensive filter to achieve something passable, then something else is wrong.
It’s cheap, widely available, pretty consistent.
Cafec Abaca+
Shape: Conical
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, Hario conical 03, Conical 27°, Trapezoid 101, Trapezoid 102, Conical 45°
Material: Abaca, Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Medium
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available, Specialty retailers, Direct
Robert’s opinion:
The + appears to be a manufacturing aspect, not quality of material or output. I’ve revisited these numerous times to validate that they’re not as fast or overall desirable as the original Abacas. It somewhat makes sense given their prices are identical. Of all filters, I’m disappointed that these have had the most sample variance from pack to pack. It appears these are the default going forward for their specialty fits like Deep27.
Cafec TH-1 T-92 Light Roast
Shape: Conical
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Slow
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available, Specialty retailers, Direct
Robert’s opinion:
These get a mixed reputation for being slow. That’s the design intent, and Cafec leadership does not consume light roast. The naming introduces unintended bias and expectation, so the TH-1 naming scheme is more neutral. It’s amazing at what it does, particularly for its price point - filtration power is not free, and the slowness reflects how much material it can carry.
Cafec TH-3 / T90 Medium Roast
Shape: Conical
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, Hario conical 03
Material: Abaca, Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available, Specialty retailers, Direct
Robert’s opinion:
The other gold standard from Cafec. There’s endless inquiry, debate, and at-home test results for whether to get these or the Abacas. My stance over using thousands of both is that this distinction is not where excellence is found; either can achieve indiscernibly great results. These are slightly harder to get than the Abacas and are the same price; get either, and focus your efforts on something with a bigger cup effect.
Daiso
Shape: Conical, Trapezoid
Size: Hario conical 02, Trapezoid 102
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.05 (Cheap)
Availability: Region-limited
Robert’s opinion:
I’ve used a couple thousand of these for tasting fresh sample roasts, they’re surprisingly competent. They were even more of a steal at $1.50/100pk. Plenty fast, any paper taste can be rinsed out.
Hario V60 Tabbed White
Shape: Conical
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, Hario conical 03, Trapezoid 101, Trapezoid 102, Trapezoid 103, Kalita wave 155
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Medium
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available
Robert’s opinion:
These are… fine. They get a bad reputation in part due to often being someone’s first experience with paper filters and frankly, their lack of skill and dialing at the time before they moved onto other filters and simultaneously gained more knowledge.
Hario V60 Untabbed white
Shape: Conical
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Medium
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Discontinued
Robert’s opinion:
These are overinflated in nostalgia and legend. I managed to find a source of these even after they were discontinued and they are indeed faster than the current tabbed filters, but no more performant than Cafec Abaca/T90s. Since those are readily available, I see no reason to pursue or desire these.
Kalita Wave 155/185 (bag)
Shape: Wave / flat bottom
Size: Kalita wave 155, Kalita wave 185
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Medium
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available
Robert’s opinion:
Somehow, these perform different to the box. Unlike the Harios, the bag filters are somehow less performant than the box ones. Kalita themselves insist they come from the same assembly line and the difference for transporting retail product; this feels like it could be a Mandela effect in coffee.
Kalita Wave 155/185 (box)
Shape: Wave / flat bottom
Size: Kalita wave 155, Kalita wave 185
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.13 (Affordable)
Availability: Widely available
Robert’s opinion:
In hobbies, I generally don’t like the idea of mythologizing the harder-to-get version of something as the better one. In this case, I must admit I have a preference for the box version, over thousands of bagged and boxed filters, across a wide range of drippers, grinders, water compositions, and beans. But at this point, I’d rather go for an xBloom or Sworks wave filter which is more available to me for cheaper.
Origami Cone (by Cafec)
Shape: Conical
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02
Material: Abaca, Wood pulp
Bleaching: Oxygen-bleached
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Specialty retailers
Robert’s opinion:
Origami’s conical papers are produced by Cafec, but are not the same as the Abaca material. However, they perform just like the Abaca and T90, so it’s the third sibling in the “it doesn’t matter which one among them” group; it’s great like the other two as a daily driver.
Sibarist B3
Shape: Wave / flat bottom, Conical, Wet-formed, Round / circle
Size: Kalita wave 155, Kalita wave 185, Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, One-size, Circle 85mm, Hario conical 03, Circle 63.5mm, Circle 72mm
Material: Proprietary nonwoven
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Medium
Approx. cost per filter: $0.55 (Premium)
Availability: Direct, Specialty retailers
Sibarist FAST
Shape: Wave / flat bottom, Conical, Round / circle, Wet-formed
Size: Kalita wave 155, Kalita wave 185, Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, Conical 27°, One-size, Circle 85mm, Hario conical 03, Trapezoid 104, Circle 63.5mm, Circle 72mm, Batch
Material: Proprietary nonwoven
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Very fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.55 (Premium)
Availability: Direct, Specialty retailers
Robert’s opinion:
It does what the name says - it’s fast. My observation is that it creates the expectation to the results-hungry enthusiast that a faster filter allows you to grinder finer, to get more extraction. Or worse, that good cups can only come from using these filters. If you feel you can only get good cups using these, I’d say there’s a bigger underlying problem.
Sworks wave
Shape: Wave / flat bottom
Size: Kalita wave 155
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.08 (Cheap)
Availability: Direct
Robert’s opinion:
My second choice for wave filters. I’d put them next to the xBlooms in quality, but they’re a little tougher to acquire.
Timemore
Shape: Wave / flat bottom, Conical
Size: Kalita wave 155, Hario conical 02
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Not stated
Approx. cost per filter: $0.20 (Affordable)
Availability: Specialty retailers
Robert’s opinion:
These are good, but sometimes hit a snag in quality control in batch variance and more noticeable paper smell. Since paper sourcing is challenging and not publicly discussed, we don’t know how they’re supplied and if their paper partners have quality fluctuations. A few years back they were stronger options, but now I’d say to go with xBloom’s offering.
xBloom
Shape: Conical, Wave / flat bottom
Size: Hario conical 01, Kalita wave 155
Material: Wood pulp
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.10 (Affordable)
Availability: Direct, Widely available
Robert’s opinion:
My current choice for wave filters. They are available directly from them and online retailers, ship quickly, and are pretty consistent over several thousand uses.
YiTing Pure F non-woven
Shape: Conical, Wave / flat bottom
Size: Hario conical 01, Hario conical 02, Kalita wave 155
Material: Proprietary nonwoven, PE, PP
Bleaching: Not stated
Flow rate: Very fast
Approx. cost per filter: $0.15 (Affordable)
Availability: Specialty retailers, Region-limited
Robert’s opinion:
These feel unnatural at first touch.