Buphallo Stainless Pour-Over Filter

Today, we’re taking a brief step away from the world of espresso, so that I can share with you a neat little product I picked up a month or two ago. When I’m not drinking espresso or Americanos, my next go-to style of coffee is pour over. I love the hands-on nature of the brewing process, the heightened aromas, and the clean bold cup of coffee it makes.

What I am NOT such a big fan of, however, is the cost and waste associated with the paper filters. This is why you’ll notice something different about this pour over cone. With the Buphallo Coffee Filter, the cone IS the filter. This thin, honeycomb patterned mesh, acts as both the filter paper AND the pour-over cone simultaneously.

Now, when I purchased this item I had a couple significant hesitations

• #1 Would the mesh be fine enough to stop me from getting a gross silty textured coffee?
• #2 Would the metal cone introduce any unpleasant flavours into the coffee?
• #3 Would the cone be a pain in the butt to clean?

Let’s make a cup of coffee and find out!

So, Question #1, are the holes small enough to stop fines from passing through? Yes, they are, and in fact, they may even be slightly TOO small, as I needed to adjust my grind coarser than my usual pour over setting to achieve the same flow rate as with a paper filter… interesting

Question #2, let’s talk about taste. No… I didn’t detect any ugly metallic flavours being introduced, but the flavour definitely was different than paper filter pour-over. No matter how good your process is with paper filters, there will always be SOME flavours introduced by your filter, and, of course, that component of the flavour is now absent.

Also, because of how fine the mesh is, I almost always ended up with a stronger cup of coffee using this cone, due to the reduction to the maximum flow rate. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on your personal preferences. Noting those two differences from classic filter pour-over, the quality of the cup of coffee you’re able to make with this cone is very enjoyable, of course while still being largely dependent on your grinder and the coffee you use.

Finally, and somewhat disappointingly we come to Question #3. How easy is it to clean? And the answer is, that it’s a bit of a pain. You need to first scoop out the bulk of the grinds into your compost or knock box, then turn the cone upside down and rinse out the rest, spending a decent amount of time rubbing your finger on the mesh to dislodge any stuck grinds. I suppose that nothing is as easy as lifting out a paper filter and disposing of everything all at once, but this is a notable and expected drawback to this product. Is it a deal-breaker for me? Not in the slightest!

Like I said, I’ve been using the Buphallo Coffee Filter for a month or two now, and I love being able to pick it up at any time to make a quick cup of coffee, without needing to reach for filter paper each time, worrying that I might have run out, and then getting that slight tinge of guilt each time I throw it away. I haven’t brought this cone camping yet, but that would be another great use case, as you’d have one less item to forget, or taking up space in your bag.