Note sull'episodio
Paper filtering predates Melitta Bentz: Johann Georg Krünitz described blotting paper in a tinned cone in 1782, and in 1847 Ellard Romershausen tried paper in an early air press. Most people still strained coffee through linen, wool, hemp, silk, or horsehair that trapped oils which went rancid, and in 1885 one writer warned the public to stop filtering coffee through old wallpaper, at a time when pigments often contained arsenic and lead. Bentz's version, patented on July 8, 1908, was a 94 millimeter paper disc, sold by her husband while her sons hauled cartons through the streets on hand carts.
In the filter wars of the 1930s, rivals included the Blitz filter and the conical Brazil filter from a 1931 proposal by Paul Czopka. Melitta bought rights to a cone patent in 1932, launched the Schnellfilter, then in 1935 and 1936 introduced the pre-folded, crimped Filtertüte that replaced flat sheets pressed into shape with a metal tool. The paper also traps the oily diterpenes cafestol and kahweol, which raise LDL cholesterol, and studies link filtered coffee to lower mortality than boiled or pressed coffee.
- In 1936 Melitta took over production of the rival Blitz filter and redesigned its porcelain holders with a slot for the seam.
- Size 100, 101, and 102 bags locked customers into a razor and blades model.
- Modern filters use paper of about 100 grams per square meter that blocks particles over 10 to 15 micrometers.
- The 1960s 1x system set a 54 degree cone and 49 millimeter base so one full pour would never overflow.
- The Chemex of 1941 uses paper 20 to 30 percent thicker, and the 2004 Hario V60 uses a 60 degree cone.