After being abroad and using my Lido 2 and clever dripper multiple times a day for the past few months, I'm finally home and had the opportunity to bust out the chemex and gave it a go. I'll spare you by just saying that the brew was phenomenal. I really like what the chemex does, but I'm not well versed in other brewers to say what that is. Suffice it to say, I prefer it over all other pourover methods that use standard melitta-style filters, and certainly over a French Press. The closest brew I've had to my beloved chemex is a woodneck cloth filter.

I'm out of filters, and I'm interested in a coffee sock http://www.coffeesock.com/Community.html Has anyone had any experience with one? Would the grind be finer or coarser for the sock? I read the instructions which recommend drying it, but I've heard that woodneck cloth filters shouldn't be dried out.

Store the filter in a container of cold water (clean yogurt containers work great) in the fridge. It's important that the filter stays wet, and isn't allowed to dry out.

From: http://barismo.com/pages/woodneckbrewguide

Just in case your wondering, my Chemex method is adapted from the Howell method but for 1 person: 20g coffee, 300g water.

1. Boil lots of water
2. Dump a couple hundred grams of water through a bleached chemex filter in my 8-cup chemex, and pour out water
3. Dump 20g in, shake to settle.
4. Pour 100g water at 200F, finishing around :30s
5. At 1:00, pout in another 100g - taking about 30s
6. At 2:15-2:30 add the last 100g depending on when the bed goes dry.

The whole time circling being careful not to hit the edge.

I used to store the cloth filter in a ziplock bag with some water. But my Korean friend told me it is better to store it in a ziplock bag in the freezer with as little water but still wet after cleaning. I can't taste any difference but I'll probably sticky with the freezer method for two reasons:

1) I don't make Nel drip as much (got too many toys and cycle through them all on fancy) and this makes me feel better about not leaving the cloth in stale water for long;

2) I would discourage leaving the cloth completely submerged in water as mine would start to fringe and fall apart.

I posted here a couple of months back asking for advice on how to get rid of the cloth flavor the sock filters impart when first used. Advice was pretty unanimous - boil it and then keep it wet after each use (via fridge storage in ziploc or in freezer). At some point, I abandoned the fridge/freezer storage step and just started setting the sock, inverted, on top of the Nel to dry. I use the Nel every day M - F at work and have a sunny window at my desk that helps it dry quickly.

I have found that this has had zero impact on my brews. I like eliminating a fussy step and my (decidedly unscientific) opinion was always that keeping it wet in a bag would only encourage mold growth. Many do swear by it but I think it's unnecessary.

I've not used a cloth filter with my Chemex but I see no reason it wouldn't deliver similarly excellent brews as with the Nel.

I'm with grog on this one. I prefer to keep the wet basement smell out of my morning cuppa, thanks.

Anyone have info on why keeping the cloth wet is supposed to reduce cloth taste in the cup?

I believe it is to prevent it from tasting "like cloth." No experience here, but it sounds like a real concern. That said, not sure how pouring some hot water through it before brewing again won't remove any cloth taste that somehow was imparted due to it drying out.

Mark Prince uses cloth filters, and it sounds like his maintenance approach has changed over the years, from wet storage to dry:

My cleaning regimen for cloth filters has changed over the years. Cloth filter assemblies should be cleaned right after use with a soft brush and running water, and then soaked in a solution of oxyclean and boiling water. Rinse well after, and store dry. This will not harm the cloth like bleach will, and it comes out sparkling white and odor free.

Wash it in oxiclean with a brush after every brew?! That seems like quite a bit of work... I'll try out the old rinse and dry technique.

I think it's good to revisit this cloth storage issue.

First, the boiling the cloth, I believe is a maintenance thing to be done periodically (every month or two) and also before the first use. I tried the oxyclean and boiling and I'll never do it again. Took forever to get rid of the soapy taste for me. Same with dish detergent. I'll never use a synthetic soap but am open to other ideas (vinegar? other?).

Although I don't remember why I started the water+bag+fridge routine (an amazon review or maybe even SCG review), I recently changed to freezer. I mentioned above why but I'll point out that it wasn't to 'get rid of cloth taste' but is motivated by: 1) trying to keep it clean and free from strange creatures growing on it and 2) extend the life of the cloth.

For some reason (perhaps unfounded), I think that letting it dry and wetting it over and over greatly decreases the lifespan of the cloth.

I don't have a routine that I love for cloth. Drying between uses didn't seem to work well here in Austin. But I suspect it would work fine in a dry climate. So I just went the "store in a jar of water in the fridge" route, which seemed to work okay.

Every week or so I would soak the filter in Oxyclean Free, which seems to be a special order item. Oxyclean Free is used by many home brewers. While I didn't have any off tastes associated with it, I didn't use much product and I boiled and rinsed the filter many times afterwards.

The freezer routine makes sense. Nothing is going to grow on the filter in the freezer.