About 1,5 years ago I bought some 1 cup Cafec Light roast filters and have gotten pretty good results with them. I still liked the original V60-01 filters a bit better but they where a nice alternative. After that one pack I bought 10 packs and they showed T-92 on the package but the rest seemed to be the same. But then I started brewing with them.....

No matter how coarse I grind my 18gr of coffee and use 300gr of water drawdown times always take 4:30 or longer and tastewise everything got muted due to the very long drawdowns. With the previous light roast filter without T-92 on the package I could get a normal 2:45-3:15 for drawdown just like the regular V60-01 filters. These filters just seem to have a very very slow drawdown really limiting what is possible.

As a lot of vendors claim that Cafec makes superior filters my experience is just the opposite and would like to know what your experience is with them? I tend to not use them anymore and will probably cut them to use on top of my espresso puck so they still have some kind of use.

I don't really have any experience with Cafec beside the medium filters. Gagne's test indicate that the medium have faster flow and less clogging than the V60 or the other Cafecs he tested. However I prefer the tabless V60, they have a faster drawdown for all light roasts I tested.

Same I had around 3 months really like those light roast paper in the past, but it's kind of boring taste profile maybe it's too clean for me, it's been a year I already back to Hario 40 white box edition for 01/02 and 03.

I'm finding they all work pretty great and deliver more consistent draw down times (which lets me fine tune grind more), by not stirring the bloom. That clogs them all up pretty quickly and the draw down takes forever, leading to duller, flatter cups.

I get long drawdowns with T-92 filters - but AFAIK that's the intentional design by Cafec. I tend to get very bright, clear (not clean) and strong results - but yes, drawdowns can easily last for more than 5 minutes past blooming, which is the main reason I don't use them often.

My favorite Cafec filters are the ones made with abaca, because they've got extremely similar characteristics to the original japanese V60 filters.. I'm not a big fan of the popular T-90 "medium-dark" - but my preference varies from bean to bean. I'd encourage people to ignore Cafec's own descriptions and mismatch roast levels and filter descriptions.

I use the Cafec Abaca and have had great, consistent results. Brew times generally range from 2:30 to 3:15 depending on the coffee. I suppose I should try some of their other filters.

These Cafec Lights are one of my favorite filter types and are my go to for cone filters. I'v had 8minute 14g brews on them with very light roasted coffees that tasted fantastic. As that same coffee aged, the brew time quickened to around 6 minutes without changing anything and the cup quality was the same. On the other end, well rested highly developed coffees or darker coffees the brew time would be much faster, akin to 3-4 minutes. The biggest strength of these filters is that it allows you to brew coffees early (within reason) without giving them proper rest like you would a flat bottom filter.

I believe @ baldheadracing made a post months back with an offer from Rogue coffee, where they offered 10 10-packs of different filters. I took the offer, and it really opened my eyes to both the really unique differences in how the paper feels across vendors (including multiple Cafec papers), as well as how similar so many of them are in the cup.

Considering your long history here, I'll say some things that you probably already know, but could still be a factor:

1) different coffees behave differently; have you swapped beans and still get the same, really long draw down times?

2) have you swapped grinders to see if grind distribution gets you a better flow?

3) have you tested different bloom and pour methods? For instance, I've found that a 30 second bloom can greatly improve extraction in some coffees, and in others I just need to pour more quickly or it turns into a muddy, muted mess

My biggest aha has been that the beans are the major difference in flow, followed by blooming method, followed by grinder. Paper in my opinion is a distant fourth.

TomC wrote:I'm finding they all work pretty great and deliver more consistent draw down times (which lets me fine tune grind more), by not stirring the bloom. That clogs them all up pretty quickly and the draw down takes forever, leading to duller, flatter cups.

Not stirring the bloom or swirling the dripper does indeed make a big difference. Drawdown time went from 4:45 to 3:30. It really seems that these filters are very prone to clogging. The brew tasted a lot better but still not as clean and crisp as with original V60 filters. I'll try some more and see if consistency is good as I've always been super consistent with the original V60-01 filters.

I had a terrible week of coffee when I first got these. I usually use the medium ones (t90 I think?). But for some reason, as I roast light, i ordered the light roast ones mistakenly. Results exactly as the original post. Chucked brews away, added shims to my grinder, adjusted roast profiles.... Did everything before realising just what a difference they made. I am pleased I played with them however. For some coffee when I want to try for a lighter cup I dig these out. For some coffee the extended brew time does not affect the overall profile much and I've had very nice clear clean cups. They're a nice option that I don't use much. In love the medium roast ones though