My last 3 orders from prima, 100 ct packs

Were old style - 200
Then new style - 200
Then old style again- 200

Really pretty interchangeable as long as you would just grind very slightly

I agree they aren't the end of the world, the issue has been blown a bit out of proportion I believe; however, I grind one notch coarser on my Lido 3 by default with the tabbed filters, and then when I get a bean that produces heavy fines I grind around 3 notches coarser (and it takes 30s longer, which adjusts for the coarseness I've added). The old ones I never had that issue, but maybe I wasn't getting many high-fines beans. I always adjusted for light roast vs medium roast.

And all of that is with a Lido 3. I noticed the tabbed filters are pretty sensitive to fines (they aren't thicker, according to Prima, but do react more sensitively to fines). So anyone with a grinder that produces more fines than my Lido 3, will probably have much more noticeable of an issue.

That's annoying and I'll end up switching to Kalita then. I find the drawn down times very so widely and un predictably it defeats half of the benefit of v60... for me.

Adjusting coarser doesn't necessarily reduce drawn downs for me, especially depending on bean.

I had new filters "stalled" completely several times. At worst it could have "a lot of water" in the cone after 3 minutes and almost no drip at all. It would take up to 5-6 minutes for it to drain.
Might be the grinder, as I'm using nearby coffee shops for grinds. I'll let you know once I finally receive mine and can do head to head comp. with tabs vs no tabs.

Yeah, I finally received the tabbed filters from Amazon after several years of the real mccoy. Experienced the full-stall a number of times. Not having it.

Will be switching back to the Wave w/ Melitta filters.

I don't use my V60 that often and apparently haven't ordered new filters since February 2016. I usually get them from amazon.ca, and I see the listing photos actually show the tabbed filters now.

jesse wrote:Yeah, I finally received the tabbed filters from Amazon after several years of the real mccoy. Experienced the full-stall a number of times.

Very interesting. Can I ask what kind of grinder and coffee you were using? Also, did the packaging have a -J or -JW on the end of the SKU?

I'm in the camp who believes this is all blown out of proportion...
Yes, it could be perceived as sneeky or whatever.. Hario could have made a better announcement about it to clarify things.. It is a very popular and diversely available product, so changes can affect people in many ways..
But with all things with a negative connotation, it gets exposed out of proportion. There are some who appreciate and think the new paper is better (if they had to choose)
Adapting to change through awareness and vigilance is what I think good coffee making is all about. Room temp and humidity affects grinders in certain ways, and so do changes in beans too; development variance from one batch to another, even if from the same roastery and the same lot of beans... Things always change.
It really doesn't bother me. I can make equally good V60 with either paper. If experienced enough, and importantly, acquainted well enough with the grinder, one should intuitively know what kind of adjustments are necessary to bring it within your window of tastiness?
Since there is yet to be a universally accepted measurement units with regard to grind size and grinder setting (soon to change though), we've yet to lose any valuable information when it comes to V60 recipes either..
I always make a point of having both types of paper. I use their differences as a virtue. I find the new ones are more suited to lighter and lightest of roasts. Best in combination with a plastic V60. Gut instinct, but I feel the slurry temp is maintained the best in this combo. But we are talking about subtlest of changes and differences..
Just like in espresso, certain beans do better in certain extraction methods, via changed dose, ratio, grind size and thus change of baskets. I see this as another arsenal within V60 armoury.
If only they made it easier for us to distinguish the differences by parts number differentiation!

They are both VCF-02-100W and the only way to tell is (thank God!) is to peep through the transparent packaging!
Left is tabless, right is with tab.