June 12, 2012
Not too long ago, I had the pleasure of receiving some beautiful cloth filters from American Coffee Trader. I’ve liked brewing with cloth since I got my Hario Woodneck, so its nice to have a cloth alternative for nearly every brewing device I own. American Coffee Trader prides itself on using Organic Cotton, grown and made in the U.S.A.
Cotton cloth, as a coffee filter medium has been in use since around 1710. It was used much like a modern tea bag until the 1780′s, where the use of a coffee sock was employed. Since then, many fabrics and metals have been used in that shape, though none more rare than organic cotton.
This particular cotton was grown in Texas, woven in South Carolina, and carefully sewn in Boston, Massachusetts. These filters are all American made, 233 thread count organic cotton cloth.
From a design standpoint, these filters are beautiful. More importantly, though, I’ve enjoyed brewing through them—it seems that the cloth gives a nice balance of oils and crisp acidity with an extremely low sediment yield.* They clean pretty easy, and the creme color of the filters look great in contrast with the coffee while you’re brewing.
As we were chatting over email, one of the inspirations for these filters became evident—Simon’s Coffee Shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Simon’s is a George Howell (Terroir) and Barismo account, both of which are respected, quality roasters. I had the opportunity to sit in on a session that George Howell led and I was amazed at the extent of his knowledge about coffee, and the level clarity he used to speak about it. All that to say, the fact that Simon’s uses Terroir as a coffee shows that they’re committed to excellence and to bring the people of Boston quality coffee. According to the guys, Simon was also one of the first to introduce the Hario V60 to the Boston coffee community.
Through our conversations, I found out that today was the tenth anniversary that the shop had been open. It seemed fitting that today’s doodle ended up on an American Coffee Trader Cloth Filter, and celebrates Simon’s accomplishment of 10 strong years in the Boston coffee community. Congratulations, and keep up the good work!
Be sure to check out American Coffee Trader Cotton Filters.
