Customer Reviews

Krups #1 Moka Brew Filters (100 pk) F15C02

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I've been using the Krups Moka Brew for several years and love the coffee it makes (and you can even do an abbreviated brew to make something that resembles espresso). However, the filters for it have been difficult to find - they're either out of stock or rather expensive at almost $10 for a box of 100. Recently, I decided to give Chemex Coffee Filter Fits Most Conical Filter Coffeemakers - 100 Bonded Oxygen Cleansed Prefolded Filters a try instead. The Chemex filter is highly regarded for the coffee it produces, because they say it keeps the wrong stuff out and lets the right stuff through. Plus, the Chemex filter is much much cheaper than the Krups filter because they can be cut down to size. The Chemex square filter is 12 inch X 12 inch, which allows you to cut out 9 Krups-sized filters (3.62" round) from each Chemex filter! Let's do the math: At $10 per box of 100, Krups filters cost 10 cents each. At $10 for a box of 100 Chemex filters, which make 900 Krups filters, the cost is about 1.1 cent per filter. The Chemex filters are also thicker than the Krups filters - I'd say about 20%.

I ran several back-to-back brews comparing the performance of the Krups filter vs. the Chemex filter on my Moka Brew. I used 20 grams of the same home roasted coffee with 500mL of water for each brew, and a Capresso Infinity grinder. Skip to the conclusion if you just want the results.

A) Krups filter. I used only one filter and tamped down with a moderate amount of force. The beans were ground on the finest "fine" setting (#5). This is how I usually do it on the Moka brew. From the time the water hits the beans, it took 3m50s for the brewing to complete. Initially there was the characteristic delicious looking thick drip with the dense crema - it looks close to espresso, with a bit of the mouse tailing (sometimes I stop the brew at about 30 seconds and just drink that. It's close to espresso and very delicious). The complete brew had a lot of body with robust flavor, like a great americano.

B) One Chemex filter. I ground the beans and tamped them like with the Krups filter. I was shocked to see how fast the water came through. It was a waterfall compared to the rich stream from the Krups filter. The brewing time was only 2m20s. There was none of that rich dense crema at the initial stages and the resulting coffee tasted more like a drip brew. It had thinner body vs the Krups filter, and the flavor was cleaner. It's still a decent cup of coffee, but I was surprised at the amount of difference the filter made.

C) Two Chemex filters. I decided to use two filters, one on top and one on the bottom. I also changed the grind setting to 3 notches finer (#2). I tamped it pretty hard. The brewtime for this was comparable to using one Krups filter - 3m45s. However, the brew still looked different vs the Krups. While it was no longer the waterfall that it was with just one Chemex filter, and the drip rate was similar to that of the Krups filter, the characteristics were still very different. Mainly, it still lacked that rich looking initial brew stage that you get with the Krups filter. The body was thicker vs using one filter, but still slightly thinner than with the Krups filter.

Conclusion: The Krups filter makes a huge difference versus using the Chemex filter. Despite being thicker, the Chemex filter results in a faster brew with less body and a cleaner cup profile. The Chemex results are still good, but closer to a normal drip brew, rather than a moka/americano quality one gets with a Krups filter. I recommend using a finer grind with the Chemex filter, and using two (or more?) filters - at least when brewing less than a full pot. The Chemex filters will still be cheaper since they're roughly 1/7 the price of a Krups filter. I can't say that one result is better than the other - it's a matter of preference. I prefer a fuller body (and an occasional "espresso" from the Moka brew), so I'll still get the Krups filters despite the high price. However, the Chemex filter is an option when the Krups filters are unavailable (as often happens).