We've all been there. You're bleary-eyed, just trying to make a good cup of coffee in the morning—when you remember that you’re supposed to pre-wet the paper filter before you put the grounds in it.
Who’s got that kind of time? It's an extra step that seems totally unnecessary, especially when you’re bleary-eyed.
Why not just put the coffee grounds in and be done with it?
Well, as to the answer to "why coffee filters need to be pre-wet" right before you run a whole bunch of hot water through them, there are several stabs in the dark—err, schools of thought.
Hypothesis #1: It's All About Making The Filter Less Porous
Here's the first stab—uh, hypothesis behind why we pre-wet coffee filters:
When dry, coffee filters are somewhat porous, which means that water can seep through them fairly easily. This results in coffee that's weaker and less flavorful, because much of the water never makes it into the cup.
Wetting the filter beforehand allows it to expand slightly so that it's less porous. So, again in theory, this means that less water will seep through, and you'll end up with a stronger, more flavorful cup of coffee.
Hypothesis #2: It's All About Making The Filter More Porous
Here's the second hypothesis behind why we pre-wet coffee filters:
In direct opposition to the first theory, some coffee makers believe that pre-wetting coffee filters makes the water pass through the filter more easily. This diametrically opposed theory believes that water passing through a coffee filter more quickly is a good thing. And maybe it is, if you like your coffee on the weaker side.
Hypothesis #3: It's All About Making The Dry Filter Taste Like a Wet Filter
Here's the third hypothesis behind pre-wetting coffee filters:
When dry, coffee filters supposedly have this incredibly pronounced papery flavor. Naturally, this can give the coffee a slightly paper-like flavor. Apparently, running the filter under hot water makes the paper not taste like paper anymore. (Or at least not like dry paper, now it tastes like wet paper, which is much better.)
Any time you have three totally different theories for why we do something, the answer is probably that no one really knows.
In the case of pre-wetting filters before brewing coffee, it's likely that all three theories have some truth—to their proponents, at least.
But which theory is correct? Does pre-wetting actually make better coffee?
The answer, as with all things coffee, is that it depends.
If you want your coffee to extract faster, or feel like the coffee is too bitter, then pre-wetting the filter might be the way to go.
And you have some paper filters that are making your coffee taste "paper-y"—switch to a different brand (or a different type of coffee filter).
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The next time you're standing in front of your coffee maker, trying to decide whether or not to pre-wet the filter, ask yourself what you're trying to achieve. If you want a faster cup of coffee, go ahead and pre-wet the filter. If you're trying to avoid that paper flavor, and it seems to go away if you run it under water for a second, go ahead and wet it.
But if you're just trying to make a cup of good, strong coffee, and you don't really care about any of this, then go ahead and skip the "pre-wet" stage and head straight to the bloom. You'll save time* and be that much closer to drinking fresh coffee.
*Estimated time savings: 5 minutes over 30 years
No one will judge you, I promise—not even the coffee snobs, as long as you don't tell them about it.
But now... here's the Shyamalan-caliber** twist:
**(I mean the 1999-2000 Shyamalan. He's really due for making another movie.)
Despite my dismissive—some would say irreverent—attitude toward pre-moistening coffee filters, I pre-wet filters when I use the precarious inverted AeroPress method, because I feel like it makes it easier to push down the plunger.
I don't know for a fact that it does, but it makes me feel better, so I do it.
AeroPress Coffee Maker
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Whether you pre-wet or not, just make sure you're enjoying brewing and drinking your damn coffee. Life is too short to spend time reading (or writing) an article about whether or not you should hold a coffee filter under a water faucet for 2.8 seconds. But I hope I entertained you a little bit along the way.
And if not, well... at least you made it to the end, so congrats on that.***
***(And if you actually read this entire thing, you are either very bored or very dedicated to optimizing your coffee ritual. Or you just really like asterisk-based comedy. Either way, I salute you.)
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