Question: Does it make a difference what kind of filter I use between the premanent metal one and the paper ones you can buy in bulk? I’ve used the metal one before but I found it left a bit of sludge at the bottom of my cup so I went back to paper.  — Neil


Answer: You’re right about the “sludge”, that’s coffee solids that pass through the mesh filter but get caught in the paper filter.  Those solids are extracted from the coffee by the water and they contain coffee flavor.  You want that.  But admittedly, it leaves something at the bottom of the mug unless you swish your mug once or twice when there’s only a bit left.  It’s no worse than Turkish Coffee that leaves actual ground coffee in the cup, but in the case of solids that pass through a mesh filter but not a paper filter, you can dissolve it into the coffee with but a swish of the mug.

I’ve gotten into this habit when I drink coffee since I only use the mesh filter.  The swish dissolves it into the rest of the coffee in the mug for a great one or two last sips.  For pros and cons, the paper filter is worse for the environment than something you can re-use indefinitely but is easy for clean-up since you dispose of the filter and grinds all together.  The mesh filter adds an extra step for clean-up but you won’t need to keep buying filters.  With pros and cons on each side, I favor the one that puts a better coffee in my cup and that’s the mesh filter that stops less solids than paper from ending up in the cup.  And yes, it adds an extra step in that swish, but by now, it’s force of habit for me.

Click here to learn more about filters and the drip brewing method.

I love the taste of cinnamon with coffee.  It’s been some time since I bought a flavored coffee like Hazelnut Vanilla but every now and then, I could add a hint of cinnamon to just about any coffee.

The problem I’ve always had is that aside from some new medicinal cinnamon I hear about, it is not water-soluble, so you can imagine the trial and error I’ve enjoyed in trying to make my own cinnamon coffee without resorting to a sub-par coffee that was sprayed with a cinnamon flavor while it was being roasted.


First, putting cinnamon in my coffee like sugar.  Again, not water-soluble and downright unpleasant to choke down…like coffee with pulp in it.

Then, pouring cinnamon over the ground coffee in my drip-brewer’s filter before running the cycle.  Again, not water-soluble and you guessed it, formed a barrier between the heated water and coffee until the filter started to overflow.  An even worse mess.

Finally the other day, I was about to make some coffee with my French Press.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, click here to learn more about the French Press brewing method.  The short explanation is that you pour hot water over coarse-ground coffee that sits at the bottom of a container like the one you see here.  After a few minutes of exposure between the coffee and water, you press a filter downward to hold all the ground coffee at the bottom so that everything above the filter is great brewed coffee.

For many, this is the best way to brew coffee.  And if you have one or if you can imagine the mechanics of it, you might already see where the cinnamon fits in.  Since the filter holds everything at the bottom, it would hold cinnamon at the bottom so that it doesn’t float in my brewed coffee.  And since there’s no downward drip of water, the cinnamon doesn’t stop the water and coffee from doing their thing.

It was that simple.  I poured cinnamon onto the ground coffee at the bottom of the container and poured the hot water over both, letting all three interact.  The result, a cinnamon-flavored coffee with no cinnamon floating in the cup and no mess.  It was the best cinnamon coffee I ever made!