Being a serious coffee drinker means to explore various brewing methods and tweaking them all to our personal tastes. Researching the perfect cup takes effort, time, and passion.
If you are among this category of coffee lovers, you most definitely have attempted to brew with a pour over. And you know that it takes a lot of time and careful efforts to make a good cup of coffee. The guys at Sibarist, a Barcelona-based company, have thought of reducing at least the time needed to brew with a pour over with their latest product: FAST. Named after the fundamental characteristic that they have implemented, the fast filter, it has recently achieved distribution in the USA and is available for purchasing.
A fast filter. How fast?
Quite a lot. Sibarist claim that the filter they have developed to sell along their pour over is able to speed up the flow of water anywhere from 15% to 40% faster than the normal paper filters that are commonly used in other pour overs. The actual speed depends on the ratio of coffee to water, the grind size and the technique used, of course. But even considering only 15%, it can mean a good half a minute at the very least of accelerating the slow pouring process. Not bad.
Photo by Dex Ezekiel on Unsplash
How did they achieve this? In two ways. First, the shape of the Fast Filter itself. The material from which it is made comes from a selected abacà fiber grown on estates in Ecuador and the Philippines. They combine it with cellulose fibers derived from FSC and PEFC certified European pines. All of it is 100% organic and fully traceable, and obviously also flavor-free, so the only flavor you will taste is your coffee’s.
Commonly we would call it just “paper filter” but the actual difference in materials used is the key to the Fast Filter. This combination achieves a greater permeability than other filters on the market, that allows the water to flow through it much faster than with common paper filters. The water finds less opposition in the filter, and can then carry the coffee through it much faster. The Fast Filter is as durable as any other paper filter. Moreover, the permeability of the Fast Filter reduces the retention effect produced by the coffee when it’s still a slurry, a mix of water and grounds. This helps to reduce the clogging or choking produced by the finest parts of the coffee grounds, letting the brewed coffee flow downward faster than usually expected.
The second way in which the Fast Filter is faster than any other common paper filter is the shape. It is specifically designed to match the shape of any pour overs and provide no obstacle to the flow of the water whatsoever. As the Fast Filter is developed in order to closely attach itself to the internal walls of the pour over, there’s little to no risk of the water creating funnels between these walls and the coffee grounds, coming down without having touched the coffee. The risk of having a watery coffee is therefore reduced.
Not only the faster brewing times are an advantage thanks to this Fast Filter. It also facilitates the control of the pouring of water, allowing for more control on the extraction of the coffee. Knowing that the permeability of the filter is greater and that the water flows through it without slowing down means that the home baristas out there can more precisely calculate the pouring technique to be used, with a more certain relying on the perfect functioning of the pour over for a successful cup of coffee. Coffee experts will rejoice in knowing that the Fast Filter allows tweaking the recipes with values which slower filters won’t allow, like using a finer grind, with a more uniform grinding, using more and shorter pours or much larger quantities of coffee. All this would prove problematic with any slow paper filter, and it is one of the principal reasons that the guys at Sibarist invented the Fast Filter in the first place.
Sibarist’s Fast Filters are purchasable online in batches of 25 pieces for €12/$14.59, or up to 100 filters for €35/$42.44. You can find all the international distributors on the apposite page on the company’s website. For the USA three distributors are listed, Mikava, Gost Coffee, and Prima Coffee.
And if you’re wondering if you could use the Fast Filter purchasing no other of Sibarist’s products, the answer is a resounding yes. The Fast Filter can be used in any pour over, including the most famous one, the V60.
A bit about Sibarist
Joaquim Morató and Lambert Guix are the two main minds behind Sibarist. Founded in 2017 in Barcelona, Spain, the company managed to launch the first products in 2018: two pour over stands, two coffee drink trays and a tamper with different handles, to facilitate its use to different hand sizes and tamping styles. Both Morató and Guix had experiences as product and project managers in various industries. Respectively an engineer and an industrial designer, the aim of the newly founded Sibarist was to make specialty coffee a complete experience, not just for the enjoyment of great coffee but as a full package, in which the making of coffee is as much a pleasure as the drinking it.
Converting coffee preparation in a pleasant ritual, somewhat reminiscing of the way Japanese and Chinese make tea, is one of the objectives of Sibarist and it is clearly seen already from the design of their products: resembling the most delicate Far East potteries and tea brewers, lots of quality wood elements are part of the set for making coffee that the company sell since 2018.
The Fast Filter represents Sibarist’s first effort in making coffee brewing easier, with a focus on brewing inside the final cup.
If you are looking to increase the personalization of your coffee brewing experience, Sibarist is open to design and manufacture your personal project regarding coffee brewing. Head to their specific page and send them a mail to inquire about their capabilities. Because in the end coffee brewing and drinking should be all about what you like, not complicated recipes and lots of efforts.