Food - Drink
Should You Avoid Buying Bleached Coffee Filters?
By SYLVIA TOMCZAK
Brewing a great cup of coffee requires quality beans and distilled water, but the filter you use is more important than you think. The ubiquitous white coffee filters used by many drinkers are garnering criticism for their impact on the environment, but unbleached filters aren't perfect, either — here's how to find a balance.
Bleached coffee filters have been whitened via chlorine or oxygen bleaching, and while this “bleaching” sounds scary, the Perfect Daily Grind confirms that these filters are safe for your health. However, since they require extra processing, bleached filters have a larger negative environmental impact compared to unbleached filters.
On the other hand, many chlorine-free filters add a “papery” taste to your coffee, even after they have been rinsed. KitchenAid recommends opting for bleached filters that are more eco-friendly and labeled “oxygen-bleached” or “dioxin-free,” but the best solution may be a metal filter, which can be reused indefinitely and won't impact flavor.
