Melitta pour-over coffee brewer and carafe: 1908 Dresden gravity filtration

Invented by Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz in Dresden in 1908, the Melitta cone dripper and borosilicate glass carafe set brews clean, sediment-free filter coffee using zero electricity.

Engineered with angled internal extraction ribs and calibrated bottom drain holes, the cone regulates water contact time naturally to prevent bitter over-extraction.

Before 1908, making coffee at home meant boiling loose grounds in a pot or using linen bags that trapped rancid oils and filled the last sip of every cup with gritty mud.

Melitta Bentz took a brass blotter pot, punched small holes in the base with a nail, and lined it with a sheet of her son Willy’s school blotting paper – filing Imperial Patent No. 347895 in Berlin that same summer.

Over a century later, that flat-angled cone geometry remains the simplest way to brew a full jug of filter coffee on a minimalist tray. It pairs directly with the Melitta electric gooseneck kettle in our home coffee station setup guide and features in our vintage European kitchen essentials.

Why the internal ribs inside the Melitta cone are not decorative

If you place a wet paper filter inside a smooth glass funnel, the wet paper seals itself tight against the glass wall. Air cannot escape, water stalls inside the cone, and the coffee stews until it tastes astringent.

Inside the Melitta cone, vertical raised ribs hold the No. 4 paper filter slightly away from the walls. This creates microscopic air channels so displaced air escapes upward while brewed coffee flows steadily down into the heat-resistant borosilicate glass carafe below.

Cheat sheet: the standard European pour-over ratio

• Filter size: Standard Melitta 1×4 (No. 4) unbleached or oxygen-bleached paper cone filters
• Coffee-to-water ratio: 60 grams of medium-ground coffee per 1,000 ml (1 litre) of water – or roughly 15 grams per 250 ml mug
• Water temperature: 92°C to 95°C (let a boiled kettle rest for 45 seconds before pouring)
• The 30-second bloom: Pour just enough hot water (approx. 50 ml) to wet the dry grounds and wait 30 seconds for trapped carbon dioxide bubbles to release before pouring the remaining water in slow circles

Melitta Pour-Over Coffee Brewer And Carafe is also available on Amazon.