A lineup of Cerapotta porous ceramic coffee filters. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Japanese product design firm H Concept has introduced the Cerapotta, a manual pourover coffee brewer derived from a centuries-old porcelain tradition.
With a proprietary composition and distinctive shape, the Cerapotta porous ceramic coffee filter is made using Hasami porcelain manufacturing techniques.
The Tokyo-based firm says the Cerapotta’s specific formulation of raw materials results in a distinctly fine but uniform porosity that prevents clogging over time. The device offers a brewing capacity of one to four cups.
The company plans to launch online sales of the Cerapotta filter in the United States for $80 this summer.
Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
Although porous ceramic material technology has existed for generations, including in coffee applications, the availability of coffee-specific products in the United States is a relatively new phenomenon.
In 2016, the company now called Loca established U.S. distribution for its porous ceramic coffee filters, which it had been making in Japan for decades. Loca’s line now includes bowl-shaped and V60-style brewers.
Last year, the Japanese company Pocoa (styled poCoa) launched the Ethical House porous ceramic brewer. The brewer maintains a flat-bottom Kalita Wave-style shape and is colored with lead-free pigment to resemble a snow-capped Mount Fuji.
Other brands of porous ceramic coffee filter have also become available popped up through e-commerce channels.
Daily Coffee News by Howard Bryman.
In the Cerapotta, the filter forms both a flat-bottom and conical shape with a concave base. Its 5-micron pores are finer than other filters in the category, according H Concept, which debuted the Cerapotta brand at the SCA Expo in Portland, Oregon, in April. (See DCN’s complete 2023 SCA Expo coverage here.)
The company also claims that the filter composition also allows the flavors and sensory characteristics of coffee to fully express themselves in the cup, without dulling or mellowing through the filtration process.
“The material is a secret, but we use high-purity materials that do not affect the taste,” H Concept and Cerapotta CEO and Founder Hideyoshi Nagoya told Daily Coffee News. “The greatest uniqueness of Cerapotta is the successful achievement of uniform production through a manufacturing method similar to hand pressing, which stabilizes the particle density and structure of the porous material. It uses ingredients that do not affect the taste, and the material and manufacturing method are easy to maintain without clogging.”
Cerapotta CEO Hideyoshi Nagoya at the brand’s booth at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland, Oregon. Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
For the product, H Concept maintains a private manufacturing partner, a 70-year-old kiln operator born and raised in Hasami who oversees the firing of Cerapotta pieces and specializes in porous ceramic technology.
“[The kiln operator] began researching and developing a technology to purify various substances such as liquids and gasses through the porous nature of ceramics created at temperatures exceeding 1,200 degrees Celsius,” Nagoya told DCN. “After over a decade of research, he arrived at a unique porous ceramic technology. He continues to question himself every day to further improve it, and conducts research on materials and manufacturing methods.”
H Concept, which has distributed the paperless Swiss Gold coffee filter in Japan since its foundation in 2002, took its first step into porous ceramic coffee filter production in 2020 with a more bulbous Kalita-style flat-bottom filter called the “+d kinome.”
Daily Coffee News photo by Howard Bryman.
“We were impressed by the unique material properties, sustainability without the need for paper filters, and above all, the clear and smooth taste of the coffee,” said Nagoya. “We have dedicated our passion to exploring the possibilities of coffee and tools.”
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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Ceramic is a totally unsuitable material for filtering coffee. The fine grounds will first pass through the inner paper filter (if one is used) then pass through the funnel and clog the ceramic material which is impossible to clean afterwards. This is a nonsense ‘solution’ looking for a non-existent problem.
Thank you for your comment.
We recommend using either a medium-coarse grind or coarse grind for our “cerapotta”.
“cerapotta” uses different materials and a different production process, resulting in less clogging compared to existing ceramic filters!
It is also easy to clean, requiring only a simple rinse before and after use.
Have a new coffee experience with “cerapotta”!
Thank you for your comment.
We recommend using either a medium-coarse grind or coarse grind for our “cerapotta”.
“cerapotta” uses different materials and a different production process, resulting in less clogging compared to existing ceramic filters!
It is also easy to clean, requiring only a simple rinse before and after use.
Have a new coffee experience with “cerapotta”!
How can anyone buy a filter without knowing what size it is 01 02 or 03