Whether you take your coffee black or with oat milk, the coffee filter commonly used in many homes has one woman to thank for its existence.

A Look Back In Time

In the early 1900s, coffee was a hassle to make. Tasked with the daily routine, Melitta Bentz met her whits end when the collection of grounds swirled in her coffee cup, creating a bitter taste in her mouth.

She knew coffee could be better than this.

Instead of enjoying the caffeine buzz from her morning cup of joe, Melitta had the chore of cleaning the copper pot that had grains stuck to the side of it. She tried and failed multiple different ways to solve her woes with coffee, but it wasn’t until she ripped a paper out of her son’s notebook did she discover an answer.

Melitta took the piece of paper, poked a few holes in it, and placed the coffee grounds on top. As she poured hot water over it into the copper kettle, she found the ideal method for making coffee. No more messy grounds to clean up, and no more bitter taste swirling in her cup.

She soon hosted coffee afternoons to test her idea and in June 1908, Melitta was granted her patent in Germany. As her company grew, it later received US patents in its expansion, including paper filter inlays in 1937 with patent number US2234397A.

Inventor’s Impact

Melitta’s invention not only solved a personal daily frustration for herself, but it also built a company that still exists today. We no longer have to curse into our coffee cup asking the sunrise to take its sweet time. Instead, we can enjoy our coffee with less cleaning to do.

Next time you head to the store to pick up coffee filters, look for Melitta’s name in her signature red and green packaging!

(not sponsored, we just love women inventors!)