Although the contrivances succeeded in extracting the aroma and taste of the ground coffee beans, their contribution to the art of coffee preparation was often of a more decorative nature. The major problem remained unsolved: the unpleasant coffee dregs lurking at the bottom of the cup.

And so over 300 years of European coffee culture were to pass before an enterprising German housewife hit upon a method which was to change radically the way coffee was prepared in many countries throughout the world. Melitta Bentz of Dresden had the simple yet brilliant idea of filtering out the coffee dregs by means of a piece of blotting paper. She took a small brass pot, drilled a few holes in the bottom and then laid a piece of her son's school blotting paper in it.

Melitta Bentz had invented the first filter to prepare dreg-free coffee. The fact that she was from Dresden astounded her fellow Germans - the Saxons had hitherto been the regarded as philistines when it came to making a decent cup of coffee.

Melitta Bentz soon realized the value of her modified brass pot and its paper inlay. She registered the invention at the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin. On July 8th, 1908 she was awarded patent protection for her "filtration-paper-based coffee filter with rounded and recessed bottom perforated by slanting flow-through holes." The 35 year-old housewife was now an inventor and an entrepreneur. In the same year Melitta Bentz founded the company that still bears her name to this today.

In the Thirties, the young company launched its fast-drip filter. The conical shape and ribbed walls of the new filter meant that its filtration surface was two-and-a-half times greater than the one it replaced. The increased surface meant faster filtration and more efficient extraction of the ground coffee. A few years later the company launched a specially-designed filter paper to fit the new conical filter - known today as the filter bag. The perfect shape for coffee filters had finally been found. The filtration time was just the right length - the aroma had time to develop without any of the bitter substances being released. And another key argument - especially at the time - was that the new filter also reduced the amount of ground coffee required.

Melitta filter bags have remained virtually unchanged since this time. The occasional modification is always necessary, though. The coffee of today is not the same as it was in 1937; coffee makers have also come a long way in the meantime. Melitta is therefore dedicated to a process of continual improvement in order to optimize its filter papers and thereby enhance the enjoyment of filtered ground coffee.

To this end, Melitta launched its first filter bags with aroma pores in 1989. The new filters allow the aroma substances - of which coffee has over 800, many still unknown - to pass through the filter with the hot water but keep out the bitter and cholesterol-raising substances.

In the same year the company also launched its natural brown filter papers, made from unbleached cellulose. A series of intensive cleaning processes ensure that the unbleached cellulose fulfils the same hygienic requirements as the whitened variety. By completely avoiding any form of bleaching, the cellulose manufacturers were able to achieve a total reduction in the polluting effects of their discharged water.

Since its introduction, demand for the natural brown filter paper has risen steadily. However, there are still many consumers who prefer the white variety. Market research has shown that a third of all consumers like the white filters for their hygienic appearance. In cooperation with pulp manufacturers, Melitta therefore resolved to develop a bleaching process which would also be gentle to the environment. In 1992, the first white filter paper bleached completely without chlorine was presented: the oxygen-bleached filter paper.

The next significant development was achieved in 1997 with the invention and patenting of the first fully-perforated filter paper. The new micro-perforated Aromaflies^Ò paper allows the coffee's flavour substances to pass through while reliably trapping any unwanted coffee sediment. The consumer can both see and taste the difference. In 1999 Melitta launched the double-seam filter bag for extra strength and durabilitiy, followed by "mild" and "strong" filter bags in 2001 for the preparation of an individual cup of coffee - mild or strong.

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