Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to Teas.co.uk.
Rombouts designed the one cup filter for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, and the idea is disarmingly simple: a single dose of ground coffee in a filter that sits on the rim of a mug. All it asks for is a kettle, a little patience and a steady hand with the pour.
A Belgian roaster's single-cup idea
Rombouts began in Antwerp in 1896, when Frans Rombouts started roasting his own beans in a small manual drum, and the company is still in the founding family's hands, now based at Aartselaar in the same province. It holds a Belgian Royal Warrant, first granted to Hubert Rombouts in 1966. The one cup filter is the invention most people know it for.
Rombouts describes the Original blend as fully balanced, with a medium body and a rich aroma. The box holds ten filters and weighs 70g altogether, so each one carries roughly seven grams of coffee, a sensible dose for a single mug. Every filter comes sealed in its own wrapper, which keeps the grounds fresh right up to the moment you tear it open.
Getting the pour right
The method is simple, but the pour decides the cup. Sit the filter on the mug and start by dampening the coffee with just a little hot water, then give it about thirty seconds; freshly opened grounds release gas, and letting it escape first means the rest of the water reaches all the coffee evenly. Rombouts asks for water that is hot but not boiling, so let the kettle settle for a moment.
Then top up in two or three goes rather than all at once, never going past the line. Flooding the filter leaves a pool sitting on top that forces a narrow channel through the coffee, and the cup comes out both weak and bitter. Gravity sets the pace, so allow a few minutes before lifting the filter away with the spent grounds still inside.
Where it earns a place, and the filter itself
This is proper filter coffee for places without a coffee maker: the desk drawer, the caravan, the spare room, or a household with a single coffee drinker among a family of tea drinkers. The filter holds back most of the oils and fine particles, so the result is clean and light rather than heavy. It takes milk well, though anyone who loves the weight of a cafetière may find it gentle.
The filters are made from bagasse, the sugar cane fibre left over once the sugar has been extracted, and Rombouts describes them as home compostable. Plastic came out of the design in 2021, when the filter was relaunched in a fully compostable version. There is no decaf version in this box, so treat it as a morning or mid-morning cup.
The packs we stock
- Rombouts Original Compostable One Cup Filter Coffees, 10 Filters 70g (barcode 5410173021606)
What to eat with it
- Lotus Biscoff Caramelised Biscuits, 250g: A caramelised biscuit is the natural companion for a medium-bodied filter cup, and its caramelised sweetness suits a cup with a splash of milk.
- Lotus Biscoff Snack Pack, 248g: The same caramelised biscuit in a snack pack, made for the same desk drawer as a box of filters.
- McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: Dark chocolate gives a light, clean cup something bitter to answer while the filter drips through.
- Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: A sharing box of classic biscuits for when the filters come out for guests who would otherwise be offered instant.
Elsewhere in the Rombouts range
The full range is on the Rombouts brand page.
FAQ
What weight of coffee sits in each Rombouts filter? The box is ten filters weighing 70g in total, so roughly seven grams each, about right for one mug.
Do I need a coffee machine to use it? No. The filter sits on your mug and hot water goes through it, so a kettle is the only equipment involved.
Why does my one cup filter coffee taste weak and bitter? Usually because the filter was filled in one go. Let the grounds bloom for half a minute first, then pour in stages so the water moves through evenly.
What are Rombouts filters made of? Bagasse, the fibre left from sugar cane after the sugar is extracted. Rombouts describes the filters as home compostable.
Is there a decaf version in this box? No. These ten filters are caffeinated.
Curator's note: Do not skip the half-minute bloom, and pour in stages; that alone is the difference between a weak, bitter cup and a clean one. Then take it black or with a splash of milk, and put a caramelised biscuit on the saucer. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.
In short: Rombouts Original One Cup Filter Coffee: How to Brew It
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Brand | Rombouts |
| Packs we stock | 10 Filters 70g |
| Category | Coffee |
| Caffeine | caffeinated |
| Method | Filter on the mug, hot but not boiling water to the line |
| Best for | Desks, caravans and guest rooms |
| Best with | A caramelised biscuit mid-morning |
More from the tea wiki
- Tea vs Coffee: Taste, Caffeine and Switching
- Caffeine in Tea
- Tea vs Coffee
- Tea for Coffee Drinkers: Where to Start
- Chai vs Coffee
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to Teas.co.uk.
Got something to add? Logged-in customers can submit additions to the Tea Wiki, admin-approved, your name on the byline, plus reward points.
Sign in to contribute