This is the second one of these I have had. The first one lasted about 5 years until a dishwashing accident finished off. The original was labeled as 'made in germany' and functioned quite well. This new one is labeled as 'made in china' and the size/shape is oddly quite a bit different than the original. the original fit a #2 filter perfectly, this new one is narrower than the original which causes some issues. The filter does not sit flush in the bottom so the coffee is suspended in the air...the result is the first 2 times I tried to use it, the weight of the coffee on the suspended filter caused the filter to break. The 3rd time i doubled up on filters which worked....seems like a poor change in design to go from something that aligns to the intended filter perfectly to something that does not align with the intended filter.

Love this!! I think I have tried every way possible to make coffee - well seems like it anyway! I used to have a regular old coffee maker, but moved on to other methods, trying to get that "perfect cup". My recent favorites have been the Keurig and my French Press. I love my Keurig, but recently it has been bothering me that you can never truly empty out the water reservoir. Even though I clean it regularly, use filtered water and descale it often, it bothers me that I can't see how clean it is inside. I also don't like the fact that I can't quite get the coffee to the strength I like unless I brew two 8-oz cups together, using 2 k-cups. I also love my French Press - it does make an amazing cup of coffee! But I don't like the grit at the bottom of the cup and I don't love specifically trying to get a coarse ground brew for it. I also don't love cleaning the wet coffee grounds out of the bottom - getting picky, I know! One day while getting a cup of coffee from my favorite coffee shop, I decided to ask the barista what method they used. They showed me this little gem! I got the brand name and the size from them and right away got online to order it. Yep - I love it! It just arrived today and within 10 minutes, I had a freshly brewed cup of coffee that tasted exactly like my favorite coffee shop's at a much cheaper price - and hardly any mess to clean up! I have the No. 6 and brewed just one cup - perfection! I wondered if I had to buy one of those fancy pourers to go along with it, but it turns out my kettle with a pour spout works just as well...at least for my taste! :) I also have a thermal carafe that I plan to use with it when I have people over - I am the only one in the house who drinks coffee, so one cup at a time with this works for me, but at least I have the option to use it for a bigger pot of coffee when the occasion arises. I highly recommend this!!

I love this coffee filter (size No. 4)! My husband and I are consummate coffee drinkers. We have a normal coffee pot and a Keurig in the house, but after we vacationed in Hawaii this year and saw coffee made via an open filter, we were hooked. I purchased this in conjunction with the "Hario V60 Buono Coffee Drip Kettle, 1.2L" and it's been wonderful.

1. This filter fits on every coffee cup/mug that I own. And it's stable. I was a little worried that it would sit precariously on the cup and the slightest bump would cause it to tumble. Not the case.
2. The No.4 makes 1-2 cups. Unless you want to sit next to the filter and keep adding water, this is meant for 1-2 cups of coffee at a time. Since it's just for my husband and me, this isn't a problem. If I had a large group over, I'd use our regular 12-cup coffee pot.
3. This filter has a single hole. Since I don't have experience with any other filter, I have nothing to compare it to. I can say that the water seeps through the filter at a good speed and I don't feel like I'm waiting forever for my coffee.

Most importantly, the coffee made with the open filter definitely tastes better that a regular coffee pot and even the Keurig. One component that is obviously key is the coffee you buy. If you're investing in the filter and a good kettle, don't skimp on the coffee bean.

I was hoping this filter holder would work the same as the plastic Melitta filter holder that I've used for years. I'm concerned about the possibility of any chemicals from the plastic getting into the coffee, so a porcelain filter holder seems like a great idea.

Unfortunately, the #6 filter holder I bought has been consistently getting coffee grinds in the pot. I'm using it correctly, and not overflowing the filter, but it keeps happening. I studied the filter after making a few pots, and noticed that on the seams of the filter at the bottom, the paper broke through. This is using the same Melitta #6 cone filters that I've used with the Melitta plastic holder for years, and this has never happened before.

I don't know what causes this. One observation is that the bottom of the cone of the plastic Melitta holder is wider, and the Cilio is considerably narrower. Maybe this scrunches the filter on the seam in one of the corners on the bottom of the filter. It is tearing and then the coffee grounds just flow into the pot and I end up with a lot of sludge.

I do think this holder is reasonably well made. The porcelain seems fine and I can't complain much about the build quality. It does wobble slightly, but not much. But I think the design may be fundamentally flawed, at least in the #6 size. The paper cones keep on tearing, so I can't use this holder. I'm going back to the plastic Melitta filter holder. I prefer porcelain to plastic, but it needs to work. I think this one just isn't the right shape for the Melitta #6 filters, and it causes them to tear.

I purchased two of these in the past month or so from Amazon and another one about 3 years ago. The unit I received 3 years prior was made by Cilio in Germany and has one opening. The unit is stamped Cilio.

The two units I received in November and December in 2013 are not Cilio. When I opened the box, the label on the units both said HIC, and made in China. These units have 3 holes in them and can be purchased for less than what the Cilio cones sell for on Amazon. Again: I am not sure if Cilio is now selling the HIC cone as their own or Amazon mixed up these things. All I can say is that it's quite misleading because they are selling the same item under two different names at different price points.

That said, I do not like the function of the HIC units because they drip way too fast compared to the Cilio units. I have to plug two of the the holes with bits of torn up filters to prevent the water from almost instantly passing through and making some weak coffee. I also like the lighter weight of the Cilio unit.

Additionally the unit I received in December was broken in transit. The cone is in its own cardboard box, and they put that in a bigger Amazon box without any additional cushioning.

The unit I bought a couple years ago gets five stars. The two I bought recently get zero if I could.