Linen coffee filters

Question: Marc, I have been told to brew coffee with paper filters to remove colloids for health reasons. I understand that permananet filters would not remove these. What about using a pice of linen as a filter, would that work? -- IainAnswer: I'll do my best to answer but given you have a health concern, I want to be sure you do your research beyond my answer. Permanent filters allow a "stronger" coffee because they allow the colloids to pass through. People that do not like the resultant coffee sediment that ends up in the bottom of your mug might switch to paper filters -- note you can absorb that sendiment into the last few sips by swishing the mub -- also, some people like the ease of clean-up with paper filters. Paper absorbs liquid whereas the mesh of a permanent filter does not. So to answer your question, I would suspect a linen also absorbs the colloids in the same way that a paper filter does. In my mind, it's closer to a paper in terms of absorbent than a mesh filter.