In l908, Bentz, a German housewife, improvised a means of drip-brewing coffee using a piece of paper from a school notebook. Tired of the bitter and granular brew yielded by the coffee-making methods of the day (either wrapping coffee in cloth and boiling it or simply dumping loose coffee into boiling water), Bentz cut out a circle of paper and fit it into the bottom of a pot she had perforated, hoping that by setting the coffee on top of this crude filter and pouring boiling water over it, she could brew a far better tasting beverage. She did, and Bentz and her husband, Hugo, commissioned a tinsmith to fashion a supply of their new drip coffeemakers, eventually selling them at a trade fair. From this venture grew the Melitta Company, which went on to manufacture coffee filters and replace the metal pots with porcelain and plastic ones.In addition,Melitta Corporation has opened retail coffee shops,and sells a variety of coffee related products including flavored syrups.An entrepreneurial award for women, the "Melitta Bentz Woman of Innovation" award offers $5000 to the winner and $1000 to her favorite charity.