Golden mandheling and drip coffee bags: steep or pour?

Drip coffee bags work by drip filtration, and pouring water directly onto the grounds is the method that extracts flavor evenly. Immersion is possible, but it means emptying the grounds out, soaking them in water and then filtering, not dropping the sealed bag into a cup. Soaking the whole bag that way releases very little flavor.

For hot brewing, a 10-gram bag follows a pour-over ratio of about 1:15 to 1:18, so 150 to 180 milliliters of water. Wet the grounds first and let them bloom for around ten seconds, then pour into the center twice until the bag is about eight-tenths full. Options such as Geisha, Huakui, Brazil and golden mandheling cover floral, fruity, balanced and rich profiles.

Drip bag coffee, with its simple and quick drip filtration method, has become the daily first choice for many people. No electronic scale or thermometer is needed—just a kettle of hot water, a cup, and a drip bag, and you can enjoy it easily. But can you use an immersion method when brewing drip bag coffee? What are the key points when pouring water? This article focuses on the extraction principles of drip bag coffee, the difference between drip filtration and immersion, segmented pouring techniques, and water flow control methods to help coffee lovers improve their brewing experience. At the same time, Front Street has selected a variety of drip bag coffees for different taste preferences, including Geisha, Huakui, Brazil, and Golden Mandheling, meeting diverse needs such as floral aroma, fruity acidity, balance, and richness, bringing every cup of drip bag coffee closer to pour-over quality.

Drip bag coffee is probably the most effortless drip filtration method. Naturally, there is no need to bring out the electronic scale and thermometer required only for pour-over just for this, making a simple thing complicated. A kettle of boiled water, a taller cup, and a bag of drip coffee are almost enough—even how much water to pour is entirely up to feel.

There are two common extraction paths for drip bag coffee: drip filtration and immersion. Front Street usually chooses drip filtration, that is, pouring water directly onto the coffee grounds in the drip bag; while immersion does not mean throwing the entire drip bag into water—that would extract hardly any flavor at all—but rather pouring out the coffee grounds, adding water to soak them, and then filtering.

Although the steps are simple, the sense of ritual should still be preserved

For hot brewing of drip bags, the amount of water poured is actually relatively easy to manage. Taking Front Street store’s drip bags as an example, each small bag contains 10 grams. According to a pour-over coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15 to 1:18, it is recommended to pour 150 to 180 milliliters of water.

Generally, first pour a small amount of hot water into the drip filter bag to fully wet the coffee grounds, filling the first stage to half the height of the filter bag, and let it bloom for about ten seconds. After that, pour water into the center twice in succession until the drip bag is eight-tenths full. Wait until all the coffee liquid in the bag has dripped through before continuing to add water, until the final stage has finished filtering. If you directly fill it to the top, the water accumulated in the upper layer tends to bypass the coffee bed and flow away from the sides of the drip bag, making the coffee taste weak. Front Street has found through repeated tests that with this three-stage pouring method, the total time is about one and a half minutes, and the total amount of water poured is basically around 150 milliliters. If you want a lighter taste, you can add one more stage and pour to eight-tenths full, for a total of about 180 milliliters.

In order to make the water flow more evenly through the coffee bed and make it easier for aroma and flavor compounds to be released, Front Street recommends pouring water in small amounts multiple times when brewing drip bags, to improve extraction efficiency. The entire brewing process should maintain a small water flow; otherwise, the filter bag will be full in a few seconds, making subsequent pouring harder to control. A gooseneck kettle can help us better control the water flow.

Front Street recommends concentrating the water stream at the center, and not making the circling range too large—ideally controlled to the size of a one-yuan coin.

Recommended types of drip bag coffee brands

A good cup of coffee first depends on good beans. Here Front Street briefly lists several types of coffee suitable for the vast majority of people for everyone to choose from: for friends who like floral flavors, Front Street Panama Geisha Drip Bag Coffee is recommended—this is one of the most expensive coffees in the world; for those who like coffee with a fresh, slightly acidic taste, Front Street Huakui Drip Bag Coffee is recommended, with notes of black tea and berries when drinking;

For those who like a balanced taste, that is, neither sour nor bitter, Front Street Brazil Drip Bag Coffee is recommended; finally, for those who love a solid, rich mouthfeel, it is suggested to buy the highest-grade Front Street Golden Mandheling Drip Bag Coffee. These beans undergo multiple rounds of hand sorting, reducing the defect rate to a minimum, thereby making the coffee aroma clearer and the sweet aftertaste better. The above drip bag coffees can all be purchased and ordered at Front Street stores and the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.