Specialty coffee went from being a luxury item to people's daily spiritual nourishment (literally spiritual nourishment, haha), and drip bag coffee packets played an indispensable role in this. The portability of drip bags broke the need for complex equipment to brew specialty coffee—no need to worry about grind size, no need for specific pouring techniques. Just open the drip bag filter, hang it on a cup, pour in hot water, and you can recreate the joy of drinking pour-over coffee. Some people thinkdrip bag coffeepackets lower the value of specialty coffee, but Front Street believes there's no need to belittledrip bag coffee's emergence. After all, for a delicacy to reach the masses, faster and more convenient methods need to be produced.
When did drip bag coffee appear?
In 2001, Japan's UCC Ueshima Coffee invented drip bag coffee and registered a patent, then brought it to market. In Japanese, it's called "one-cup extraction coffee." This is because its principle is to put coffee grounds in a non-woven fabric or cotton paper filter bag, with two paper夹boards on the outside. When opened, it can be hung on a narrow-mouthed cup, and after brewing, you just pull it out and drink rich black coffee.
Pros and cons of drip bag coffee
Pros: A drip bag coffee packet is a super simplified version of pour-over coffee. The structure is a coffee filter bag with "ears" containing a measured amount of pre-ground coffee. It saves the tedious operations of grinding coffee beans and preparing filter paper and dripper in pour-over coffee, going straight to brewing.
Cons: Convenient as it is, because the coffee is pre-ground, even if stored sealed in individual packaging, the coffee's aroma cannot be preserved for long. So Front Street only sells drip bag coffee within 5 days of production and recommends drinking within 30 days, so we don't suggest stocking up too many drip bags at once. Secondly, due to the drip bag filter design, the coffee bed cannot be evenly distributed, so it can't achieve the even extraction of brewing with a dripper, and the layered expression of coffee flavors will be slightly inferior.
How many times can drip bag coffee be brewed?
Front Street Coffee believes drip bag coffee is similar to simplified pour-over coffee. Like pour-over coffee, drip bag coffee can only be brewed once, and the ratio must be controlled. If the ratio is too high (pouring too much water), the coffee will taste weak. Why? Because the extractable substances in coffee beans only account for about 30% of the bean weight, so even pouring more water won't make the coffee taste better.
As a coffee beginner, how do you choose drip bag coffee packets?
If you usually like strong coffee, we recommend Front Street Brazil Red Fruit drip bag coffee, with rich nutty flavors, the smoothness of peanut butter, no acidity, and a full body. If you can accept acidic coffee, we recommend Front Street Ethiopia Yirgacheffe drip bag coffee, with lemon-like acidity, white floral notes, bright acidity, and a refreshing taste. If you like special flavors, we recommend Front Street Honduras Sherry drip bag coffee, with rich whiskey aroma and vanilla cream smoothness, low acidity, and a full body.
How to brew drip bag coffee packets?
Front Street drip bag coffee has a set amount of 10g of coffee grounds per packet. We recommend brewing at a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, meaning pour 150g of hot water for one drip bag coffee.
1. Tear open the outer packaging bag, take out the drip bag inside, tear open the drip bag's opening, hang the two small ears on both sides onto the cup (the cup mouth diameter shouldn't be too large, or it won't hang ~), and prepare water at 15 times the coffee amount.
2. The brewing technique for drip bag coffee is actually the same as pour-over coffee, just not as rigorous as pour-over, but basically water temperature and blooming are still needed. For reference, here are Front Street Coffee's parameters for brewing Front Street drip bag coffee: water temperature 90°C, bloom for about 10s, and the bloom water amount should equal the coffee grounds.
3. Wait for the coffee bed to slightly sink, then pour the second stage of water until the drip bag is nearly 8/10 full. Let the coffee liquid slowly filter through, repeat the second stage pouring until the drip bag is 8/10 full, and finally wait for all the coffee liquid to filter through and enjoy.
What to pay attention to when brewing drip bag coffee?
Similar to pour-over, the taste of drip bag coffee depends on the coffee beans; different origins have different flavor profiles. The difference is that the coffee grounds in drip bags are pre-ground in advance, so the aroma is not as rich as freshly ground. If left too long, the coffee grounds have already staled and may even develop a "woody taste." After coffee beans are ground, they have more contact area with air, and the gases and aromatic substances inside will accelerate loss, corresponding to a shortened flavor window. The brewed coffee's aroma won't be as rich, and it will taste somewhat bland and thin. Therefore, when buying drip bag coffee, we need to pay attention to the coffee's freshness and drink it as soon as possible after purchase, so we can drink coffee with a fuller aroma.
The brewing water temperature is also crucial. Usually, for pour-over, we best control the water temperature at 86–93°C. If the water temperature is too low, the coffee extraction efficiency will be slow, and under-extraction is likely. If you can't raise the water temperature, then extend the contact time between the coffee grounds and hot water, meaning steep longer.
The amount of water poured and the flow rate can also change the strength of drip bag coffee. Front Street recommends controlling the coffee-to-water ratio at 1:15, then adjusting up or down according to your preferred strength. In addition, if the water flow is too fast, the coffee grounds' extraction time is short, and the coffee taste tends to be lighter, so it's best to use a steady, small stream throughout to make the coffee bed extraction more even.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
