For office workers who love coffee, wanting a rich black coffee but not having enough time to brew a ceremonial pour-over, drip bag coffee is our "savior."

Why is it called "drip bag"?

The earliest drip bag coffee was invented in 1990 by Yamanaka Sangyo Co., Ltd. in Japan. Its design concept originated from hanging string tea bags. The inventor hoped to simulate pour-over drip coffee by preparing coffee grounds in advance and putting them into non-woven filter bags. The paper pieces on both sides of the filter bag can suspend the coffee bag in the center of the cup. Because they hang on both sides of the cup like little ears, everyone calls it "drip bag coffee." Starting in 2002, Japanese people registered drip bag coffee packages as patents and promoted them for sale on the market. This convenient and clean design quickly became mainstream in the market.

To brew a drip bag coffee, we only need to prepare a pot of hot water and a cup to easily get a cup of fragrant coffee. After brewing, just throw away the coffee grounds together with the filter bag, saving many cumbersome steps. With the development of the specialty coffee industry, there are many types of coffee beans that can all be made into drip bags, so there are many choices.

Why does drip bag coffee taste so weak?

Although brewing drip bag coffee is very simple, some friends still report that the drip bag coffee they brew tastes very light, and its aroma is not as rich as pour-over. Compared with pour-over, brewing drip bags requires no complicated tools, and the pouring technique, time, and ratio do not need to be controlled as rigorously as pour-over. You only need to ensure sufficiently hot water and a suitable ratio. But precisely because of the "casual" operation, the flavor performance of the coffee is often not as rich and varied as pour-over coffee. In addition, because drip bags are ground in advance and placed into packaging bags, their aroma is not as full as freshly ground coffee. If stored for too long, more than a few months, some woody flavors may appear.

In order to preserve the original flavor of the coffee as much as possible, the coffee powder used in drip bag coffee is usually ground from freshly roasted coffee beans. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee are all freshly roasted within 5 days. If made into drip bag coffee, by the time we receive it, it is usually 4 to 5 days after roasting, just the right time to start brewing and tasting. Front Street recommends drinking it as soon as possible after receiving it; otherwise, prolonged storage can easily cause the aroma in the coffee to fade. If you want to taste coffee with the fullest flavor, Front Street recommends buying whole beans and grinding and brewing them fresh, for a better flavor layering.

To get a cup of black coffee with a rich aroma and strong taste, Front Street recommends paying attention to the temperature of the hot water poured in and the total amount of water. This is because only when the water temperature is high enough can more aromatic substances in the coffee grounds be released. When making pour-over coffee, Front Street recommends brewing at a water temperature of 90 to 93 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is only around 80 degrees, the brewed coffee can easily be bland and tasteless, while boiling water can easily extract burnt and bitter flavors. Therefore, Front Street will leave boiled water uncovered at room temperature for 1 to 2 minutes, allowing the water temperature to drop slightly to around 90 degrees Celsius.

When making pour-over coffee, the coffee-to-water ratio is very important. When too much water is poured in, the coffee taste can easily become flat and the aroma insufficient. The same applies to drip bag coffee. Front Street recommends first brewing at 1:15, with 10 grams of coffee powder corresponding to 150 grams of hot water. The extracted flavor is relatively balanced, and the extraction is also more stable. If you do not have a scale, you only need to find a cup or kettle with markings.

So how do you brew drip bag coffee?

Before brewing, Front Street will first boil water and prepare a pouring kettle, a coffee cup, and a pack of your favorite drip bag coffee. Front Street's drip bag coffee is made at 10 grams per pack and can brew about 120 to 130 ml of coffee liquid.

Tear open the sealed packaging, take out the coffee drip bag, and tear open the non-woven bag along the dotted line on top. Then pull apart the two ears, open the entire drip bag, and hang them on the edge of a cup or sharing pitcher.

First, pour in a small amount of hot water for the first stage to wet all the coffee grounds, and let it bloom for about 10 to 20 seconds to help release gases from the coffee grounds, with the aim of making the later extraction more stable. For the second stage, pour steadily in a small stream until the liquid surface is nearly full, then wait for the coffee liquid to drop until it has finished flowing. Pour in the final stage of water until full. The total amount of water poured in is about 150 grams. Wait for all the coffee liquid to finish dripping, and the extraction is complete.

Before drinking, Front Street will gently swirl the coffee liquid to even it out, then drink it directly to taste the pure flavor of black coffee. Everyone can add an appropriate amount of sugar or milk according to personal preference.

Recommended coffee beans suitable for making drip bags

Many office workers have asked Front Street to recommend some coffee beans suitable for making drip bags. More than fifty single-origin coffee beans from different regions on Front Street's bean list can all be made into drip bag coffee. Below, Front Street recommends a few drip coffees with relatively classic flavors.

1. FrontStreet Coffee Washed Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative Drip Bag Coffee

This Gedeb Cooperative coffee bean from Front Street comes from Ethiopia's famous Yirgacheffe region, and the harvested coffee beans are washed. Traditionally, Yirgacheffe coffee used the oldest natural sun-dried processing method, but because early sun-dried coffee beans were mostly spread flat on the ground to dry, they inevitably picked up earthy, dusty, and other off-flavors. Combined with a lack of proper screening, the quality of sun-dried beans was generally average. In 1972, in order to improve coffee quality, Ethiopia introduced washed processing technology from Central and South America, making the jasmine aroma and bright citrus-lemon acidity of Yirgacheffe coffee clearer and more transparent, and it quickly became one of the representatives of the world's specialty coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee: Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative Coffee
Region: Yirgacheffe Gedeo Zone
Producer: Gedeb Cooperative
Altitude: 1900-2300m
Variety: Local Heirloom
Processing Method: Washed

Grade: G1

Flavor: Citrus, berries, lemon, cane sugar, green tea

2. FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate Coffee Beans
Queen Estate is located in the Mogiana region of São Paulo State, Brazil. Unlike many large-scale regions in Brazil that prioritize volume, this area has higher terrain, forming a relatively unique microclimate. In addition, the estate hand-picks coffee cherries at the appropriate ripeness, and each batch is processed with small, refined methods, so the coffee beans produced are mostly specialty grade. Queen Estate is most proud of its Yellow Bourbon variety, which, with its refined and delicate flavor, has won awards in multiple editions of Brazil's COE competition. This Queen Estate coffee bean from Front Street is medium-dark roasted, highlighting the classic mellow aroma of Brazilian coffee while also showing Bourbon's own sweetness. We can not only drink the rich coffee aroma, but also enjoy a clear sweet aftertaste in the mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate Coffee Beans

Region: Mogiana, Brazil

Estate: Queen Estate

Altitude: 1400-1950m

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Processing Method: Natural

Flavor: Dark chocolate, cream, peanut, sugarcane, nuts

3. FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo Huakui Drip Bag Coffee

This Huakui coffee bean introduced by FrontStreet Coffee was the champion of the natural group in Ethiopia's 2017 TOH coffee competition. It appeared before everyone with a unique strawberry cream flavor and made a stunning debut. Therefore, that year this batch of green beans was introduced to China by Beijing green bean trader Hongshun. In the same year, Li Jianfei used this bean to win second place in the China region of the 2017 World Brewers Cup. This Ethiopian bean stood out especially among many Geisha competition beans, so it was given the name Huakui. This coffee bean uses refined natural processing and presents a full sweet-and-acidic taste of nuts, honey, berries, passion fruit, cream, and strawberry.

FrontStreet Coffee: Sidamo Hambela Huakui 8.0 Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Sidamo

Altitude: 2250-2350m

Variety: Local Heirloom

Processing Method: Natural

Flavor: Berries, floral tea, honey, lemon, black tea

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