In recent years, coffee culture has continued to deepen, and many "morning-shift workers" need a cup of coffee every day to have the energy to "grind away." However, not everyone can go to a coffee shop anytime to properly enjoy a delicious cup of pour-over coffee, so for convenience, people invented drip bag coffee.

What is drip bag coffee?

Drip bag coffee is coffee that has been ground in advance and packed into a sealable filter bag with two "ears" that can hang securely. With just hot water and a container for the coffee, it is a coffee packet that can be brewed anytime, anywhere.

Drip bag coffee, like pour-over, belongs to filter extraction, but compared with the operation of pour-over coffee, drip bags are much more convenient and quick. Pour-over coffee requires at least the following equipment: a brewing kettle, a thermometer, a dripper and filter paper, a grinder, a timer scale, etc. Since drip bag coffee is ground in advance, there is no need for grinding equipment. The filter bag usually uses degradable non-woven fabric, and water extracts the soluble substances from the coffee grounds that seep through the non-woven fabric, so there is no need to prepare filter paper and a dripper for brewing.

How do you brew drip bag coffee?

Step one, first choose a bag of Front Street Strawberry Candy drip bag coffee. This is a Geisha blend made from two major coffee origins, Costa Rica Tarrazu and Ethiopia, both known for honey processing. It uses a medium roast, and the black coffee brewed has rich fruity aromas. On the palate it is like roses, strawberry gummies, raisins, and citrus, and after swallowing it also has an almond finish, with very rich layers.

Most drip bag coffees on the market are usually small packages. For example, Front Street's drip bags contain 10 g of coffee grounds per bag and use a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, so 150 g of hot water needs to be poured.

First, we need to prepare a container for the coffee, either a sharing pot or a drinking cup; and a kettle for pouring water.

First tear open the sealed package, take out the coffee drip bag, and tear open the non-woven bag along the dotted line on top.

Pull apart the two ears, open up the entire drip bag, and then hang them on the edge of the cup or sharing pot.

First, the first pour is to wet all the coffee grounds, with about 10–20 seconds of blooming. For the second pour, pour in a steady small stream until the liquid level is nearly full, then wait for the coffee liquid to drop until it has all flowed through. Pour the final pour of water until full, and after all the coffee liquid has dripped through, gently shake it to even it out, and it is ready to enjoy.

What should you 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 and processing methods have different flavor profiles. Unlike pour-over, the coffee grounds in drip bags have already been ground in advance, so the aroma is not as full as freshly ground coffee.

After coffee beans are ground into powder, they have more contact area with the air, and the gases and aromatic substances inside are lost faster, which correspondingly shortens the best-tasting period. The brewed coffee aroma is not as rich, and it tastes somewhat bland and thin. If left for too long, the coffee grounds have already staled, and a "woody" flavor can also appear.

Therefore, when buying drip bag coffee, we need to pay attention to the freshness of the coffee. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street are all freshly roasted within 5 days, and can also be made into drip bags for a processing fee of 20 yuan/100 g. After purchase, everyone should also drink it as soon as possible; coffee in its optimal tasting period has the best flavor.

The brewing water temperature is also crucial. Usually, the water temperature for pour-over is best controlled at 86–93°C. If the water temperature is too low, the extraction efficiency of the coffee is slow, and under-extraction is likely to occur. If the water temperature cannot be raised, then extend the contact time between the coffee grounds and hot water, which means steeping a little longer.

The amount of water poured and the size of the stream can also change the strength of the 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 poured stream is too fast, the extraction time of the coffee grounds is short, and the coffee taste tends to be lighter, so it is best to use a steady small stream throughout to make the extraction of the coffee bed more even.

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee)

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