Recently, a friend asked how drip bag coffee should be brewed and if there are any special techniques. This question is right up my alley—as someone who once treated drip bag coffee like instant coffee, let me teach you the ultimate secrets of brewing drip bag coffee!

First, let's talk about drip bag coffee!

Drip bag coffeeis a filter bag with ear-like paper tabs, containing ground coffee inside. The coffee grounds here are from ground coffee beans, not instant coffee, so they have particles and don't fully dissolve in water. Therefore, opening the drip bag and dumping it into hot water to soak is unwise because it defeats the purpose of the drip bag and you'll end up with a mouthful of coffee grounds.

So the correct method is to tear open the top along the Open line, then unfold the ear-like tabs and hang it on the rim of your cup.

The secret of brewing drip bag coffee—keep it simple

First, those who choose drip bag coffee aren't usually fans of the taste of instant coffee. Both types of coffee are convenient, but their flavors are distinctly different. Drip bag coffee is more like a simplified pour-over; their brewing methods are basically the same, and the flavor from the same coffee beans is quite similar.

So when brewing drip bag coffee, you can certainly replicate the full ritual of pour-over coffee: a slender gooseneck kettle, a scale precise to 0.01g, a beautiful glass carafe, tear open the drip bag, elegantly hang it over the carafe, and then use your skilled circular pouring to bloom and pour.

But if you just want to simply enjoy a good cup of drip coffee, the drip bag coffee can easily do that for you, especially for those on the go or minimalists.

Drip bag coffeefocuses most on convenience. The coffee filter bag with "ears" replaces the dripper and filter paper, and the pre-ground coffee saves you the trouble of a grinder. All you need to do is pour water into the filter bag and wait for clean, clear black coffee to filter through.

Some might ask, should I pour in a circular motion, pause, or bloom? The pouring requirements aren't as strict as for pour-over. Mainly, there are two points: first, the pour-over dripper is cone-shaped, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, and circular pouring is for even extraction; whereas the drip bag coffee is roughly the same width top and bottom, and the opening is smaller, so circular pouring doesn't make much sense.

Moreover, the pouring tool for drip bag coffee isn't limited to a slender gooseneck kettle. To put it simply, any tool that can pour water will do, like a regular hot water bottle or a thermos.

Why do techniques and skills matter little for drip bag coffee? Because the drip bag sacrifices coffee freshness and brewing technique operability for convenience, so for the same beans, the flavor of drip bag coffee won't be higher than pour-over. Therefore, all we can do is brew the coffee flavor using the simplest method; no need to compare it to pour-over.

The only things to note when brewing drip bag coffee are water temperature and amount. Water temperature is a factor to consider when brewing any coffee. Many office workers habitually use hot water from a water dispenser to brew drip bag coffee, but most water dispensers don't heat water above 75°C, so using their hot water directly results in a weak, tasteless brew. Front Street recommends brewing drip bag coffee at 88-91°C.

How much water should be poured? A standard drip bag coffee pack is 10g, and we only need to pour 120ml-150ml of water. Of course, for those who prefer simplicity, you can free yourself from the scale too. Drip bag coffee, as a personal drink, is usually brewed directly hanging on your mug, so you can remember the 150ml water line on your mug and remove the drip bag when the coffee drips to about 150ml.

There's another method, demonstrated below for your reference:

The tools used are very simple: just a pack of drip bag coffee, a tall cup, and a thermos filled with hot water boiled in the morning. Using a tall cup also prevents the coffee grounds from being continuously soaked, which could cause bitterness.

① First, tear open the drip bag coffee and hang it on the cup.

② Open the thermos and pour the first round of hot water into the center of the drip bag, filling to 1/2 of the bag, and wait 15 seconds.

③ For the second round, continue pouring hot water until the bag is 9/10 full, stopping at the top small tab attached to the bag.

④ After all the coffee liquid has dripped into the cup, pour the third round of hot water until the bag is 9/10 full, then stop.

⑤ After all the coffee liquid has dripped into the cup, pour the fourth round of hot water until the bag is 9/10 full. Once the coffee liquid has dripped into the cup, remove the drip bag.

⑥ Pour water in 4 rounds: the first to 1/2 full, and the remaining three after the coffee liquid has fully dripped, each to 9/10 full. After several tests, Front Street found that this method results in a total water amount of about 150ml.

Actually, brewing a cup of drip bag coffee really doesn't require complex operations or tools. Simply and ordinarily, you can get a delicious cup of drip bag coffee.

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