Is Drip Bag Coffee Considered Black Coffee? Can Drip Bag Coffee Help with Weight Loss? The Story of Drip Bag Coffee's Flavor Characteristics

Office workers nod off at their desks and doze through meetings, and caffeine has become their saviour. Some reach for milk tea, others for coffee. Among the coffee drinkers there are instant drinkers and fresh-ground drinkers, and the second group quickly runs into a practical problem: is there a grinder in the office? Usually the answer is no. For everyone who loves fresh-ground coffee but works with limited equipment, FrontStreet Coffee offers drip coffee bags.

Where Drip Coffee Bags Came From

Everyone knows drip bags are convenient and quick. Far fewer people know their history. Drip coffee bags are a convenient, fast coffee product developed in Japan.

The earliest version was invented in 1990 by Yamanaka Industrial Co., Ltd., which filed a patent application the same year; those first bags had hanging ears on one side only. In 1996, Taiki Shoji Co., Ltd. proposed an improved filter bag that moved the hanging components to the lower edge, though the ears were still one-sided. In 1999, Taiki Shoji applied to the European Patent Office for an invention with double-sided hanging components. That design finally let the bag sit steadily on the rim of a cup with its opening fully spread, and it became the mainstream format we see today. In 2001, the Japanese registered the drip coffee bag patent and brought it to market. Because it is simple to use, easy to carry, and produces coffee far more authentic and aromatic than instant, drip bags now account for 15% of Japan's regular coffee market.

How to Brew a Drip Coffee Bag

It could not be simpler. Here is FrontStreet Coffee's method.

Tear open the outer packet and take out the drip bag, then tear along the sealed strip marked "OPEN".

Hook the little ears on both sides of the bag over the rim of your cup.

Pour in hot water until the grounds are completely saturated, and let them bloom for 30 seconds.

After 30 seconds, keep pouring in a circular motion until you reach a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, then stop. Let the coffee finish dripping, then lift out the bag and discard it.

Which Beans Should You Choose?

Now that you can brew a bag, how do you pick the right beans? FrontStreet Coffee breaks the options into five directions: floral, fruity, fermented, winey, and heavy-bodied.

Floral

For drip bags with a lifted floral character, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Flower Butterfly from the Boquete region of Panama. It contains 70% Geisha alongside Caturra and Catuai. Grown in the Baru Volcano area at 1,600 metres, the site has its own microclimate with abundant rainfall and a wide swing between day and night temperatures. Careful harvesting and fine processing give this bean strong performance in body, acidity and floral aroma. Quality this good at an accessible price lets anyone taste Panama Geisha flavour at excellent value, and it has earned its legendary reputation.

FrontStreet Coffee Panama Flower Butterfly

Region: Boquete, Panama
Altitude: 1600m
Processing: Washed
Varieties: Geisha, Caturra, Catuai
Brewing flavors: Floral aroma, black tea, berries, citrus, a faint nutty finish, smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness, moderate acidity, medium aftertaste.

Fruity

For beans with a lifted fruit character, FrontStreet Coffee suggests Gotiti from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia. This Yirgacheffe Gotiti Cooperative coffee is washed, which is what allows Yirgacheffe's clean, refreshing profile to come through so clearly: bright, lively acidity built around citrus, with fresh jasmine florals and a honeyed finish. It is a very easy starting point for beginners and for anyone who prefers a fresh, light style.

FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Gotiti

Region: Yirgacheffe, Gedeo Zone
Altitude: 1900-2300m
Varieties: Heirloom
Processing: Washed
Brewing flavors: A solid, rounded mouthfeel led by citrus and jasmine, with a honeyed sweetness that lingers; as the cup cools, soft berry and cream notes appear, and the sweet-sour citrus stays between the teeth and lips for a long time.

Fermented

For drip bags with a fermented character, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the Geisha Blend from Costa Rica. Sourced from Mirasu Estate, it blends Geisha, ET47, SL28 and MAICO and is processed as raisin honey, retaining 100% of the mucilage with no water used in processing. On the day the cherries are harvested they go into large water tanks, where ripe, full fruit sinks and underdeveloped or overripe fruit floats; the floaters are skimmed off. The selected cherries are then laid on raised beds for at least three days before the skin is removed and the mucilage left in place for drying. At this stage the weather is decisive. The fruit has to be turned constantly for even drying, but the frequency has to be controlled: slow drying develops fermentation character, yet drying that is too slow leads to over-fermentation. The raisin method is what lifts the sweetness of this bean.

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Mirasu Estate

Region: Tarrazu, Costa Rica
Estate: Mirasu Estate
Altitude: 1700m
Processing: Raisin Honey
Varieties: Geisha, ET47, SL28, MAICO
Brewing flavors: Dried fruit fermentation notes, fresh jasmine aroma, gentle fruit acidity, almond aftertaste, obvious sweetness.

Winey

Anyone who likes winey coffee will already know FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry. It comes from the town of Masaguara in the southwestern province of Intibuca. The beans are washed first, then placed in oak barrels that previously held whisky so they can take on the whisky aroma. The cup leans towards sherry whisky, with rich vanilla and cream up front followed by a persistent nutty and chocolate finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry

Region: Masaguara
Estate: Moca Estate
Altitude: 1500-1700m
Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Pacas
Processing: Fine Washed + Whiskey Sherry Barrel Fermentation
Brewing flavors: Aroma of vanilla and cream, with flavors of whiskey, berries, almonds, and dark chocolate, and a maple syrup sweet aftertaste.

Heavy-Bodied

For a heavy body, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Indonesia's Golden Mandheling from PWN. Mandheling is wet-hulled, and wet-hulled coffee is usually thick, intense and highly distinctive. This bean has many layers, is thick yet clean, and is highly balanced, with rich nutty and caramel aromas, chocolate notes and a lasting finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia Golden Mandheling

Region: Gayo Mountain, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Altitude: 1100m-1600m
Varieties: Ateng
Processing: Wet-Hulled
Brewing flavors: High-quality herbal plant aroma, stronger caramel sweetness, relatively calm and elegant fruit acidity, rich sweetness, thick and wild spice flavors.

Are Drip Coffee Bags Black Coffee? Do They Help with Weight Loss?

What counts as black coffee? FrontStreet Coffee wants to be clear on this point. Black coffee is coffee with nothing added. Drip bags generally contain no sugar or milk; the drink is simply what hot water dissolves out of the coffee grounds, so drip bags are black coffee. As for weight loss, that depends closely on your daily calorie intake and expenditure. Black coffee can speed up metabolism, and as metabolic rate rises, so does the number of calories burned.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Drip bags work best when the bean inside suits how you like to drink. These three cover the range well.

FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gotiti Drip Bag is a washed Yirgacheffe with a clean, refreshing cup. The acidity is bright and lifted, built around citrus, with fresh jasmine florals and a honeyed finish. It is an excellent place to start for beginners and for anyone who enjoys a light, delicate style.

FrontStreet Sun-Dried Huakui Drip Bag is one of our best sellers. It carries an obvious tropical fruit aroma with a black tea finish, high sweetness, low acidity and little perceptible bitterness. The beans come from Ethiopia's Guji region at over 2,300 metres, where a pronounced day-night temperature difference lets the cherries take in more flavour compounds, and a careful natural process after harvest preserves the whole fruit so the sweetness comes through even more strongly.

FrontStreet Indonesia Mandheling Drip Bag is one of the world's best-known Arabica coffees, also called Sumatra coffee. Unlike the fruity acidity of African coffee, it brings its own herbal, spice and woody notes, which a dark roast draws out well. In the cup you get dense spice, nuts, chocolate and caramel: strong without being bitter, sweet-savoury and full-bodied, and a great match for anyone who does not like acidity.