Differences Between Drip Bag Coffee and Instant Coffee - A Complete Guide to Proper Brewing Methods for Drip Pour-Over Black Coffee

What is Drip Bag Coffee?

To create drip bag coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses freshly roasted coffee beans ground to the appropriate particle size, then sealed in non-woven fabric filter bags. This produces a portable drip coffee product, essentially a simplified version of pour-over coffee.

With just hot water and a cup, you can enjoy the taste of pour-over single-origin coffee anytime. Because it uses fresh roasting and whole bean grinding, without added sugar or creamer, drip bag coffee can better express the aromatic substances in coffee, perfectly presenting the acidity, sweetness, bitterness, richness, and aroma.

Drip Bag Coffee vs. Instant Coffee

In contrast, instant coffee is made by grinding roasted coffee beans under specific temperature and pressure, extracting the effective components into water, and then drying it. To facilitate the drying process, most instant coffee uses vacuum concentration production, which causes all natural aromas and essences to disappear during processing. Therefore, much of the coffee flavor found in instant coffee is often simulated by artificial flavorings.

So, drip bag coffee and instant coffee are not the same thing! The particles in drip bag coffee are coffee beans, of which 70% is woody fiber that cannot dissolve directly in water, so you cannot simply pour it into a cup to brew! You also cannot steep it directly in hot water like a tea bag (incorrect demonstration shown below).

How to Brew Drip Bag Coffee

To brew drip bag coffee, we need to prepare a straight-walled cup and a pot of hot water around 90°C.

After tearing open the package, you'll find a filter bag containing coffee particles with two cardboard pieces attached.

There will be a dotted line above the filter bag. We need to tear along this line to open the filter bag.

Then gently pull apart the paper pieces on both sides and securely hook them onto both sides of the cup.

Next, we add water to the coffee particles in the filter bag in small amounts multiple times (make sure to pour the water onto the coffee grounds!), with each addition not exceeding 90% of the filter bag's capacity.

Each bag of FrontStreet Coffee's drip bag coffee contains 10g net weight. To brew a full-bodied, balanced coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a brewing ratio of 1:13-15. You can add 130-150g of hot water according to your taste preferences. Adding too much water at once can result in a weak flavor!

Usage Tips and Flavor Recommendations

Drip bag coffee is a single-use product. After one brew, most of the flavor compounds will have been extracted, so you can dispose of it after brewing. A second brew won't have much flavor and may result in woody or unpleasant bitter tastes.

The flavor of drip bag coffee depends on the coffee beans themselves. If you like acidic coffee, you can try FrontStreet Coffee's "Frontsteet Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Seasonal Drip Bag" - light to medium roast with fruity acidity. If you prefer something neither too acidic nor too bitter, try "Frontsteet Brazil Regional Drip Bag" - medium to dark roast with nutty flavors.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473