Complete Guide to Coffee Brewing Methods: What is Drip Coffee? What are the Characteristics of Drip Coffee?

The Diversity of Coffee Brewing Methods

Coffee comes in many varieties, with some people preferring instant coffee, others enjoying pour-over, and some opting for cold brew. Different brewing methods produce coffee with unique characteristics—some offer distinct layered flavors and prominent aromas, while others prioritize convenience. Each method can be chosen according to personal preference.

Pour-over coffee is one type of drip brewing method. Drip brewing is actually quite common in offices and homes because it's typically straightforward. Coffee is one of the world's most popular beverages. "Coffee" encompasses all beverages made from roasted coffee beans, including espresso and cold brew.

Currently, the most common drip coffee brewing method is pour-over coffee. This method typically better showcases the delicate and refined flavors of coffee, which is why people often use pour-over to enjoy single-origin coffee—what we commonly call black coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes that pour-over coffee best expresses the terroir flavors of coffee. Unlike espresso, drip coffee has lower density and concentration without layering, offering a pure taste with consistent quality. Without pressure's influence, hot water can more fully absorb coffee oils and aromatic compounds, resulting in a smoother coffee taste.

The difference between drip coffee and pour-over coffee lies in their concepts, brewing methods, and taste profiles. Drip coffee includes pour-over coffee but is not limited to it, while pour-over is one method within the drip coffee category—this is their conceptual difference. Drip coffee is typically made with machines, while pour-over coffee is brewed manually. In terms of taste, drip coffee offers more consistent flavors, while pour-over coffee can vary depending on the barista's technique.

Understanding Coffee Extraction

Extraction refers to the process of grinding coffee beans and using water to extract soluble compounds from them. Common extraction methods include drip, espresso, immersion, and boiling.

Drip Coffee

Under normal atmospheric pressure, hot water passes through a layer of coffee grounds, extracting aromatic compounds. Coffee made this way is also called pour-over coffee. Common pour-over tools include Melitta filter cones, Chemex, V60 drippers, and KONO cones.

Pour-over is a gentle and natural extraction method that faithfully presents the natural flavor spectrum of coffee beans. Because filter paper traps coffee oils, the resulting brew has a very clear color, typically with dark reddish tones. Pour-over coffee can be considered the most cost-effective personal coffee brewing solution. No need to spend heavily on coffee machines or leave home—pour-over allows you to experience the rich aromas of specialty coffee while easily controlling brewing variables. However, different brewing approaches can produce varying flavor characteristics, some emphasizing body richness, others focusing on clean, crisp tastes.

Americans invented electric drip brewers based on pour-over coffee principles, commonly known as American coffee makers. Therefore, what American coffee makers produce is not Americano coffee but drip coffee.

Espresso

Espresso machines pressurize hot water to 9 atmospheres and push it through finely ground coffee, instantly extracting soluble components to create espresso.

If drip coffee's characteristic is clean and clear, espresso's feature is intensity and richness. Additionally, the lipid components in coffee beans are emulsified, producing caramel-like aromas. Besides richness, another major feature of espresso is the thick layer of foam on top—crema. Crema results from the combined action of carbon dioxide and pressure changes. Under the high pressure of espresso machines, carbon dioxide from coffee beans dissolves significantly in water, but when returning to normal atmospheric pressure, the coffee liquid cannot continue trapping these carbon dioxide molecules. Therefore, countless tiny bubbles emerge from the liquid and remain on the surface, appearing as a layer of foam. Crema is an important standard for testing coffee bean freshness. The longer the time from roasting, the lower the carbon dioxide content in coffee beans, resulting in less foam in the coffee liquid.

Immersion Coffee

Unlike drip and espresso methods where water flows through coffee grounds, immersion devices steep coffee grounds and water together for more consistent extraction. Coffee made this way retains more oils, offering a richer, fuller body.

Boiled Coffee

This method requires placing equipment on a heat source for continuous heating. Representative tools include Turkish coffee pots and moka pots. Because water temperature can easily skyrocket, these tools often produce very strong, bitter coffee.

Occasionally, people might call coffee made in moka pots "espresso." Strictly speaking, this is just a brewing method Italians prefer at home, not true espresso.

The above are the more common extraction methods. Additionally, the portable and versatile AeroPress and visually compelling siphon brewers are also popular extraction tools.

Five Main Coffee Brewing Categories

Based on water-coffee contact methods and grind size, coffee brewing is classified into five categories: "infusion," "pressure," "gravity," "immersion," and "cold brew."

Infusion Method

The simplest method is placing coffee grounds in a cup, adding hot water, letting it cool while grounds settle. This is an old technique still used in some parts of Indonesia today. Be careful not to consume grounds at the cup's bottom. This method's advantage is simplicity and proper water temperature. Turkish coffee is an early recipe still used in the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans. Ultra-fine coffee grounds are boiled with water in small containers, typically seasoned with sugar and cardamom. The strong coffee served in cups has foam on top and settled powder below. "Cowboy coffee" involves boiling coffee grounds with water directly in a pot and drinking it. This name suggests a makeshift solution under rudimentary conditions; however, some prefer this method. Finland and Sweden, with the highest per capita coffee consumption, use traditional brewing methods.

Pressure Method

Espresso is made by forcing 80-96°C hot water through compacted coffee grounds at 8-9 atmospheres of pressure, typically yielding only 30ml per cup. It's the strongest among common coffees yet carries unique aromas and a layer of crema floating on top. It can be consumed alone or further processed into various other beverages. Due to its quick brewing, high concentration, and low caffeine content, many chain coffee shops and flavored coffees adopt this method.

The moka pot, also called "Italian coffee pot," is a three-layer stove-top device. Boiling water in the bottom layer is forced by vapor pressure through middle-layer coffee grounds into the upper layer, producing coffee concentration comparable to espresso, though without surface oils. However, installing a pressure relief pad at the coffee outlet can extract golden crema. The moka pot shares the same structure as semi-automatic espresso machines but with reversed water flow. After about 30-40cc of coffee flows out, quickly remove the pot from heat and wipe the bottom with a cold towel (never rinse with water)!

Gravity Method

Drip coffee or pour-over involves placing coffee grounds on filter paper or metal filters, with hot water flowing from top to bottom. Coffee concentration depends on water ratio and grind size but is generally lower than espresso.

Drip coffee makers were ubiquitous in America before the 1970s. Unlike the moka pot mentioned above, boiling water enters the top layer, then flows downward through coffee grounds back into the heating chamber, repeating this cycle several times. It's precisely because this method passes hot water through coffee grounds multiple times that this coffee may have poorer taste.

Immersion Method

French press is a tall, slender glass cylinder equipped with a plunger filter. Hot water and coffee grounds steep in the cylinder for four to seven minutes, then the plunger filter presses grounds to the bottom, allowing the upper-layer coffee to be poured for drinking. Many experts consider this "full immersion method" the ideal home coffee brewing approach, characterized by experiencing coffee's complete flavor profile.

Cold Brew Method

Cold brew coffee, also known as cold drip, differs most significantly from the other four methods in that it doesn't use hot water but rather ice-cold water from slowly melting ice, gradually dripping through a filter containing coffee grounds. This process is extremely slow, making one cup of cold brew, thus costing more but offering exceptionally unique flavors.

Drip coffee is a brewing method invented by a German. Melitta coffee maker filter papers are sold everywhere in supermarkets—this is the brand founded by that German. Simply put, drip coffee involves grinding coffee beans, placing them in a funnel, and pouring hot water over them. Due to gravity, coffee flows from the bottom. (Making coffee this way in space without gravity would be more troublesome). In fact, most commercial coffee makers use this method, only heating water electrically. However, these electric coffee makers have a problem: most products lack sufficient power, and the heated water temperature doesn't reach the ideal brewing temperature, often producing sour, astringent coffee.

The ideal brewing temperature for most coffee is between 88-92°C. Different coffee bean origins, varieties, and roast levels may have different optimal brewing temperatures, but they generally fall within this range. If water temperature is too low, coffee will be under-extracted, resulting in sourness. If water temperature is too high, coffee will be over-extracted, becoming bitter.

FrontStreet Coffee uses 88°C water for medium-dark roast coffee beans and 91°C for medium-light roast coffee beans.

Understanding this principle, if using an electric coffee maker with limited power, you should choose lower-acidity, darker roasted coffee beans for brewing.

Manual pour-over coffee brewing is also simple and inexpensive. A decent coffee grinder can produce relatively uniform grounds, a kettle can boil water, and you need something to filter coffee grounds. There are many types of filters—some use filter paper, others don't. Filter paper is controversial: some believe paper-filtered coffee tastes cleaner, while mesh filters often let grounds into cups, which is unpleasant. Others think filter paper removes flavorful oils from coffee and introduces unpleasant paper taste. However, these flavor debates are purely personal preference.

Drip brewing's characteristic is continuous extraction through water pouring. Besides time factors, pouring size, height, etc., also affect coffee taste.

Drip coffee was what most people worldwide drank before espresso became popular, except in Arab regions and the Balkan Peninsula. This coffee tastes much milder than espresso, perhaps more acceptable to coffee beginners. Since espresso making is too complex, few people have truly mastered it well. Therefore, although espresso seems globally popular, more people still drink drip coffee. Especially at home and for personal coffee making, drip coffee remains the most traditional and easiest to brew. Without layering, it offers pure taste with consistent quality. Without pressure's influence, hot water can more fully absorb coffee oils and aromatic compounds, resulting in smoother coffee taste.

Perhaps milder drip coffee is more acceptable to coffee beginners and remains a common home brewing method. Of course, choosing between these coffee types depends on personal preference—some prefer the silky texture of milk-based coffee, while others enjoy the pure taste of drip coffee.

For example, FrontStreet Coffee frequently uses two types of drippers: V60 and KONO cones.

V60 drippers are suitable for emphasizing coffee's acidity and floral aromas. Despite using filter paper, V60 can still retain considerable coffee oils, preserving body richness. For example: Ethiopian coffee, Kenyan coffee, Panamanian Geisha coffee, etc.

KONO cones are suitable for brewing medium-dark roast coffee beans, highlighting their rich, smooth, mellow taste. For example: Blue Mountain coffee, Mandheling coffee, Colombian Huilan coffee, etc.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Regardless of coffee type, bean freshness is crucial. FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that coffee bean freshness greatly affects coffee flavor. Therefore, all coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Quality Coffee," ensuring every customer receives the freshest coffee upon arrival. Coffee's degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their beans, they're at peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee offers a gentle reminder: once coffee beans are pre-ground, no further degassing is needed, as carbon dioxide pressure in packaging during transit can help mellow coffee flavors, so you can brew immediately upon receiving coffee grounds. However, coffee grounds need to be brewed promptly, as they oxidize quickly when exposed to air, meaning coffee flavors dissipate rapidly, diminishing taste quality. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better experience coffee's flavors.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

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