The Origin of Drip Coffee Bags: How Were Drip Coffee Bags Invented? Are Drip Coffee Bags Good?

Many people find it too cumbersome to brew a cup of coffee, making it difficult to enjoy delicious black coffee anytime. However, the emergence of drip bag coffee has changed this situation. FrontStreet Coffee is here today to teach you how to easily enjoy a delicious cup of black coffee.

The Invention of Drip Bag Coffee

In China, obtaining drip bag coffee (also known as filter hanging coffee) is not difficult - it's available in major e-commerce platforms, supermarkets, and most coffee shops. Brewing your own drip bag coffee has become quite common. But do you know which country first invented drip bag coffee? It wasn't mature coffee markets in Europe and America, but rather Japan, China's neighbor.

When it comes to Japanese coffee, most people think of pour-over coffee, and indeed, pour-over coffee is quite popular in Japan. However, young Japanese office workers with fast-paced lifestyles don't have time to wait for a cup of pour-over coffee.

With drip bag coffee, you only need hot water and a suitably sized mug to enjoy good coffee anytime, anywhere.

Thus, in 1990, Japan's Yamanaka Industry Co., Ltd. applied the concept of tea bags to coffee, inventing drip bag coffee and applying for a patent. However, the drip bag coffee designed by Yamanaka Industry couldn't support the weight of brewing coffee and easily lost balance during the brewing process, so it wasn't successfully commercialized. It wasn't until 1998 that Taiki Shoji improved the original invention by extending the hanging parts outward, resulting in the modern drip bag coffee we have today.

The Drip Bag Coffee Market

The English term for drip bag coffee is "Instant drip coffee bag." It has the advantages of instant coffee - quick, convenient, and no brewing equipment needed - while also allowing people to enjoy the pleasure of pour-over coffee. Because drip bag coffee combines the benefits of both instant and pour-over coffee, it has grown rapidly in the East Asian market. In 2011, global sales of drip bag coffee reached 1.4 billion bags, approximately 11,200 metric tons, with 94% of sales coming from Japan. Starbucks Japan also specifically launched drip bag coffee for this market. Although the current global sales volume of drip bag coffee is not large and the market size is relatively small, the growth rate is very rapid.

In the past, in China's brewed coffee market, instant coffee once held up to 70% market share, while drip bag coffee only had 10%. However, in recent years, due to food safety scandals that have left consumers uneasy, coupled with the rise of specialty coffee culture, coffee consumers' demands for coffee are no longer just about staying alert. Drip bag coffee, combining both quality and convenience,恰好 meets consumer needs. Therefore, in 2017, the growth rate of drip bag coffee in China reached as high as 30%.

Drip Bag Coffee vs. Freshly Ground Coffee

With continuous advancements in drip bag coffee packaging technology, it can now completely isolate external oxygen. Therefore, as long as the drip bag coffee beans themselves are of good quality and consumed within the optimal tasting period, there basically won't be much difference between drip bag coffee and freshly ground pour-over coffee.

The biggest advantage of brewing drip bag coffee is that professional baristas have already set most of the variables for brewing coffee. You don't need to select beans, consider water-to-coffee ratio and coffee grind size, nor do you need brewing equipment and expert-level skills. All you need is hot water and a suitably sized mug to enjoy good coffee anytime, anywhere.

How to Brew Drip Bag Coffee

1. First, the coffee content in drip bag coffee is clearly marked (usually 10 grams). This solves the problems of needing a coffee grinder and electronic scale.

2. Next, let's address water amount and temperature. Just like pour-over coffee, use a 1:15-1:16 ratio, so the brewed coffee should reach 140-150 milliliters. Use water temperature around 90°C. If you have a thermometer or temperature-controlled kettle, that's preferable. If not, you can estimate the temperature - generally, after boiling water in a kettle, turn off the heat source, open the lid, and wait 2-3 minutes for the temperature to reach around 90°C (at room temperature 28°C).

3. After preparation, take out and open the sealed opening of the drip bag, unfold the "ears" on both ends of the filter bag, hang it on the rim of a mug (or cup), and shake the coffee grounds flat.

4. For the first water addition, just completely wet the coffee grounds and let it bloom for 30 seconds.

5. After blooming, add water for the second time. Use a small stream in circular motions to fill directly, wait for the coffee bed to drop slightly, then continue adding water until full. Repeat this process until the coffee in the cup reaches about 140-150 milliliters, then remove the drip bag and enjoy.

6. If you want more precise water amount, you can pour 150-160 milliliters of water into your pouring kettle. During brewing, after all the water in the kettle has been poured and the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, you can remove the drip bag. The entire brewing process takes about 1 minute to complete.

Because drip bag coffee uses pre-ground coffee, its flavor dissipates faster than whole coffee beans. Therefore, to enjoy the coffee's flavor, you should consume it as soon as possible.

Drip Bag Coffee Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted seasonal drip bag coffee offers excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, it offers exceptional value - a box of ten bags, each containing 10 grams, costs only 39.9 yuan. Calculated at one drip bag per cup of coffee, one bag can make 150ml of coffee, with each cup costing only about 4 yuan. Compared to coffee shops selling cups for dozens of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling Drip Bag Coffee Beans

Mandheling coffee has also gained attention in recent years. FrontStreet Coffee's previous Mandheling sales were mostly distributed in the Shanghai area. Shanghai and Taiwan have quite similar taste preferences - both enjoy rich, full-bodied flavors. Previously, FrontStreet Coffee encountered a Shanghai customer who kept emphasizing that Mandheling should be roasted darker than our usual dark roast. Now, gradually more people appreciate Mandheling's unique flavor, and more customers coming to FrontStreet Coffee to order Mandheling are increasingly from the Guangzhou neighborhood.

FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling is actually different from ordinary Mandheling. It comes from the local Indonesian green bean supplier PWN, which was the first company to cooperate with Japan on Golden Mandheling and registered Golden Mandheling as a trademark. The biggest characteristic of Golden Mandheling is that it doesn't have the impurity taste found in regular Mandheling. Through three rounds of strict manual selection, it ensures uniform bean size, allowing for even coloring during roasting. Therefore, its flavor presents a clean, full-bodied taste, much like Guangdong's herbal tea. It's not surprising that Guangzhou neighbors can accept this flavor. FrontStreet Coffee specifically created Golden Mandheling drip bags this time, also discovering that everyone's acceptance level is getting higher and higher.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473