2019 Drip Coffee Bag Brand Recommendations: Which Brands Offer the Best Taste and Value for Money

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

Back in 2019, drip bag coffee was already everywhere - and drinking coffee is about more than just staying alert. From where the beans were grown and whether they were naturally processed or washed, to how they were roasted, every aspect reflects personal preference. Nowadays, not only beverage brands but also convenience stores and coffee shops have launched their own drip bag coffee. Which one tastes the best? Read on to find out.

Even with drip bag coffee, you can still brew with finesse by using a brewing rack and a pour-over dripper, which makes the entire experience feel entirely different.

NO.1 Brand: Ziyu

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

Ziyu was one of the first brands in China to produce drip bag coffee. Guided by the philosophy of "drinking coffee the way it should be drunk," Ziyu differs from other brands by refusing to use commercial-grade beans in its drip bags, selecting instead specialty coffee beans scoring above 80 points. Although specialty coffee tastes far better than commercial coffee, it is also considerably more expensive. Amid the wave of consumption upgrading, despite the premium price of Ziyu's drip bags, they remain hugely popular with users, and the brand has even been hailed as China's "Blue Bottle." As a high-end brand under 3W Coffee, judged comprehensively on appearance, quality, and cost-effectiveness, Ziyu deserves recognition as the top choice among drip bag coffee brands.

NO.2 Brand: FrontStreet Coffee

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

Like Ziyu, FrontStreet Coffee is one of the few brands that use specialty coffee beans in drip bags. Compared with Ziyu, which focuses solely on drip bags, FrontStreet Coffee offers a richer product line that includes not only drip bag coffee but also numerous types of whole-bean coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's market share is not large, and its packaging features a simple kraft-paper style that looks more like a handcrafted product, yet the overall value for money is by no means low.

NO.3 Brand: Sumida River

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

Sumida River comes from Japan, the birthplace of drip bag coffee. Japanese drip bags have always been the best sellers in this category, and Sumida River stands out among Japanese brands. If you view drip bag coffee simply as a substitute for instant coffee and are not chasing high-end flavors, Sumida River is a solid choice. Apart from production dates that are not especially fresh and a roast that leans darker, its cost-effectiveness remains quite high.

NO.4 Brand: UCC

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

UCC also comes from Japan and maintains an extremely broad product line. Its drip bag coffee comes in dozens of flavors spanning entry-level, mid-range, and high-end tiers. The company also produces instant coffee, ground coffee, drip bags, and ready-to-drink beverages, making it one of the coffee brands with the most comprehensive catalogs. UCC products are easy to find in supermarkets both at home and abroad.

NO.5 Brand: illy

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

illy comes from Italy. European and American markets have never promoted drip bag coffee as a mainstream product, so illy has only symbolically created two drip bag offerings, one dark roast and one medium roast. This roasting depth - which largely abandons the coffee's original character - clearly caters to European and American drinkers who prefer bolder flavors.

NO.6 Brand: Starbucks

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

As a textbook example of a coffee chain, Starbucks likewise produces a token dark roast drip bag. Its Pike Place drip bag is roasted even darker than the dark roasts of typical brands, making it better suited to users who add sugar and milk.

NO.7 Brand: Colin

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

Colin's product range is very broad, covering not only instant coffee, whole beans, ground coffee, and drip bags, but also various peripherals such as coffee cups, pour-over kettles, and coffee machines. Although Colin's drip bags sell well through online channels, the range centers mainly on dark roasted styles such as American and Italian roasts. Using beans intended for instant coffee to make drip bags, and positioning drip bags as an instant coffee substitute, means the taste and quality fall short of specialty coffee - but the value for money is still very high.

NO.8 Brand: David's Choice

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

David's Choice offers relatively few drip bag varieties, and the flavor performance is average. However, its unique, lively, and playful packaging design - together with founder Uncle Wei's constant presence in fan communities - has attracted many loyal followers. Perhaps because the overall drip bag market has grown slowly, David's Choice, which originally focused on drip bags, has begun expanding its line and now centers on instant coffee.

NO.9 Brand: Seiko

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

Seiko is another Japanese brand. Though little known in China, it sells extremely well in Japan, with products stocked in Japanese supermarkets and convenience stores. Seiko currently offers 11 flavors and makes nothing but drip bag coffee. Aside from the import lag that leaves production dates less than fresh, its value for money is still good.

NO.10 Brand: Mingshi

Recommendation Rating:

Reasons for Recommendation:

Mingshi is an established domestic coffee brand with not only numerous drip bag varieties but also pure ground coffee, instant coffee, and other products. Because it uses commercial-grade beans and roasts on the darker side, flavor loss is quite noticeable. It still works out cost-effectively if you drink it with sugar and milk like instant coffee, as Mingshi's drip bag prices sit very close to Nestle's instant coffee prices.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation: Level Up Your Drip Bag Brewing

If this lineup has you reaching for a drip bag, a few beans from FrontStreet Coffee's own range deserve a place on your shelf. The washed Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Guodingding - bright citrus, berries, florals, and a green-tea-like sweetness - is famously gentle on newcomers, while the natural Ethiopia Huakui floods the cup with strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and lychee, so silky and juice-like that drinkers call it "the coffee that least tastes like coffee." For V60 fans, FrontStreet Coffee especially favors the resin Hario dripper, whose 60-degree cone and single large opening reward good pour control with vivid aromatics and lively acidity. Drip bag or whole bean, these light-roast, floral-fruity profiles are exactly what make specialty coffee worth the upgrade.