The Easiest Way to Brew Coffee Powder_How to Make Coffee Without Tools?

Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow the Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

If you bought a bag of coffee powder, how can you make a cup of coffee at home with the lowest cost? The only thing you need is a teapot with a stainless steel filter screen - the simplest and most affordable option. However, the simplest doesn't mean it tastes good - the consequence of sacrificing professionalism is a decline in quality. Below, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce several of the simplest ways to drink coffee powder, teaching everyone how to brew the best-tasting coffee with the fewest tools.

Drip Coffee Bags

If you want to drink freshly ground coffee, the most direct way is to buy drip coffee bags, which is equivalent to a simple pour-over coffee. It only takes three minutes to seriously make a cup. Drip coffee bags are most recommended for the office. After all, carrying a pour-over kettle to the pantry seems a bit pretentious.

Many Japanese brands offer drip coffee bags, with prices ranging from a few to more than ten yuan. Japanese Starbucks, Muji, and others all produce them. Additionally, there are UCC, Blendy, AGF, MONCAFE, Sumida River, etc. Some domestic coffee shops also offer them, and there are many original brands on Taobao. It is recommended to buy small quantities to try first, and then repurchase when you find one you like.

There are also separate drip bags sold separately, just add your own coffee powder. I personally use this method more often.

Pour-Over Kettle

Actually, the drip coffee bags mentioned earlier are a simplified version of pour-over coffee. The complete version uses a pour-over kettle, which looks like a funnel inserted on top of a cup. Each time, you just need one filter paper. Well, this method extracts coffee more fully than drip coffee bags, where the coffee drips relatively quickly. But as a coarse person like me, I still find drip coffee bags more convenient, so I use this method very rarely.

By the way, pour-over coffee is recommended to be paired with a narrow-spout water kettle. I personally use a small 320ml one, which is just the right capacity for one person! There are plenty of options on Taobao, so just choose what looks good to you (the picture above is from the shop I bought from, which is quite famous - those who bought from there should recognize it~)

French Press

Broadly speaking, coffee making methods are basically divided into two types: (water) immersion or filtration. Pour-over belongs to the latter, while French press belongs to the former. To put it bluntly, it's similar to making tea. Well, the pot I showed above is from IKEA, which describes it as: coffee pot/teapot. The usage is also similar to making tea - first add coffee powder, then pour hot water, fully extract, press the mesh to the bottom, and then pour out the coffee to drink.

Doesn't it look even simpler than pour-over? But actually, there's quite a lot of knowledge involved. The coarseness of the coffee powder, water temperature, and extraction time - slight differences result in different flavors. So although many people find that French press coffee is full-bodied and rich, I still prefer pour-over coffee, which is more straightforward.

But this method is also very convenient. Whether at home or in the office, just place a French press. IKEA sells them for 59 yuan, and there are plenty of options on Taobao for you to choose from. Oh, if you feel you can't control it well and the brewed coffee doesn't taste good, hehe, it won't be wasted - you can still use it to make tea~

Standard Pour-Over

Pour-over kettle, filter paper, filter cup, filter cup holder, sharing pot.

01

Generally, when making coffee at home without an espresso machine, you need a pour-over kettle. The only key requirement for a pour-over kettle is that the water flow should be fine, with good water release and stop. You can ignore the shape and other aspects for now.

But most people don't have one at home, so what to do? Buy, buy, buy? Just contributing to Ma Yun's fortune! No need. Most people have a teapot at home, which can be used as a substitute. It doesn't matter whether it's a purple clay pot or a glass pot.

02

With the pour-over tools, you also need filtering tools. Flannel is inconvenient to store - it needs to be cleaned and refrigerated, which students would find unbearable. So the most convenient option is to use filter paper, as long as you can also get a filter cup.

Of course, an even simpler option is to only need a double-layer stainless steel filter screen. This cannot be replaced by a tea strainer, because tea strainers filter tea leaves, which generally have smaller density. When used to filter coffee, many fine coffee grounds cannot be filtered out and will enter the coffee, creating a suspension that's difficult to settle completely even after standing for a long time. Therefore, a finer filter screen is needed.

03

Once these are prepared, find a large cup that can hold the filter screen, and you can start making coffee. Pour an appropriate amount of coffee powder into the filter screen, then use the teapot to draw circles in the middle area of the coffee powder. First add a little water to wet all the coffee powder, wait a few dozen seconds, then continue adding water. The ratio of coffee powder to water is generally between 1:15-18, but without measuring tools, this depends on your own judgment. Don't add too much water like making tea, and don't feel that so much coffee powder only makes so little coffee is wasteful. If there's too much water, the brewed coffee won't be coffee but dishwater!

In this way, a cup of coffee will be ready in a few minutes. It's just that generally, the coffee powder you buy has been stored for quite a long time. The coffee powder gradually oxidizes when exposed to oxygen, losing its aroma and flavor. But it's still better than instant coffee. Progress slowly!

END

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473