Can Drip Coffee Bags Be Steeped a Second Time? Why Your Pour-Over Black Coffee Tastes Weak - Illustrated Guide to Correct Usage

Should you steep drip coffee? Yes, but not by soaking the entire drip coffee bag in water like a tea bag. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss how to brew a flavorful cup of drip coffee.

Unlike instant coffee, drip bags are made by grinding freshly roasted coffee beans to the appropriate fineness, then packing them into non-woven filter bags in individual packaging for convenient portability and storage.

Since the coffee beans are ground directly into fine particles, these particles cannot dissolve directly in water! Therefore, when brewing drip coffee, you cannot pour the coffee particles directly into the cup. Additionally, substances in coffee particles dissolve faster in hot water than tea in tea bags, so you should not steep the drip bag directly in water to prevent over-extraction of some coffee particles, which would result in bitter coffee.

The brewing principle of drip coffee is similar to pour-over coffee - grinding coffee beans into powder, hanging it over a cup, and then brewing. Therefore, brewing drip coffee requires the non-woven bag as a filtering tool. Tear along the dotted line on the filter bag, gently pull open the "ears" on both sides, hang them evenly on the rim of the cup, then pour hot water into the coffee powder in the bag to extract the coffee liquid.

The purpose of drip coffee invention was convenience, and while there's some flavor difference compared to freshly ground pour-over coffee, the brewing process doesn't necessarily require very strict limitations. However, if you want to brew flavorful drip coffee, the following points are very important!

1. Choose drip coffee made from freshly roasted coffee beans

Whether buying coffee beans or drip coffee, fresh roasting is a crucial factor in the quality of coffee aroma. After roasting, coffee beans contain carbon dioxide that locks in aroma and flavor, but as time passes after roasting, combined with the grinding in drip bags, these flavors gradually fade with the release of carbon dioxide.

All coffee beans and drip coffee currently sold by FrontStreet Coffee are shipped within 5 days of roasting, ensuring 100% fresh roasted coffee. The production of drip coffee bags involves grinding, packaging, and sealing immediately after the coffee beans have been roasted and cooled, locking in the most original flavor of the coffee at the fastest possible speed.

Regarding coffee bean selection, FrontStreet Coffee typically recommends our daily house blends. If you usually prefer coffee with light fruit notes, FrontStreet Coffee's barista would recommend Ethiopia's Natural Process Guji 8.0, which yields coffee with elegant floral notes, strawberry, citrus, and mango tones, with a soft, light sweetness upon tasting. For those who prefer intense coffee, we recommend the dark roast Golden Mandheling coffee with spice, herbal, and caramel flavors as the main notes—mellow and smooth, with the sweet fragrance of dark chocolate.

2. Purchase in small quantities to ensure freshness of drip coffee

Under normal circumstances, the optimal tasting period for drip coffee is 30 days. Each box contains 10 small bags (10g each). Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee does not recommend purchasing large quantities of drip coffee at once. Try to finish one box before buying the next to ensure the freshness of your drip coffee.

Illustrated guide to the correct way to brew drip coffee

Drip coffee bags were created for simplicity and convenience, so we only need to pay attention to water temperature and amount of water poured! Water temperature is a crucial factor when brewing any form of coffee.

Many people habitually use hot water directly from water dispensers for brewing, but the hot water from dispensers typically doesn't exceed 75 degrees Celsius. Drip coffee brewed at this temperature will taste bland and flavorless. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that you should still boil water when brewing drip coffee. Let the boiled water stand for about 2-3 minutes until the temperature reaches approximately 88-91 degrees Celsius before brewing your drip coffee.

A single package of FrontStreet Coffee's drip coffee contains 10g. Based on the optimal coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15 for pour-over coffee, one drip coffee bag can be infused with 150g of hot water to extract approximately 140g of coffee liquid.

Brewing Steps:

① First, open the drip coffee bag and hang it over the cup.

② Take a kettle with water at 88-91 degrees Celsius and pour the first segment of hot water into the center of the drip filter bag, filling to 1/2 of the entire bag. Wait for 15 seconds. This is a pre-infusion process that helps release carbon dioxide from the coffee particles, ensuring stable extraction later.

③ Continue with the second segment of hot water, filling to 9/10 of the entire bag, stopping at approximately the small card strip attached to the top of the filter bag.

④ After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, continue with the third segment of hot water, filling to 9/10 of the entire bag before stopping.

⑤ After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, continue with the fourth segment of hot water to fill the filter bag to 9/10. Once the coffee liquid has flowed into the cup, you can remove the drip filter bag.

⑥ A total of 4 water segments are poured—the first segment to 1/2 full, and the remaining three segments are poured to 9/10 full each time after the coffee liquid has completely flowed through. After numerous tests, FrontStreet Coffee has found that this pouring method typically results in a total water volume of around 150ml.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473