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Same Coffee Beans, What's the Difference Between Drip Bags and Pour-Over?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, With the popularization of coffee culture in China, more and more professionals choose to enjoy a cup of coffee before work to refresh their minds, which has become their daily beverage. Many people have also equipped their homes with various brewing vessels. However, due to the relatively cumbersome process of making pour-over coffee, many people prefer to choose more cost-effective

As coffee culture becomes increasingly popular in China, more and more professionals are choosing to enjoy a cup of coffee before work to refresh and energize themselves, making it their daily beverage. Many people have also equipped their homes with various brewing equipment. However, due to the relatively complex process of pour-over coffee, many people prefer to choose instant coffee with better value for money as their daily pick-me-up.

Similarly, with the development of the coffee market, many coffee enthusiasts seeking delicious, high-quality coffee have emerged. They love trying single-origin coffee beans from different regions and hope to enjoy high-quality coffee at home.

Recently, a customer who often makes coffee at home visited the FrontStreet Coffee store. After tasting a cup of pour-over coffee, he asked the store's barista a question: Would there be significant differences between freshly ground pour-over coffee and drip bag coffee?

So, next, FrontStreet Coffee will take everyone to explore this question. If we use the same coffee beans, can we achieve the same flavor through these two different brewing methods: drip bags and pour-over filter cups? What differences will there be between them?

Coffee Bean Selection and Brewing Parameters

First, everyone should know that there are no significant differences in the main principles between drip bag coffee and pour-over coffee. Drip bags simply save us many tedious preparation steps, making the entire coffee brewing process more efficient to get a delicious cup of coffee.

Without further ado, FrontStreet Coffee will use a flavor-balanced coffee bean: Panama Washed Coffee Bean for comparison, to see what different experiences there are when using the same beans with drip bags versus pour-over coffee.

The brewing parameters for pour-over coffee are: use 15g of coffee beans, with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15 for brewing, water temperature of 92°C, grind size of 80% passing through a #20 sieve (FrontStreet Coffee uses EK's grind setting of 10), brewing method is three-stage extraction, using a V60 filter cup, extraction time is 2 minutes and 15 seconds, finally yielding 225ml of liquid.

Drip bags generally use about 10g-15g of coffee grounds. So, the parameters for this drip bag are: use 10g of coffee grounds, with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15 for brewing, which converts to 150ml of coffee liquid.

If you don't have a thermometer, a 300ml kettle of boiled water will gradually cool down, decreasing by about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius per minute. Therefore, we can simply boil the water and wait for about 1 minute to let the water temperature naturally drop to the desired range. This way, even without a thermometer, you can conveniently brew coffee.

Detailed Steps for Brewing Drip Bags

Specific operational steps for daily brewing of drip bags:

1. Prepare a cup, hot water, and open the drip bag. Tear off the seal and hang it on the cup rim.

2. After the hot water reaches approximately the predetermined temperature range, pour into the center of the drip bag until the water level reaches half of the bag, then wait for 10-15 seconds for blooming.

3. Perform a second pour, this time filling the drip bag to nine-tenths full. After the water drips through, perform a third pour, again filling to nine-tenths full. Wait for the drip to complete, and finally pour hot water for the fourth time, still to nine-tenths full, with the electronic scale showing exactly 150g.

4. After the dripping is complete, you can remove the drip bag and enjoy the coffee!

Comparison of Flavors and Textures

After comparing the two, pour-over coffee indeed performs more prominently in aroma and flavor, with specific and quite distinct notes of passion fruit, berries, honey sweetness, and light floral fragrance. In contrast, the flavor displayed by drip bag coffee is not significantly different from pour-over coffee.

(Left is drip bag coffee, right is pour-over coffee)

In terms of mouthfeel and texture, because the pour-over pouring process can control the coffee bed and allow the coffee grounds to fully extract, it results in a fuller, rounder texture, while drip bag coffee is relatively cleaner. If you don't have auxiliary tools at home to brew with the right proportions, you can use a measuring cup and follow the above steps to brew, which can also produce a delicious and convenient cup of coffee.

To further explore the differences between the two, FrontStreet Coffee then conducted another comparison using deep-roasted Papua Paradise Bird coffee beans. In terms of flavor layers, the difference between the two was not significant, both having distinct flavors of dark cocoa, cream, chocolate, and almonds, but the drip bag coffee was cleaner and sweeter, while the pour-over was fuller, with not much difference in mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that this result is mainly because in this experiment, the drip bags, like the pour-over, were freshly ground and immediately brewed, and auxiliary tools such as electronic scales and thermometers were used, strictly following the target coffee-to-water ratio, which made the flavor of drip bag coffee similar to pour-over. However, many people, when brewing drip bag coffee at home or in an office environment, do not have these auxiliary tools, and water amount and temperature are purely guesswork.

Furthermore, most drip bag products purchased by consumers are pre-ground, and the aroma dissipates completely as the storage days increase. Therefore, even with the same coffee beans, the taste of drip bags will still be inferior to freshly ground pour-over coffee.

Conclusion

Therefore, when choosing a coffee extraction method, we can decide based on personal taste preferences and actual circumstances. If you want to experience richer, more specific and abundant aromas and flavors, as well as a fuller and rounder mouthfeel, pour-over coffee is a good choice. If you want to enjoy convenient, quick coffee with decent flavor, drip bag coffee is an excellent option. Regardless of which method you choose, you can easily brew a delicious cup of coffee at home.