Why Does Drip Bag Coffee Taste Weak and Bland? What's the Difference Between Pour-Over and Drip Bag Coffee?

The Problem with Drip Bag Coffee

Although pour-over coffee can produce more flavorful coffee, for many friends, the tedious and complicated process is not something they would endure just for taste. Therefore, some friends choose to sacrifice a bit of coffee flavor to use more convenient and quicker drip bag coffee.

Because drip bag coffee uses pre-ground coffee powder, the flavor begins to dissipate continuously from the moment the coffee beans are ground. Even with sealing and nitrogen assistance, it's impossible to lock in the flavor loss rate of the coffee powder. Therefore, the taste of drip-brewed coffee is slightly inferior to pour-over. However, some friends have discovered that the drip bag coffee they brew not only lacks prominent flavor but also tastes very bland (coffee flavor and taste are not the same), with a thin mouthfeel. They then begin to wonder: can pre-grinding alone have such a significant impact on coffee taste? Actually, no. Although pre-grinding leads to rapid flavor loss, it doesn't significantly affect the inherent taste of the coffee itself. If your drip bag coffee tastes very bland with a thin mouthfeel, it must be because the brewing method is incorrect, preventing hot water from extracting the flavor compounds from the coffee. So what factors contribute to this issue? Let FrontStreet Coffee explain slowly~

Filter Equipment

The filter equipment used in drip bag coffee consists of non-woven fabric filter bags. Due to the two paper ears that provide support, the filter bag doesn't require a dripper for support. This also means that without cup walls and guide ribs, hot water can only penetrate downward following gravity. Consequently, the penetration speed of hot water is affected by water pressure.

When a larger amount of water is injected at once, the water seepage speed becomes faster! Because the injected water volume exceeds the drainage speed at the bottom, the water level rises! And the inertia of water causes it to permeate through areas where flow is easier. Therefore, with the combined effect of high water level and high water pressure, much of the water flows directly through the holes above the coffee powder. Since this hot water hasn't passed through the coffee powder, it won't contain many flavor compounds. Ultimately, this compound-deficient hot water joins the coffee below, diluting the other coffee liquid and making the coffee taste bland and flavorless.

Low Coffee-to-Water Ratio

Because the amount of coffee powder used in drip bags is mostly in the range of 10-12g, many friends who are accustomed to brewing with 15g will also use the 15g brewing method for these relatively small-amount drip bags.

A smaller coffee amount means reduced water volume. If you continue to use the 15g brewing method, it will undoubtedly shorten the extraction time, which also reduces extraction efficiency, preventing hot water from fully extracting the flavor compounds from the coffee. Additionally, for convenience, we don't use electronic scales to measure water volume when brewing drip bags. The amount of water injected relies entirely on intuition, making it easy to inject too much hot water, diluting the coffee concentration.

Insufficient Water Temperature

Many drip bag coffee usage scenarios occur in offices, so the water source for brewing often comes from water dispensers. The temperature of hot water determines extraction efficiency. Typically, the water temperature from dispensers cannot reach the ideal extraction temperature, so its lower extraction efficiency cannot achieve complete compound extraction, ultimately resulting in overly weak coffee taste!

How to Improve These Situations

Actually, most of these situations point to the same issue: low extraction efficiency, where coffee doesn't have sufficient extraction rate and concentration. Therefore, the areas we need to improve are quite clear! For example, in cases of insufficient water temperature, we can incorporate stirring methods to increase extraction rate - adding about ten stirs during water injection and blooming will suffice. For filter equipment or insufficient water injection causing excessive bypass water, where hot water cannot achieve adequate extraction, we can reduce the amount of water injected each time, using small amounts multiple times to extend the hot water extraction time. Additionally, be sure to include blooming, so subsequent hot water injections can better extract the flavor compounds from the coffee;

Finally, there's the issue of water injection volume. It's understandable not to use electronic scales for convenience. But to achieve more suitable coffee concentration, we can estimate the injection volume based on the cup's capacity! For example, if a drip bag contains 10g of coffee powder, then brewing at a 1:15 ratio would require approximately 150ml of water. Subtracting the water absorbed by the coffee powder (twice the weight of the coffee powder), the final coffee liquid would be around 130ml. Assuming the cup's capacity is 400ml, we only need to remove the drip bag when the coffee liquid reaches about one-third of the cup. At this point, this cup of coffee will have the most appropriate concentration!

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