The Correct Brewing Method for Drip Coffee! How Many Times Can Drip Coffee Be Brewed? How Many Milliliters Should Drip Coffee Typically Be Brewed With?

Question: What is the ultimate goal of pour-over coffee?

That's right! It's drip bag coffee! (Just kidding) When people grow tired of the tedious and complicated brewing process, they want to simplify things. And drip bags are the best alternative to pour-over coffee! They're simple to operate and convenient to carry - couldn't be more suitable.

Although making drip bag coffee is extremely simple, beginners inevitably encounter some "difficult problems" they can't solve during the process. For example, yesterday, a customer friend came to the store to ask FrontStreet Coffee: when brewing drip bags, the water flows too quickly, and the coffee often ends up under-extracted. Is there any way to change this situation?

Of course, there is! The main reason this friend encountered this problem is because he applied his understanding of pour-over brewing to drip bag brewing. However, because drip bags have many limitations, using the same brewing method will inevitably result in much faster water flow. But don't worry, in this article, FrontStreet Coffee will analyze what causes the rapid water flow and how to adjust the brewing to make drip bag coffee rich and delicious!

The Filter Bag of Drip Bags

The filter bag of drip bags is made of non-woven fabric, just like filter paper, and its main function is filtration! However, unlike the filter cup and filter paper combination used in pour-over coffee, the filter bag of drip bags is supported entirely by two paper ears, so it doesn't need any item similar to a filter cup to fit against it. This results in the filter bag being able to seep hot water from all directions.

When we inject more water, there are more gaps for hot water to penetrate, and they are also affected by gravity. In other words, when more water is injected, the water flow rate becomes faster.

Less Coffee Grounds

Another reason is the smaller amount of coffee grounds. Unlike pour-over coffee, drip bags generally contain about 10-12g of coffee grounds. The reduction in grounds decreases the thickness of the coffee bed. With less coffee grounds for hot water to pass through, the penetration rate naturally increases.

Because the coffee-to-water ratio is fixed, when the amount of grounds decreases, the amount of water injected will also decrease accordingly. This, in turn, leads to the already limited extraction time being further reduced! With the stacking of multiple factors, coffee is more likely to be under-extracted.

How to Slow Down Water Flow for Rich and Delicious Drip Bag Coffee

So, how can we slow down the water flow to brew rich and flavorful drip bag coffee? Since factors that can affect flow rate, such as amount of grounds, grind size, and filter bag, are already fixed, the only way we can adjust the flow rate is: control the water flow.

By dividing the total amount of water into multiple segments and reducing the water flow rate of each injection, you won't increase the seepage speed due to excessive hot water injection. At the same time, because it's divided into multiple segments, the extraction time will be extended accordingly due to the intervals, thus improving extraction efficiency and making the coffee less prone to under-extraction.

Taking FrontStreet Coffee's drip bag as an example, with 10g of grounds, brewing according to a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio requires injecting 150ml of hot water. We can divide this hot water into 5 segments of 30ml each, then inject each segment in a circular motion (if using a gooseneck kettle, you can raise the pouring position slightly to give the water flow more impact), and after each segment of hot water has finished dripping, we inject the next segment until the target amount of water is reached!

This brewing method allows the extraction time to reach about 2 minutes. The resulting coffee performs excellently - rich, flavorful, and truly a great cup of drip bag coffee!

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