Can You Make Coffee Without Filter Paper? How Long Should Immersion Coffee Steep? What's the Difference Between Immersion and Drip Extraction?

What to Do When You're Out of Coffee Filters

Many of us have encountered the situation where we're ready to brew coffee, only to discover we're out of filter paper! Just the other day, FrontStreet Coffee carelessly didn't prepare enough filters and almost faced a "crisis" of having no filters. Fortunately, we had stocked up on various other filters from our experiments, which helped us avoid the embarrassment of not being able to make pour-over coffee.

So, if we find ourselves at home without filter paper, does that mean we can't make coffee at all?

Understanding Immersion Extraction

What is immersion extraction? Immersion extraction refers to the method where coffee grounds are steeped in water for complete contact extraction. FrontStreet Coffee mentioned before that compared to drip extraction, immersion-brewed coffee not only has a fuller body but also offers a higher margin for error. This is because the water temperature continuously decreases during immersion, and the concentration difference between the water and coffee grounds continually diminishes, so the extraction efficiency also continuously decreases. In other words, immersion extraction is less likely to result in over-extraction.

Although we might use filter paper (or other filtering tools) to some extent during immersion extraction, these are primarily used to reduce coffee grounds that end up in our cup. In fact, if we pay attention to some small details during the extraction process, coffee can be very clean (sediment-free) even without filtering tools. Coincidentally, a friend recently left a comment wanting to know how to make coffee with less sediment. So today, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to make a cup of coffee without coffee grounds, even without using filter paper! (There might be some, but very little)

Immersion Extraction Guide

This guide applies to all immersion extraction methods. To show the results more intuitively, FrontStreet Coffee will not use any filtering equipment in this demonstration. The coffee beans used in this guide are Ethiopia's Kaffa Forest heirloom variety, which has a very clean profile and is perfect for this extraction! The equipment needed is just two containers (preferably one with a spout) and a spoon for stirring.

Our goal is not just to make a cup of coffee, but to make a delicious cup! For this, we need to master proper extraction parameters. Time, water temperature, grind size, and coffee-to-water ratio are all essential. The latter two are particularly important for immersion extraction. Too coarse a grind will slow down the dissolution of flavor compounds from the coffee grounds. Since immersion extraction doesn't involve much manual intervention, we need to adjust the grind slightly finer to increase the dissolution rate of flavor compounds. Of course, too fine is also problematic. In the article "Does Finer Grinding Make Extraction Harder?" FrontStreet Coffee mentioned that too fine a grind will cause the coffee grounds to clump together after settling, which in turn affects extraction. Therefore, the grind cannot be too fine either.

The high fault tolerance of immersion only applies to extraction rate. The Golden Cup Extraction Theory tells us that a widely enjoyed, delicious coffee needs not only an appropriate extraction rate but also a suitable concentration. The main factor determining coffee concentration is the amount of water used. Less water results in stronger coffee; more water results in lower concentration. Both under-extracted and over-extracted coffee are generally unappealing, so the coffee-to-water ratio is another aspect we need to strictly control. Based on the above considerations, the extraction parameters we're using are as follows:

Coffee amount: 20g
Grind level: EK43 at 9.5 setting, 80% pass-through rate on #20 sieve, fine sugar texture (one notch finer than regular hot brew grind)
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Water temperature: 100°C
Extraction time: 6 minutes

Now, let's begin the demonstration! First, we pour the coffee grounds and hot water into the cup together.

Then, start the timer and wait for the coffee to steep for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, use a spoon to gently stir the surface coffee grounds or press them down. Stop when there's basically no coffee powder left on the surface, then wait for another 2-3 minutes.

During the waiting period, we don't need to do anything else. The purpose is to allow the coffee grounds still floating on top to settle. (As you can see, the coffee grounds have basically all accumulated at the bottom)

When the time is up, we can directly pour out the coffee. When pouring, be careful to keep your movements gentle to avoid releasing coffee grounds along with the liquid. (You can also drink directly, but you're more likely to get grounds in your mouth)

Stop when you see fine particles starting to come out. Looking through the light, we can see that there are basically no coffee grounds in the coffee liquid.

At this point, we can start drinking. When the coffee entered the mouth, FrontStreet Coffee clearly perceived the fresh aroma of lemon and elegant white floral notes, followed by the juiciness of sweet fruits like nectarine and sweet orange, with a long-lasting aftertaste! Since we didn't filter it, the presence of some extremely fine particles added a bit of body to the coffee, which was quite pleasant. This would be an excellent coffee extraction solution when you don't have filter paper. If you have the chance, it's worth trying!

- 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