The Correct Way to Brew Drip Bag Coffee! What Temperature Water Should You Use? How Many Pouring Stages? How Much Water? How to Brew Drip Bag Coffee?

How to Make Delicious Drip Bag Coffee

If we want to enjoy the delicious taste of freshly brewed coffee without going through complicated brewing processes, then drip bag coffee is definitely the most suitable choice.

Making drip bag coffee is very simple - no need to grind beans, no need to prepare professional brewing tools, just a cup and any pouring kettle will suffice. Its only drawback is the slight loss of aroma due to pre-ground coffee, making it less fragrant than freshly ground and brewed coffee. However, its convenience more than compensates for this deficiency, making drip bag coffee an essential staple for many friends who work, study, or travel outdoors.

Although FrontStreet Coffee has shared many drip bag brewing tutorials, friends continue to provide feedback through our backend and stores about common issues like "I can't brew drip bag coffee properly" or "The brewed drip bag coffee doesn't taste good and lacks flavor." Therefore, today FrontStreet Coffee will share with everyone how to simply brew a cup of drip bag coffee that tastes as good as pour-over coffee! (Though we should say it's close - the aroma will still be slightly inferior)

Understanding the Key Parameters

First, we need to understand that whether it's pour-over or drip bag coffee, if we want them to taste good, they need to have an appropriate extraction rate and concentration. Grinding, water temperature, time, and ratio are the four parameters that control coffee extraction rate and concentration during the brewing process. Since drip bag coffee uses pre-ground coffee, the parameters we need to control are only water temperature, time, and ratio.

1. What Water Temperature Should Be Used for Drip Bags?

Water temperature determines the dissolution rate of flavor compounds. When we use higher water temperature to brew drip bags, the faster the flavor compounds in the coffee dissolve, and vice versa. Many friends can't brew good drip bag coffee because the water temperature they use isn't high enough to extract the coffee's flavor. As FrontStreet Coffee often mentions, most office workers get their hot water from water dispensers. Most water dispensers on the market maintain water temperature at around 80°C. If we use water at this temperature to brew drip bag coffee, the coffee often turns out weak and bland due to insufficient extraction efficiency from the low water temperature. Therefore, if you want to brew a delicious pot of drip bag coffee, you first need to get the water temperature right.

Generally speaking, if we're brewing light roast or medium-light roast drip bag coffee with rich fruity and floral notes (such as the Guji and Yirgacheffe drip bag coffees from FrontStreet Coffee's flagship store on a certain platform), then FrontStreet Coffee recommends using water temperature between 90-93°C. Because these types of coffee have higher density, they require higher temperature water to dissolve the flavors in a short time. However, if we're brewing medium-dark or dark roast coffee beans with rich caramel notes like nuts, cream, and chocolate (such as the Mandheling and Brazil drip bag coffees from FrontStreet Coffee's flagship store), then FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing water temperature between 86-89°C. Because the structure of this type of coffee powder is relatively loose, flavor compounds can dissolve quickly, and excessively high water temperature can easily cause over-extraction.

2. How Much Water Should Be Added to Drip Bags?

The amount of water added not only affects the quantity of dissolved substances from the coffee but also determines the coffee's concentration. With the extraction rate remaining constant, when you use more water during brewing, the coffee concentration becomes lower, and vice versa. If you don't want to drink drip bag coffee that's as bland as water or overly concentrated, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend controlling the amount of water added. So specifically, how much hot water should be added?

The coffee-to-water ratio for drip bag coffee is the same as for pour-over coffee! Generally speaking, FrontStreet Coffee uses a ratio of 1:15 when brewing pour-over coffee, which is a coffee-to-water ratio that results in slightly higher concentration. Coffee brewed with this ratio has both prominent and distinct flavors while maintaining a full body. Therefore, if you can accept coffee with slightly higher concentration and stronger taste, then the 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio will be a good choice. The FrontStreet Coffee drip bags sold on FrontStreet Coffee's flagship store are 10g per pack, so according to the 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, we need to add 150ml of water. If you want it slightly stronger, you can use the 1:14 coffee-to-water ratio with 140ml of hot water for brewing. If you prefer it slightly weaker, you can use ratios of 1:16 or 1:17, meaning 10g of coffee with 160ml-170ml of hot water for brewing.

Then, based on different needs, we can choose different water measurement methods. If you don't mind the extra effort, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend getting a kitchen electronic scale. It's small, doesn't take up much space, is affordable, and can help you precisely control the amount of water added, ensuring you can make consistently delicious coffee every time. If you find it troublesome and want to uphold the "minimalist" philosophy of drip bags, you can estimate the water amount through cup markings or the water level in the drip bag during brewing.

Take FrontStreet Coffee's drip bags as an example. FrontStreet Coffee's drip bags are 10g per pack. Through multiple tests, FrontStreet Coffee found that when the added hot water reaches half the pack's position (must be slowly poured with a small stream), the water amount will be approximately 30-40ml (affected by pouring rate). If filled to nine-tenths full (must be slowly poured with a small stream), the water amount will be in the 70-80ml range (affected by pouring rate). Through this visual water level measurement method, we can estimate the total water amount based on specific brewing segments. For example, if you want to add 160ml of water, you could choose to add water four times to reach half the pack's level, or add water twice to nine-tenths full. By analogy, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend that before "blind brewing," you first use a scale to determine the specific water amount corresponding to the water level. The specific number of segments mainly depends on our brewing time.

3. Brewing Time for Drip Bag Coffee

Finally, let's talk about the brewing time for drip bag coffee! Brewing time is the contact time between water and coffee grounds. The longer the contact time between water and coffee grounds, the more flavor compounds the water can extract from the coffee powder, and vice versa. Many times, people use the right water temperature and measure the correct water amount, but the brewed coffee still doesn't taste pleasant. The reason is that the brewing time is too short - the hot water doesn't have enough time to completely dissolve the flavor compounds in the coffee, leading to flavor imbalance, reduced concentration, and coffee that tastes extremely sour and even has noticeable astringency. Therefore, the brewing time for drip bag coffee is also a factor that FrontStreet Coffee recommends everyone control well!

Since the grind size of FrontStreet Coffee's drip bags is the same as pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends controlling the extraction time to around 2 minutes. As long as the water temperature and amount are appropriate, 2 minutes is sufficient to dissolve a large amount of flavor compounds from the coffee. Even if the brewed coffee won't be exceptional, it will still fall within the delicious category. So, the question arises: how do we control the brewing time?

Actually, it's very simple and can be divided into two steps! The first step is to reduce the pouring rate and slowly add the hot water, which can extend the coffee's extraction time. The second step is to divide the hot water into multiple segments! Generally, the more segments, the longer the extraction time. Typically, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend dividing the hot water into 3-4 segments, as this segmentation makes it easier for us to estimate the amount of water added. As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, if you want to add 160ml to a 10g FrontStreet Coffee drip bag without a scale, you could fill the water to half the pack's level, then repeat three more times - this amount will be approximately 160ml. It's important to note that the first segment is for blooming, which requires a 30-second pause to let the coffee grounds release gas. Each subsequent segment of hot water should be added only after the coffee liquid in the pack has finished flowing through. This effectively extends the extraction time, allowing the flavor compounds in the coffee to dissolve more completely.

Summary

In summary, if you're brewing a pack of light roast or medium-light roast FrontStreet Coffee drip bag coffee, the recommended extraction parameters are: water temperature 90-93°C, brewing time two minutes, water amount 140-170ml, divided into 3-4 segments. If you're brewing a pack of medium-dark or dark roast FrontStreet Coffee drip bag coffee, the recommended extraction parameters are: water temperature 86-89°C, brewing time two minutes, water amount 140-170ml, divided into 3-4 segments.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473