As the hot summer weather intensifies, people's demand for refreshing coffee continues to soar, and many "new ideas" have been inspired in the industry. Like last week, a reader sent a question to Front Street, asking: Can coffee be extracted in the form of bags like tea? Because she feels that the ear hangings need to be filled with water in batches and the amount of water must be controlled, which is troublesome. However, if they are soaked directly in bags, a lot of processes can be saved.
The main features of coffee bags and hanging coffee
First, let’s briefly review the ear-hanging coffee that everyone is familiar with. The hanging ears sold on the market are made by grinding the coffee beans in advance and putting them into a non-woven filter bag.There are pieces of paper on both sides of the filter bag hanging on the edge of the cup, just enough to allow the coffee bag to hang in the center., a convenient product that imitates Pour over(V60) coffee. Whenever you want to drink coffee, you only need to pour an appropriate amount of hot water into it, and after it is completely filtered, you can get a cup of black coffee that is ready to drink.
As a type of drip coffee, in addition to different types of coffee beans, the taste of the drip coffee is mainly determined by the thickness of the coffee powder, the ratio of powder to water, the temperature of the water, and the size of the water flow.
Although coffee in a bag is also a convenient product, itIt is easy to tell from the name that it is a typical immersion extraction. Since it uses a "tea bag-style" sealed pouch, you need to put it directly into the water when brewing, allowing the soluble substances to come out of the gaps on their own.
It is said that as early as in France in the 18th century, people first put coffee powder into a large cloth bag, wrapped it tightly and threw it into hot water to "cook" until the coffee reached a certain concentration, then the bag could be taken out. This is how the bag coffee we are talking about today evolved.
Coffee in bags VS hanging coffee
In order to give an objective answer to those who have doubts, in this comparative test between bagged coffee and hanging ear coffee, Front Street plans to make two different types of coffee at one time, including conventional hot brewing and cold brewing, and finally find out the difference between the two through tasting to see who wins the final result.
As for the size of the non-woven filter bag, the one purchased online on Front Street here is a 5.5 * 7cm mini model, which can just hold 10g of medium and light roasted coffee powder. The hanging ears sold daily in the store are composed of a layer of coarse mesh non-woven fabric and a layer of fine non-woven fabric. Before unfolding, they are 7.5 * 9cm rectangular. Each bag can also hold 10g of powder.
For this round of comparison, we will use Duncan Manor Caturra on Front Street throughout the process. The unique geographical conditions of the Panama production area and the sun-drying method make this coffee present a diverse and delicate floral and fruity flavor, accompanied by a honey-like sweetness. However, because the quantity purchased in this batch is not large, it is only produced and sold at the Front Street store for the time being.
The grinding degree is consistent with that of hand grinding, both are EK43s grinder scale with 9.5 grids (hand grinder C40 scale with 24 grids).
Make hot coffee in bags and hanging ears
Hot brewing parameters of hanging ear coffee: 10g coffee powder, powder to water ratio 1:15, water temperature 93℃, small water flow is injected into three stages150Hot water. The first section of Front Street injection will adopt20gWet all the coffee powder with hot water, wait for a while and then pour in the second section65g, just reaches the filter bag at the end8When the coffee liquid has completely flowed out, you can use the same technique to pour the last section.65g。
Bag coffee hot brewing parameters: 10g coffee powder, powder to water ratio 1:15, water temperature 93℃. Front Street first puts the coffee bag into the cup and injects it all at once150gHot water, because the fineness of the filter bag is unknown, so the soaking time depends on the situation.
It was found that under the "hinder" of the non-woven fabric, the coffee powder and hot water were isolated from each other, making it difficult to release too many soluble substances in a short period of time. Therefore, it was necessary to extend the time to restore the concentration and extraction rate. Waiting hard20A few minutes later, Front Street found that the temperature of the coffee was far below50℃, but the concentration was far from reaching the expected effect, so Front Street chose to give up.
As expected, there are indeed obvious differences between the two after tasting: the Duncan Cardura brewed from the hanging ears smells obvious of tropical fruits, with the sour and sweet taste of strawberry, dried mango, and pineapple in the mouth. The aroma of preserved fruits is particularly full, and the fragrance of grapes is still left in the mouth after swallowing; while the coffee "soaked" in the bagged version tastes obviously very light, with a slight aroma of preserved fruits and light flowers in the mouth. The acidity is not high, and then there is no more...
Cold brewing in bags and hanging ears
Considering that coffee powder itself will absorb water, Front Street uses 20g of powder for cold brewing. The specific parameters are: 20g of hanging coffee/bag coffee, powder to water ratio of 1:11, 220g of room temperature water, and soaking time of 8 hours.
How to operate cold brew with hanging ear: Prepare a sealable container, tear open the hanging ear and pour all the coffee powder into it. Then add 220g of room temperature water and stir evenly. Seal the mouth and put it directly in the refrigerator. You can stir the powder layer appropriately in the middle to make the extraction more complete. After refrigeration for 8 hours, use a filter bag/filter paper to separate the residue and you are ready to enjoy.
The cold brewing solution for bagged coffee is relatively simple. Just throw the two prepared coffee bags into a clean container, pour 220g of room temperature water, seal the bag and send it directly to the refrigerator. Remember to turn it properly during the process. Since the coffee powder has been "packed" in advance, the coffee liquid after extraction does not need to be filtered, just take out the coffee bag and discard it.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
