Speaking of flannel filter cloth, many friends may have only seen and heard about Japanese brewing introduced by some Japanese movies and TV series or bloggers, and have not actually come into contact with it. Because compared to filter cloth, most people use the mainstream filtering tools of filter paper and filter cup when brewing coffee. UnderstandingFlannel filter clothThe approach is more in the coffee culture associated with Japan.This has inevitably made many friends curious, why do Japanese people like to use flannel filter cloth to brew coffee? What is the difference between the coffee brewed from this small filter cloth and the filter paper?What are the characteristics of flannel filter cloth?Still the same sentence
, friends who often read Front Street’s tweets should already know that the characteristic of brewing with flannel filter cloth is that “it can brew coffee with a richer aroma.” The reason is that flannel filter cloth does not filter as thoroughly as filter paper.flannel（Flannel）It is a soft suede fabric born in Wales, England. Since its invention, it has been used in various fields due to its extremely wide applicability. As a coffee filtering tool, the earliest time can be traced back to the 17th century. Since filter paper had not yet been born at that time, all European countries would use flannel filter cloth to filter brewed coffee.But as Front Street said, at that time, the function of the flannel filter cloth was only to filter the brewed coffee. It was after Pour over(V60) coffee was introduced to Japan that flannel filter cloth began to be widely used as a filtering/brewing tool for Pour over(V60) coffee.Compared with filter paper, the flannel filter cloth has larger fiber gaps, which allows the lipids and some insoluble matter in the coffee to pass through. There are certain oil-soluble aromas hidden in the lipids of coffee, so their presence can bring richer aroma expression to coffee. Not only that, lipids and insoluble matter can also enhance the taste of coffee and make it taste more mellow. This is the main reason why flannel filter cloth is so popular。Flannel filter cloth has a suede surface and a cotton surface. The cotton surface will feel rough due to the woven texture, while the suede surface will feel soft and smooth due to fine velvet.Both sides can be used as inner bags to hold coffee powder, but compared to suede, everyone prefers to use cotton as the inner bag. Because if the suede surface is stained with coffee powder, it will make cleaning more difficult. Therefore, including Front Street, when many friends use flannel to brew coffee, they are in a state of flannel outside and cotton inside.And because the flannel filter cloth is usually fixed on a special handle made of metal, we can either choose to brew by hand, or we can choose a more relaxed way - hang the flannel filter cloth on the sharing pot like a filter cup for brewing. Generally speaking, friends who use flannel filter cloth to brew will choose the latter, not only because it has a sufficient sense of ritual, but also makes the operation more flexible.Okay, without further ado, Front Street will share how to use flannel filter cloth to brew a pot of delicious coffee!How to make a good cup of coffee with flannel?In fact, the parameters and methods of brewing coffee with flannel are not much different from brewing with cup and filter paper. However, if you choose hand-held brewing, you need to adjust the powder-to-water ratio to the powder-to-liquid ratio. Because the filter cloth is not in contact with the sharing pot, the electronic scale can only measure the weight of the coffee liquid seeping out of the filter cloth.Since a flannel filter cloth is used, Front Street will naturally choose a dark roasted coffee bean for brewing. Because the characteristics brought by flannel are all required for dark roasted coffee, the coffee beans brewed by Front Street this time are the deeply roasted Front Street Sumatra PWN Golden Mandheling in the bean list. The extraction parameters are as follows:Amount of powder used: 20gPowder to liquid ratio: 1:13 (converted into powder to water ratio is 1:15)Brewing water temperature: 88°CGrinding degree: 10.5 scale of Ek43, 70%~75% screening rate of No. 20 mesh (it will be finer than that used for hand brewing)Water injection method: three-stageBecause it is measured based on the powder-to-liquid ratio, we cannot see the amount of water injected, so when steaming, we no longer inject twice the amount of water as the powder, but just wet the coffee powder. But there are also techniques for wetting. First pour hot water concentrated in the center for a period of time, and then slowly circle outward until all the coffee powder on the surface is wetted. The purpose of this is to prevent the channel effect from causing uneven steaming, and the time is also 30 seconds.After 30 seconds, we can start brewing coffee at will! Use moderate water flow to slowly inject in a circle from the center outward, then circle inward after reaching the outer circle, and then repeat the water injection back and forth in circles until the water level is about to submerge the powder bed, and we can stop water injection. After the water in the filter has almost penetrated, we start injecting the next section of hot water at this time.Starting from the third stage of water injection, the focus of our extraction must be concentrated in the middle of the powder bed. Therefore, when we inject water, the amplitude of the circle can be appropriately reduced, and the circle injection can be continued within the range of a coin. Then fill in until the target liquid weight is reached, remove the filter cloth, and stop filling. The total time is 2 minutes and 21 seconds.(Front Street used 20g of powder, and the powder-to-liquid ratio is 1:13, so the target liquid weight is 260ml)
Front Street used filter paper and a Kono filter cup to brew a pot of Golden Mandheling with the same parameters for comparison! After comparative tasting, Front Street found that the Golden Mandheling made with flannel is indeed more fragrant than the one made with filter paper and filter cup combination. It will smell more prominent, taste smoother, and have a longer aftertaste after swallowing.(It’s all just a little too much, you can’t drink it without comparison)。The flavor of the coffee is consistent and the same(It’s the same bean after all), the chocolate, nut, pine, and spice flavors of Golden Mandheling are well displayed. It's just that in terms of cleanliness, the golden Mandheling washed out with filter cloth will not be as high as that washed out with filter paper.To sum up, we can know that the coffee brewed from flannel filter cloth and filter paper has different characteristics, and there is no good or bad distinction. Friends may ask after seeing this, since they have different characteristics, why are there so few coffee shops in China that use flannel to produce Pour over(V60) coffee?It's simple, because the flannel filter cloth for hand brewing is not a disposable product! In order to be able to continuously put into use(with a service life), we need to carry out a series of disinfection and cleaning measures on the filter cloth after use. Compared with the disposable nature of filter paper, the use of filter cloth is obviously much more cumbersome.Therefore, many people not only in China, but also in Japan, including coffee lovers, choose the simple and convenient filter paper filter cup combination to brew coffee. But as I said before, flannel filter cloth and filter paper each have their own advantages. There is no good or bad distinction. We can choose and use them according to our own preferences~
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
, friends who often read Front Street’s tweets should already know that the characteristic of brewing with flannel filter cloth is that “it can brew coffee with a richer aroma.” The reason is that flannel filter cloth does not filter as thoroughly as filter paper.
