For office workers who love coffee and want a rich cup of black coffee, but don’t have enough time to make a ritualistic cup of Pour over(V60) coffee, ear-hanging coffee bags are our “savior”.
Why is it called "ear-hanging"?
The earliest hanging ear coffee was invented by Japan's Yamanaka Industrial Co., Ltd. in 1990. Its design concept originated from the lanyard tea bag. The inventor hoped to simulate hand-pour drip coffee by preparing the coffee powder in advance and loading it into a non-woven filter bag. The paper on both sides of the filter bag can suspend the coffee bag in the center of the cup. Because it sticks to both sides of the cup like little ears, people call it "ear-hung coffee." Beginning in 2002, the Japanese registered a patent for ear-hook coffee pods and promoted them to the market. Such a convenient and neat design suddenly became the mainstream of the market.
To brew ear-mounted coffee pods, we only need to prepare a pot of hot water and a cup to easily get a cup of fragrant coffee. After brewing, just throw away the coffee grounds together with the filter bag, which saves a lot of tedious steps. With the development of the specialty coffee industry, various types of coffee beans can be used to make ear-hanging bags, so there are many options to choose from.
Why does hanging ear coffee come out so weak?
Although the operation of brewing ear-mounted coffee pods is very simple, some friends still reported that the flavor of the ear-mounted coffee brewed by themselves is very weak, and the aroma is not as rich as that brewed by hand. Compared with hand washing, you don’t need complicated tools to make ear-hanging bags, and the water injection method, time, and ratio do not need to be controlled as strictly as hand washing. You only need to ensure that there is enough hot water and a suitable ratio. But also because of the "casual" operation, the flavor of coffee is often not as rich and varied as Pour over(V60) coffee. In addition, the ear-hanging bag is ground in advance and packed into the packaging bag, so the aroma is not as full as freshly ground coffee. If stored for too long for more than a few months, it may produce some woody taste.
In order to retain the original flavor of coffee to the greatest extent, the coffee powder used in hanging ear coffee is usually ground from freshly roasted coffee beans. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street are all freshly roasted within 5 days. If they are made into hanging ear coffee, when we receive it, it is usually 4 to 5 days after roasting, and it is just right to start brewing and tasting. Front Street recommends drinking it as soon as possible after receiving it, otherwise the aroma of the coffee will be easily lost if stored for too long. If you want to taste the coffee with the fullest flavor, Front Street recommends buying whole beans, freshly ground and brewed, for a better flavor profile.
If you want to get a cup of black coffee with rich aroma and strong taste, Front Street recommends that you control the temperature and total amount of hot water injected. Because the temperature of the water is high enough to release more aromatic substances in the coffee powder. When brewing coffee by hand, Front Street recommends brewing it at a water temperature of 90 to 93 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is only around 80 degrees, the brewed coffee will tend to be tasteless, while boiling water will easily extract a burnt and bitter taste. Therefore, Front Street will open the boiling water and let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 minutes, allowing the water temperature to drop slightly to about 90 degrees Celsius.
When brewing coffee by hand, the ratio of powder to water is very important. When too much water is injected, the coffee taste will be dull and the aroma will be insufficient. The same is true for hanging ear coffee bags. Front Street recommends brewing at 1:15 first, with 10 grams of coffee powder corresponding to 150 grams of hot water. The extracted flavor will be more balanced and the extraction will be smoother. If you don’t have a scale, just find a graduated cup or jug.
How to brew ear-mounted coffee pods?
Front Street will boil the water before brewing, and prepare a water-filled pot, a coffee cup, and a bag of his favorite hanging coffee. Front Street’s ear-hanging coffee bags are made at 10 grams per bag and can brew a cup of about 120 to 130ml of coffee liquid.
Tear open the sealed package, take out the coffee ear bag, and tear open the non-woven bag along the dotted line above. Then pull the two ears apart, pull the entire ear bag apart, and hang them over the rim of a cup or sharing pot.
First, inject a small amount of hot water into the first stage to completely moisten the coffee powder, and steam it for about 10 to 20 seconds to help discharge the gas in the coffee powder, in order to make the extraction in the later stage more stable. The second section of small water flow is injected steadily until the liquid level is close to full, and waits for the coffee liquid to drop until the coffee liquid flows out. Inject the last section of water until it is full. The total amount of water injected is about 150 grams. When all the coffee liquid is dripped, the extraction is completed.
Before drinking, Front Street will gently shake the coffee liquid evenly and drink it directly to enjoy the pure flavor of black coffee. You can add an appropriate amount of sugar or milk to blend according to your personal preference.
Recommended coffee beans suitable for making ear-hanging bags
Many office workers ask Front Street to recommend some coffee beans suitable for making ear-hanging coffee bags. The bean list of Front Street has more than 50 single-origin coffee beans from different production areas, all of which can be made into ear-hanging coffee bags. Below Front Street recommends several hanging ear coffee bars with more classic flavors.
1. FrontStreet Coffee Washed Yirgacheffe Tintin Cooperative Hanging Ear Coffee
The coffee beans from Front Street Guodingding Cooperative are produced in the famous Yirgacheffe production area in Ethiopia. The coffee beans are washed after being picked. Traditionally, Yirgacheffe coffee uses the oldest method of sun-drying. However, because most of the sun-dried coffee beans in the early days were dried on the flat ground, they were inevitably contaminated with earthy dust and other foreign smells. Coupled with the lack of reasonable screening, the quality of sun-dried beans was average. In 1972, Ethiopia introduced washing technology from Central and South America in order to improve the quality of its coffee, making Yirgacheffe coffee's jasmine aroma and bright acidity of citrus and lemon clearer and translucent, making it one of the representatives of fine coffee in the world.
FrontStreet Coffee: Yirgacheffe Fruit Cooperative Coffee
Production area: Yirgacheffe Gedeo Zone
Producer: Guodingding Cooperative
Altitude: 1900-2300m
Variety: Local native species (Heirloom)
Treatment method: washing treatment
Grade: G1
Flavor: citrus berry lemon sucrose green tea
2. FrontStreet Coffee Brazilian Queen Manor coffee beans
Queen's Manor is located in the Morgiana production area in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is different from many large-scale production areas in Brazil that rely on quantity. The terrain here is higher, forming a relatively unique micro-climate. In addition, the manor manually picks coffee fruits with suitable maturity. Each batch is processed with a small amount of exquisite techniques, and the quality of the coffee beans produced are mostly high-quality. Queen's Manor is most proud of the yellow bourbon variety, which has won multiple awards in the Brazilian COE competition with its exquisite and delicate flavor. The Queen's Manor coffee beans from Front Street are roasted in a medium-dark color, which highlights the classic mellow aroma of Brazilian coffee, and at the same time shows the sweetness of bourbon itself. Not only can we drink the rich coffee aroma, but also the taste has a clear aftertaste.
FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queens Manor Coffee Beans
Production area: Brazil Morgiana production area
Manor: Queen's Manor
Altitude: 1400～1950m
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Treatment method: Sun treatment
Flavor: dark chocolate, cream, peanut, sugar cane, nuts
3. FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo Oiran Hanging Ear Coffee
Front Street Coffee This Oiran coffee bean introduced by Coffee was the champion of the sun-dried category of the Ethiopian TOH Coffee Competition in 2017. It appeared in front of everyone with its unique strawberry cream flavor and became a blockbuster. Therefore, this batch of green beans was introduced to the country by Hongshun, a green bean trader in Beijing. In the same year, Li Jianfei used this bean to win the runner-up in the 2017 World Brewing Competition in China. This Ethiopian bean was particularly outstanding among the many Gesha participating beans, so it was named Oiran. This coffee bean is exquisitely sun-dried and has a full, sweet and sour taste of nuts, honey, berries, passion fruit, cream, and strawberry.
FrontStreet Coffee: Sidamo Humbera Oiran 8.0 coffee beans
Country: Ethiopia
Origin: Sidamo
Altitude: 2250-2350m
Variety: Local native species
Treatment method: Sun treatment
Flavor: berry, scented tea, honey, lemon, black tea
Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex
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
