Too busy to grind coffee beans, how to take advantage of the opportunity to hang earbags?

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Are you the one who needs to start the day with a cup of coffee? Many people have to have a cup of coffee in the morning before they can start work. Some people choose to buy a cup of freshly brewed coffee in a supermarket or coffee shop, while others simply make a cup of instant coffee. however, from now on, hanging earbags is a new choice for you.

The invention of hanging earbags

In Taiwan, it is not difficult to obtain hanging earbags (also known as filter-hung coffee). They are sold in major supermarkets, supermarkets and most coffee shops, and it is already common to brew their own earbags. But do you know which country first invented the earbag? It is not mature coffee markets such as Europe and the United States, but Japan, which is near Taiwan.

When it comes to Japanese coffee, most people think of hand-made coffee, and indeed, hand-made coffee is also very popular in Japan, but the fast-paced young Japanese office workers do not have time to wait for a cup of hand-made coffee.

Therefore, in 1990, Japan Yamanaka Industrial Co., Ltd. applied the concept of tea bag to coffee, invented filter-hanging coffee and applied for a patent. However, the earbag designed by Yamanaka Industry can not bear the weight of brewing coffee, and it is easy to lose balance in the brewing process, so it has not been commercialized successfully. It was not until 1998 that Daji improved the original invention and extended the ear-hanging part to the outside that today's hanging-ear coffee came into being.

The earbag of Yamanaka industrial design

The market of hanging earbags

Instant drip coffee bag is the English word for ear bag. It has the advantages of instant coffee, which is fast, convenient and does not need brewing utensils. At the same time, it can make people enjoy the fun of hand brewing.

Because the ear bag combines the advantages of instant coffee and hand-brewed coffee, it makes the ear bag grow rapidly in the East Asian market. In 2011, the global sales of hanging-ear coffee reached 1.4 billion packets, about 11200 metric tons, of which 94% of the sales came from Japan. Starbucks of Japan also launched hanging-ear coffee for this market. Although the total sales of earbags in the world are small and the market is relatively small, the growth rate is very fast.

In the past, in Taiwan's brewing coffee market, the market share of instant coffee was as high as 70%, while that of instant coffee was only 10%. However, in recent years, consumers have been alarmed by the food safety storm in Taiwan, coupled with the rise of boutique coffee science, coffee consumers' demand for coffee is no longer just refreshing, hanging-ear coffee has both quality and convenience, and happens to meet the needs of consumers. Therefore, in 2015, the growth rate of hanging-ear coffee in Taiwan was as high as 30%.

Unpopularity in Europe and the United States

But what you don't expect is that ear bags, which are common in East Asian countries, are rarely seen in Europe and the United States.

Because of the popularity of household coffee machines, Westerners are still used to making coffee with coffee machines at home, and hanging earbags is still a novel commodity for them. In the United States, in addition to selling earbags in Japanese supermarkets, Amazon also has sales channels. We are not sure whether the earbag is feasible in the European and American markets, but it has become a trend in Japan and has become an indicator of success.

Hanging earbags and freshly ground coffee

With the continuous progress of earbag packaging technology, it has been able to completely isolate the oxygen from the outside world. Therefore, as long as the coffee beans are of good quality and drunk during the best taste period, there will not be much difference between the hanging-ear coffee and the freshly ground hand-brewed coffee.

The biggest advantage of brewing hanging-ear coffee is that professional baristas have set most of the factors for brewing coffee. You don't need to choose beans, consider the ratio of water to powder and the size of coffee powder, and you don't need brewing utensils and high-level skills. you only need hot water and a mug of the right size to enjoy good coffee anytime and anywhere.