The difference between bag-brewed coffee and hanging ear coffee How does the coffee brewed with filter bags taste?

As the scorching heat intensifies, people's demand for refreshing coffee continues to soar, and many "new ideas" have been inspired in the circle. Like last week, a reader sent a question to Qianjie, asking: Can coffee be extracted in the form of bags like tea? Because she felt that it would be troublesome to inject water into the ears in separate times and control the amount of water, but if she soaked it directly, it would save a lot of processes.

The main characteristics of bag-making coffee and hanging coffee

Let's briefly review the hanging ear coffee that everyone is familiar with. The hanging ears sold on the market are ground coffee beans in advance and put them into a non-woven filter bag. When brewing, paper pieces are arranged on both sides of the filter bag and hung on the edge of the cup, so that the coffee bag can be suspended in the center. It can imitate a convenient product for making coffee by hand. Whenever you want to drink coffee, just inject a proper amount of hot water into it, and after it is completely filtered, you will 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 ear is mainly determined by the thickness of coffee powder, powder-to-water ratio, water temperature and water flow size.

Although bag coffee is also a convenient product, we can easily see from the name that it is a typical infusion extraction. Due to the use of "tea bag type" sealed small bag, brewing needs to put it directly into the water, let the soluble substances come out from the gap by themselves.

It is said that as early as 18th century France, people put coffee powder into a large cloth bag, wrapped tightly and thrown into hot water to "boil" until the coffee reaches a certain concentration, and then the bag can be taken out. The bag coffee mentioned in Front Street today evolved from this.

Bag coffee vs ear coffee

In order to provide an objective answer to the doubts raised by the friends, in this comparison test between bag-brewed coffee and hanging ear coffee, Qianjie plans to make two different coffees at a time, including regular hot brewed and cold extracted, and finally find out through tasting. The difference between the two and see who wins and loses in the final result.

Regarding the size of the nonwoven fabric filter bag, the 5.5 * 7cm mini model purchased online on Qianjie here is just enough to accommodate 10g of medium and lightly roasted coffee powder. The hanging ears sold daily in the store are composed of a layer of coarse grid nonwoven fabric and a layer of fine nonwoven fabric. They are rectangular in a 7.5 * 9cm shape before unfolding, and each bag also holds 10g of powder.

In this round of comparison, we will use Qianjie Duncan Estate·Cadura throughout the entire process. The unique geographical conditions of the Panama production area and the sun treatment method make this coffee present a diverse and delicate aroma of flowers and fruits, accompanied by honey-like sweetness. However, due to the small quantity of this batch, it will only be produced and sold at Qianjie stores for the time being.

The degree of grinding is consistent with that of the hand punch, and both are 9.5 grids on the scale of the EK43s bean grinder (24 grids on the scale of the hand grinder C40).

Make hot coffee in bags and hanging ears

Hot flushing parameters of hanging ear coffee: 10g coffee powder, powder-to-water ratio 1:15, water temperature 93 ° C, small water flow into three sections to inject 150 hot water. The first section of Qianjie injection will use 20g of hot water to moisten all the coffee powder. After waiting for a while, 65g will be injected into the second section. At the end, the filter bag will be just 8 minutes full. When all the coffee liquid has flowed out, you can use the same method. Inject the last section of 65g.

Hot rinsing parameters for soaked coffee in bags: 10g coffee powder, 1:15 powder-to-water ratio, and 93℃ water temperature. Qianjie first put the coffee bag into the cup and injected 150g of hot water at a time. Due to the unknown fineness of the filter bag, the soaking time depends on the situation.

It was found that under the "obstruction" of non-woven fabrics, coffee powder and hot water were isolated from each other, making it difficult to release too much soluble substances in a short time, so it was necessary to extend the time to pull back the concentration and extraction rate. After waiting for more than 20 minutes, Qianjie found that the temperature of the coffee was far below 50℃, but the concentration was far from reaching the expected effect, so Qianjie chose to give up.

Sure enough, there are obvious differences between the two after tasting: Duncan Cadura, which hangs out of his ears, smells obvious tropical fruit flavor. The taste of strawberries, dried mangoes, and pineapples is sweet and sour at the entrance. The aroma of preserved fruit is particularly full. After swallowing, the aroma of grapes still remains in the mouth; while the "soaked" coffee in the bagged version tastes obviously light, and it can show a slight preserved fruit and light floral flavor at the entrance. The acidity is not high, and then there is no more...

Bag soak and hanging ear for cold extraction

Considering that the coffee powder itself absorbs water, 20g of powder is used to make cold extraction here in Qianjie. The specific parameters are: 20g of hanging ear coffee/bag coffee, 1:11 powder-to-water ratio, 220g of normal temperature water, and 8 hours of soaking time.

Operation method for cold extraction with hanging ears: Prepare a sealable container, tear off the hanging ears and pour all the coffee powder, then add 220g of normal-temperature water and stir evenly, seal the mouth and place it in the refrigerator directly. Stir the powder layer halfway to make the extraction more complete. After refrigerated for 8 hours, use a filter bag/filter paper to separate it from the residue and start enjoying it.

The cold extraction plan for making coffee in bags is relatively simple. Directly throw the 2 prepared coffee bags into a clean container, pour 220g of room temperature water, seal the mouth and send it directly to the refrigerator. Remember to turn it properly on the way. Since the coffee powder has been "packed" in advance, the coffee liquor after extraction does not need to be filtered and can be directly taken out of the coffee bag and discarded.

After comparing the front street, it was found that the two cups of cold extract are actually very similar in taste, and the aroma also has their own merits. The only difference lies in the subtle charm: the hanging cold extract in which coffee powder is in direct contact with water is relatively refreshing overall, and the entrance is biased towards the tonality of raisins and citrus; while the bag-type cold extract with non-woven cloth wrapped coffee powder is more intense, with the main flavor of blueberry and black tea, with a touch of orange aroma.

To sum up, if you want to drink a hot drink, Qianjie recommends choosing hanging ears. Due to the low extraction efficiency of coffee brewed in bags, it may easily lead to weak concentration and flavor; but if you are making iced coffee such as cold extract, you may wish to try using a bag brewed form. Compared with direct contact with powder and water, the filter bag allows coffee powder to condense into a ball in water. After contact with water, it is easier to release internally soluble substances in a concentrated manner. At the same time, it also ensures the concentration, allowing the taste of coffee to become mellow and mellow.