An Incomplete Beginner's Guide to Coffee Ears

This post is a primer on coffee earbuds, with tips on buying, some thoughts on commercially available brands, brewing styles and techniques, and a few tips on playing with coffee progressions. So without further ado, let's get started.

Preface

For a decent cup of coffee for any occasion, an earwig is a great choice.

It's a great way for newbies to formally enter the wonderful world of coffee, and it's also a daily ration for seasoned enthusiasts.

In this article, we will talk about the following aspects:

1, what is a hanging ear bag?

2, what should I pay attention to when shopping for hanging ear bags?

3, how to buy the common ear bags on the market?

4, how to brew a cup of delicious ear coffee?

What is an ear bag?

The earbag is a simple way of brewing coffee, which originated in Japan and then developed through Taiwan, and has been popularized with the wave of boutique coffee in the past two years. Unlike instant coffee, lug packs are made by pre-grinding fresh coffee beans into appropriately sized coffee powder, and then packaged with filter paper into small, individual packages that are easy to keep fresh and carry.

The lug pack is essentially a simplified version of the hand brewed coffee (drip filter), although it eliminates the need for grinding, there are still a few things to keep in mind when brewing. The methods and techniques of brewing will be explained in detail in Part IV of this article.

The common bag looks like this: There are also brands that have improved on the bag, such as Starbucks and UCC, and of course there are some less common styles.

What should I look for when shopping for a bag?

When choosing an ear bag, there are different things for different levels of coffee drinkers to keep in mind, so I'm going to break down what you need to know into basic, advanced, and advanced.

Basic

For newcomers, the first thing to do is to give up the illusion that after reading a few articles and then buy, buy, buy, buy, can drink a super favorite flavor, this is possible but need to be very lucky, most of the time, we have to go through a multi-brand, multi-product line of attempts to finally find the right product.

So this chapter is about how to avoid stepping on some obvious potholes, and the good thing is that you only need to master a minimum of basics to avoid stepping on potholes.

1, look at the date of production

Mentioned above, the biggest difference between lug packs and instant coffee, is that lug packs are fresh coffee beans ground into coffee powder, since it is fresh coffee beans, then it is inevitable that with the passage of time leads to a slow loss of flavor.

Usually, the best time to drink an earwig is within 2 weeks of the production date. Experienced baristas, or enthusiasts, can even tell how long the coffee has been sitting by the smell.

2, look at the means of preservation

Some of the more mature technical strength of the brand, will be filled with nitrogen to slow down the loss of flavor, usually can be the best time to drink from 2 weeks extended to 1 month.

Secondly, if the outer packaging material is thicker aluminum foil (refer to the potato chip packaging), then compared to kraft paper, you can also get better freshness.

3. Avoid buying too many ears at once

I know that the more you buy at once, the lower the unit price. It's just that buying a bunch of packs of the same flavor of hanging ear in a hurry before you've found a product that suits your tastes, not to mention whether you'll like it or not, is questionable if you'll be able to drink it all in a month.

Remember what I said earlier, freshness is the first thing.

Advanced

You've probably drank a lot of earwigs, and in the Advanced section you'll learn why different earwigs have different flavors, and what are the main influences on them.

Look at the origin

The essence of a bagel is a simplified version of a hand-brewed coffee, so the final flavor of a bagel is determined by the beans, and in general there are only two ways we drink black coffee: singles and blends.

Single product refers to a single region of coffee beans, this and red wine is similar, a coffee bean we usually use the region to name, for example: Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala

Matching refers to a mixture of many different regions (or the same region of different varieties) of coffee beans, such as the common blue mountain flavor is a typical match coffee, this is because the famous blue mountain coffee is balanced, not the most important feature of coffee. The most important feature of the coffee is balanced, not acidic or bitter, so will when you see the South Mountain flavor to understand that this packet of hanging ear is not Blue Mountain coffee, but balanced.

There is no such thing as a good or bad single serve or blend, there is only taste and preference, and the only way to pick one is to drink a lot of it, especially a few at a time, which is what you hear from the barista's mouth as the cupping test. About how to do the cup test at home and things to pay attention to, this I will write an article later to explain in detail.

2, look at the flavor description

When you are looking at the packaging or presentation of any ear coffee, you can see words like jasmine, citrus, lemon, cream, chocolate, honey, caramel and so on.

This is actually describing the flavor tendencies of the current hanging ear coffee, but it is important to note that the flavor (or smell) of coffee is a composite taste, so different people may feel differently even if they drink the same cup of coffee, this is not a metaphysics, and you will naturally find out if you drink more.

In Taiwan, there is a saying called divine coffee, which refers to the first time you feel a distinct flavor from a cup of coffee, then this cup of coffee is the divine coffee in your life. This is something that you can actually always encounter if you don't go through specialized taste corrections and drink high-quality coffee on a daily basis. So the trick is to drink more.

3, look at the processing method

As we all know, we drink coffee is not directly from the tree can be directly made into a drink, you need to go through a pre-processing to remove the pulp in order to get the coffee raw beans, and there are many ways to go through this process, the most common is the method of solarization and washing method.

Generally speaking, the solarization method retains more flavor in the coffee, while the washing method results in coffee with a purer flavor. In addition to the traditional methods, some special processing methods are now becoming popular, such as the whiskey barrel fermentation method, which treats the coffee beans with a very distinctive wine flavor, but actually has no degrees.

4, look at the degree of roasting

Coffee raw beans to a cup of coffee between, in addition to the need to deal with, but also need to reduce the water content of the coffee beans through roasting. The same coffee beans, different roasting depth of roasting can also bring different flavor performance, which is somewhat similar to the stir-fried vegetables, even if all the spices put the same, different masters can make different flavors.

Simply put, light roasting retains more of the flavors of the origin, while dark roasting produces a consistent expression of the bean, with a caramelized, caramel-like odor. Between light and dark roasts, there are also medium roasts, which test the roaster's experience and understanding of the bean.

Advanced

After drinking a lot of coffee you suddenly realize why the same bean tastes so different when you drink it at a boutique coffee shop than when you make your own earrings at home?

Look at the grind

The grind of the coffee powder can determine the extraction efficiency of the coffee, the coarser the coffee powder the lower the extraction efficiency, and vice versa.

But the thickness of the coffee powder also has a sweet spot, too coarse coffee powder will lead to extraction is not enough, drink feel like drinking water. On the other hand, too fine coffee powder will lead to over-extraction, which will make the coffee hard to swallow.

There is no way to accurately judge this point before buying for the first time, so you can only look at the seller's show, or buy a little less to try it out.

2, look at the filter paper

Filter paper is actually a very easy to ignore the factor, divided into two aspects are the smell and the smoothness of the water.

The filter paper itself, if the quality is not very good, then there will be a great flavor will be integrated into the cup of coffee, which is usually what we do not want to avoid, the way to avoid it is very simple, to buy a trusted big brand can be. The other side of the coin is the smoothness of the watering, if the watering is not smooth, it will lead to a long wait after the ear is filled with water before it can be filled with water a second time, wasting time may not be the biggest problem, but over-soaking can also lead to over-extraction. On the other hand, if the watering is too smooth, it may lead to under-extraction.

This point is the same as above, there is no way to accurately judge before the first purchase, you can only look at the seller's show, or buy a little less to try.

3, the brewing time pay attention to the water temperature

This is not a knowledge point about the purchase, but it is a major factor in the flavor of the bag of earrings. Generally speaking, the higher the temperature of the water used for extraction, the more bitter the whole thing is, and the lower the temperature, the more acidic it is. In fact, even after the extraction is complete, the liquid will continue to change in flavor as the temperature drops.

Next time, you can try the flavor changes after extraction when the temperature drops to 50, 40, 30, 20 degrees.

How should I buy the common ear wraps on the market?

There are really super, super choices of ear wraps on the market, and with my own experience over the years, they can basically be categorized into four types: commercial ear wraps, boutique ear wraps, online ear wraps, and homemade ear wraps.

Commercial earbuds

Too long not to see the version: commercial earbuds distribution cycle is relatively long, which will lead to the loss of coffee flavor, and the price is not particularly advantageous. If you're strolling through the grocery store and remember that you're out of coffee at home, you can pick up a few packs on the fly, but it's not really worth it to buy them specifically.

Typical brands: Starbucks, COSTA, Sumida River, UCC, illy, Nestle, Lavazza, Blendy

Brand characteristics: multinational companies

Advantages: stable flavor, easy to buy.

Disadvantages: long turnaround time, resulting in significant loss of flavor, slightly lower value for money.

Commercial earwraps This contains a large number of common brands, such as: Starbucks, COSTA, Sumida River, UCC, illy, Nestle, Lavazza, Blendy, etc., and will not be enumerated one by one.

The most important feature of this category of earbag brands is that they are multinational and large companies, which sounds particularly reliable, right?

The earwraps they put out are drinkable not to mention good, but they do have a very consistent flavor and are less likely to have inconsistent flavors from two purchases. I know, it doesn't sound like much, but that's a very big plus.

But the disadvantage is also precisely because they are a large company, so they purchase a large amount of raw coffee beans at a time. They are then roasted en masse, usually at a medium to dark roast in order to ensure a consistent output, losing a lot of coffee flavor in the process.

It's not that medium to dark roasting is bad, but this standardized process is very rigid and doesn't fine-tune each batch of beans. It's ground, bagged, aerated, packed, shipped, and then it goes through long layers of distribution finally arriving at the warehouse of a supermarket or e-commerce company, waiting to be picked up by you, followed by a couple of days before it reaches you.

This brings us to the biggest problem with commercial lug bags, which is time.

Generally speaking, after the coffee beans have been roasted, it is recommended that they be consumed within 2 weeks to 1 month, otherwise the flavor and aroma will slowly dissipate over time. If ground into a powder, then this flavor can only be retained for another 15 minutes or so, which is why cafes usually freshly grind their coffee beans.

When made into ear packs, the freshness can be extended to about 2 weeks depending on the packaging material. Commercial packets are additionally filled with nitrogen to further increase the freshness, which can be anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month.

Next time you're at the grocery store, keep an eye out and you'll find hanging ear packs on the shelves that are several months past their production date. If the flavor loss is that severe, then the drink is simply bitter and caffeinated.

In that case, why not buy boutique instant?

Boutique Ear Bags

Too long not to read the version: Boutique Ear Bags is a brand that specializes in the production of earbuds, which are generally smaller in volume, and may be little more than a bakery workshop. Usually presented in the form of an online store, will focus on the flavor of the coffee, taste. Those who often drink black coffee and like it black will like this type of brand.

Typical brands: sinloy, JokerCoffee, Knowing Knowing.

Brand features: relatively small volume, owns its own roasting workshop, independent brand, and launches new products from time to time.

Advantages: you can find a variety of flavors and appellations of coffee, there are singles and blends, which is considered to be a real step into the door of boutique coffee.

Disadvantage: the quality of different brands varies greatly, and even if the same brand is purchased several times, the flavor may be unstable.

Boutique earbuds in the past two years as a spring, the emergence of a particularly large number of brands, this category of earbuds mixed, because no matter what kind of business will say that their own good, but do not worry as long as you mastered the skills can greatly reduce the chances of stepping on the pit.

The main target customers of the boutique hanging ear bags are the people who know coffee, or at least the people who often drink coffee, so the introduction information will be very comprehensive, you can feel this through the product description, usually the description will contain: the variety of coffee beans, the origin, the estate, the altitude, the grade, the treatment method, blending, the degree of roasting, the flavor tendency, the grinding, and so on.

One of the tips on how to tell the difference is that the more complete the information, the more detailed the flavor profile usually means that the store knows more about coffee, which can rule out many stores that are playing games.

The first ear coffee launched by Knowledge was the first one I got my hands on, and I was pleasantly surprised when I finished it. All three coffees have a distinct sweetness, especially Gamma, which is a medium-dark roast blend that has such a pronounced sweetness, which was a big surprise to me.

When recommending coffee to friends, there is a small problem: for those who have little contact with boutique coffees, the impression is that they are bitter. So when they drink a cup of coffee with pronounced acidity they feel uncomfortable, but of course there are some people who do prefer bitter flavors to acidity and vice versa.

And these three coffees from Knowles can be said to do an excellent job of that, with a very smooth and light taste while retaining the flavor tendencies and characteristics, and whether you like your coffee on the acidic side or on the bitter side, it's a good way to get a good taste of the other tendency.

Alpha drinks on the acidic side overall, with little to no bitterness, and has a very pleasing tropical fruit sweetness and sourness, so if you normally enjoy boutique coffees or are ready to try them, I recommend giving this one a try.

Beta is low in acidity and slightly bitter, with a more balanced flavor profile than Alpha and Gamma, making it a good ration coffee.

Gamma, on the other hand, has no acidity at all, has that pure bitterness of a dark roast, and drinks with a rich, creamy flavor and cocoa-like sweetness, so if you don't like coffee that's on the acidic side, I'm sure this one will be right up your alley.

sinloy

sinloy At the very beginning of my friend recommended me when I look at the price is very cheap, I think it is not work, and finally decided to order is the details of the page is really well done, a variety of patented technology is out, I thought to buy and try, and then it really smells (cover your face).

Of course, it is not difficult to copy homework these days, then we can also pay attention to the description of whether there is a special selling point, for example, sinloy home hanging ear packet 03 is one of my very recommended, it has a very big feature is the whole red fruit refining, this feature will bring a unique, fermented fruit sweetness, it is really only need to drink a mouthful of it to change the perception of hanging ear, known as the divine coffee It's not too much of a stretch.

But 03 also has one unfortunate thing, it's inconsistent, I've bought it several times and only the first time I got this amazing flavor, I don't know if it's related to the batch or the roaster.

All I can say about this is that you can all give it a try, and in case you drink it you'll really be especially surprised.

Net red hanging ear bag

Too long not to see the version: the net red brand produced hanging ear bag itself quality is qualified, but its brand power is not realized through the product, but through co-branding, packaging, sentiment and so on to enhance the premium. There's nothing wrong with this, except that the price/performance ratio is slightly lower.

Typical brand: Three and a half times

Brand features: co-branding, more activities

Advantages: more activities, usually more interesting surrounding.

Weaknesses: relatively low value for money if you are running for coffee.

The net red hanging earbag and boutique hanging earbag brands are very similar, the brand power is good, but the core of maintaining the brand power is not the same, the boutique hanging earbag is to enhance the brand power through the popularity of the product itself, while the net red hanging earbag is to enhance the brand power by doing activities, playing co-branding, and selling the periphery.

The typical three and a half, it is also the main boutique earbag brand, I was its customers a long time ago, and then may not feel too profitable? Toward the net red brand all the way to run wild, ear variety is also reduced, the variety of coffee beans is also less, the periphery has become more, held activities have become more (activities are quite interesting, I myself also participated), the main product has become instant coffee (can be understood as boutique instant).

In fact, in my opinion, the net red hanging ear bag as long as the flavor in the average level can, do not expect to have a surprise flavor. But relatively, can bring such as design sense, fashion sense, activities interesting, peripheral good-looking fun and good use on it.

As for whether to choose boutique hanging ear bags or net red hanging ear bags, it depends on your claims.

Homemade hanging ear bag

Too long not to see the version: hanging ear bag in addition to the finished product can be purchased, you can also buy tools to make their own, so you can choose any favorite coffee beans. In addition, many cafes or online stores also offer the service of making coffee beans directly into ear bags, but because the production tools used are not comparable to those used in factories, the freshness time is usually shorter.

Typical brands: some online stores that specialize in coffee beans, local cafes

Advantage: wide selection of coffee beans, freshness

Disadvantage: due to the gap in production equipment, the freshness time is shorter, and it is recommended to drink it within a week.

Coffee play more, especially play hand-brewed coffee friends, there will be a day will feel the weekday morning production of coffee is too late, but do not want to give up high-quality coffee, this time you can choose to buy a blank hanging ear packets, outer packaging and sealing machine to make their own.

Because you're purchasing your own blank packets, you don't have to limit yourself to the standard packets, but you can also opt for packets shaped like hand-brewed filters (the V60 modeling), which further enhances the quality of your ear coffee.

Some other local cafes offer the same service, but since they don't have the large equipment of a factory, they're basically handmade and don't fill them with nitrogen, so the freshness usually doesn't last very long.

But making it a night in advance and drinking it the next day isn't too much of a problem.

How do you brew a great cup of hanging ear coffee?

The opposite

1. Hanging ear packets are brewed directly as bagged tea.

2. The coffee powder inside the bag is poured out to brew.

3, the water flow is too big to come out.

The serious material

Basics:

1, find an empty cup.

2. Look carefully and tear open the lugs.

3, unfold the small ears, and then hung on top of the cup (different types of hanging ear packs are used in much the same way).

4. Slowly fill with water.

5, extraction is completed after the package can be thrown away, warm tips hanging ear bag belongs to other garbage (is not very sweet).

Advanced:

The tips in the advanced chapter can help you improve the stability of the brew.

1, when brewing a hangar bag, if you have the option, try to choose a taller cup so that the bottom of the bag doesn't soak in the coffee liquid.

2, if the coffee is medium-light roast, first a small amount of water, simmering steam 30s exhaust

Advanced:

Advanced tips can help you brew coffee comparable to hand-brewed.

1, you can use a special hand brewing pot when brewing, but don't choose a special hand brewing pot for lug bags, the temperature control is too poor.

2, brewing water temperature can be based on different coffee and personal taste, choose between 85-92 degrees.

3, the water using Nongfusanquan, Nongfusanquan impurities as well as the PH value is very suitable for extracting coffee, professional barista competitions are using this.

4, segmented water injection, pay attention to stirring, even extraction.