Mark MorphewI’ve never been an advocate for instant coffee. With so many quick coffee brewing methods on hand, like the AeroPress, anyone can brew a great-tasting cup of coffee in about the same amount of time.
But, I do understand that many people don’t have the time or the inclination to weigh and grind their coffee themselves.
With many people seeking fast and quick coffee brewing methods and demanding something far superior to regular instant coffee sachets, single serve coffee filter bags offer both specialty coffee and convenience at an affordable price.
The single serve coffee packets are a step up from regular instant coffee or coffee pods, and they offer fast and convenient results and an attainable route into specialty coffee for anyone who would otherwise not have the opportunity.
A Brief Look At The Single Serve Coffee Market
Since emerging in the 1970s, the single-serve coffee market has come on leaps and bounds and continues to grow significantly year after year.
Driven by the demand for a quick and time-saving way to brew coffee without the hassle of using a traditional auto-drip coffee machine, fast and easy coffee options such as coffee bags and coffee pods came onto the scene in the late 1980s and 90s.
Coffee pods and Keurig K-cups have dominated the single-serve coffee scene, with both Nespresso and Keurig taking most of the market share for many years.
However, single serve coffee bags have seen a reappearance in recent years, with many big brands, such as Folgers and Maxwell House, launching their coffee products into the market.
The specialty coffee scene has also embraced single brew coffee bags, making it easy for producers to deliver top-quality pre-weighed and pre-ground doses of coffee to the average consumer via nitrogen-sealed coffee filter packets.
Coffee bags can be brewed by just adding hot water, doing away with the requirement of a coffee grinder or other expensive brewing equipment.
Plus, coffee pouches are typically made from filter paper or other plant-based materials, so they are 100% biodegradable, unlike the plastic and aluminum coffee pod that is destined for the landfill.
Types Of Single Serve Coffee Bags
Single serve coffee filter packets tend to come in two main variations: regular “coffee bags” and “pour over coffee bags.” Both variations take the guesswork out of brewing a delicious tasting cup of coffee.
Let’s take a closer look at each type of single serve coffee filter bag.
Coffee Bags
Coffee bags look and feel just like a regular teabag. Take out the inner coffee bag, and it’s then steeped in hot water for around four minutes before being removed.
The steeped coffee can be as strong or as weak as you like depending on how long you leave the bag immersed in hot water. You can also use the bag to make cold brew coffee!
For the consumer, all that is required is boiling water and a cup, just like regular instant coffee. However, the quality of the coffee found inside a coffee bag is often far better than the processed instant alternative.
Specialty coffee producers hand pick, roast, and then grind the coffee. The coffee grounds are then sealed and nitro-flushed in an outer sachet to ensure freshness over a more extended period. Once you open the sachet, you’re getting coffee that’s almost as good as freshly ground.
The coffee pouches are biodegradable, and the outer packaging is often made using renewable and compostable materials.
Because paper is completely biodegradable, coffee bags and pouches provide a more viable solution for companies entering the single serve coffee sector.
Pour Over Coffee Bags
Another popular variation on the coffee bag is a filter-style pouch that is effectively a disposable single serve pour over coffee brewer.
The pour over coffee filter bag is not something new. In fact, they first made an appearance in the early 1990s in Japan.
With the emergence of the third wave coffee movement, specialty coffee producers have started to embrace the pour-over bag to deliver high-quality coffee to the masses.
Rather than invest in a manual pour over coffee brewer such as the V60 or Kalita Wave, the filter bag simply opens up, and the user then hangs two tabs on their cup. Inside the filter is perfectly ground coffee measured correctly.
Just like the coffee filter bags and the regular tea bag, pour over filter bags are made from biodegradable materials.
Not only are you getting excellent quality coffee, but these coffee bags are far more sustainable compared to aluminum coffee pods.
Are Coffee Bags Any Good?
Here at Bean Ground, we’re not big on instant coffee, but we understand that there is a demand for a quick cup of coffee.
Instant coffee sachets such as those produced by Nescafe typically use a cheaper quality coffee bean. The bitter flavor and nuances are then masked with additives and additional flavorings.
So what is the point of coffee bags? With a coffee bag, you are getting real ground coffee just like you would if you ventured into a specialty coffee shop or if you had ground your own from whole bean coffee.
The coffee has been correctly dosed and ground perfectly, and then sealed inside individual sachets. So are coffee bags any good? Yes, compared to regular instant coffee, coffee filter bags are better in every way.
If you regularly brew coffee using instant sachets, making the switch to coffee bags will give you the same convenience but with a far better product.
Conclusion
If you don’t want to hassle and the extra expense involved in purchasing a coffee grinder, sourcing fresh whole coffee beans, buying coffee filters, and then the work required nailing those coffee brewing ratios perfectly each time, the coffee bag is an excellent innovation that will bring specialty coffee to you.
Coffee bags provide a better quality of coffee compared to regular instant coffee sachets. In fact, coffee packets are almost on par with fresh coffee that you would grind and brew using a whole host of gear. With coffee bags, all you need to brew a cup of delicious coffee can fit in your pocket.
However, for a small initial investment, an AeroPress would be a better option than a coffee bag, giving you the ability to brew a quick cup of coffee with ease.
Sure, there is a tiny bit more involved, but compared to most other coffee makers, preparation with the AeroPress is a doddle, and the cleanup takes less than a minute.
When he's not fiddling around with a new coffee gadget, you'll find him busy doing DIY projects around the home and taking his German Shepherd for a walk, who funnily enough is called Kona!
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