Coffee Knowledge
What is drip coffee?
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Drip coffee is one of the most popular ways to prepare and enjoy coffee, but what is it exactly and where did it come from? Learn all you need to know.
Indulge yourself
Drip coffee is made by pouring boiling water over ground coffee (the grind of which being much coarser than espresso). A filter typically made from paper separates the grounds from the brewed liquid which allows the water to pass through and fall into a pot or jug. However, you can now also get coffee pots specially made for drip coffee brewing, or electric options with timers so you can choose exactly when it’s made. Drip coffee is generally served in a mug and can be drunk black or with milk and sugar to taste.
What does drip coffee taste like?
Drip coffee is clean-bodied with a rounder, more simplistic flavour profile. Less concentrated than espresso, it’s often praised due to its mellow and less intense flavour.
What is cold drip coffee?
Cold drip coffee isn’t as well-known as its hot counterpart, but it’s still a noteworthy addition to the coffee world. You’ll need a cold drip apparatus or a drip tower, which usually comprises of three glass containers that allow the iced water to slowly drip over the freshly ground coffee. The coffee will then absorb each drip of the water, which drops into another container at the bottom of the tower. It’s a more time consuming way to make coffee and can take anywhere between 3.5 – 12 hours, depending on how much you want to make. In comparison to other brewing methods such as cold brew coffee, cold drip is much stronger with a richer and fuller body. Lastly, cold drip coffee can be quicker to make than cold brew and uses less coffee grounds.
Origin of drip coffee
This brewing method was first developed in 19th century France and quickly become the most popular way to prepare coffee. It involved putting ground coffee into a container between two chambers of a pot, with heated water added to the top chamber. The coffee was then percolated and dripped down through the coffee into the bottom serving receptacle. One of the biggest developments in drip coffee came in 1908 when a German woman called Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz invented the first coffee filter. She soon patented her paper filter and established the Melitta company, eventually creating the cone-shaped filter you’re familiar with today.
Now that you know what drip coffee is and where it came from, find out what a cappuccino is next.
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