How Do You Make Coffee with Drip Coffee Bags?

Tear the bag open at the printed "open here" line, hook the paper handles over the rim of your cup, and pour hot water over the grounds in two or three slow pours. A minute later you're drinking a proper pour-over, properly hot. No machine, no grinder, nothing to wash but your cup.

That's the whole trick. Below is exactly how we brew ours, including the two small details most people skip that make the biggest difference to the cup: resting the water after the boil, and the 30-second bloom.

What Is a Drip Coffee Bag?

A drip coffee bag is a single-serve paper filter pre-filled with ground coffee, with fold-out handles that perch on the rim of your cup. It works exactly like a pour-over cone: hot water goes in the top, brewed coffee drips through into the cup below, and the grounds stay in the filter.

Each of our bags holds about 14g of specialty grade coffee, air roasted in NSW and roasted to order, then sealed in its own nitrogen-flushed sachet so it brews like it was ground this morning. You can see all five blends in our range.

What Do You Need?

Three things: a drip coffee bag, about 200ml of hot water, and a cup. That's the entire kit, which is why these live so happily in a glovebox or the side pocket of a hiking pack.

Any way of heating water works. Kettle at home, billy over the fire, gas burner at camp.

Don't stress about cup size either — these bags hang happily on even the widest cups. The trick: push each paper handle back into itself so it forms a hinge, and the arms grip the rim like little clamps instead of sliding around.

Step-by-Step: How to Brew a Drip Coffee Bag

1. Tear
at the "open here" line

2. Hang
handles on the rim

3. Pour
slow circles, 93°C

4. Brew
let it drip through

5. Enjoy
lift away, done

1. Boil your water, then let the kettle sit for about 20 seconds. Boiled water burns the grounds and pulls out bitterness. A short rest lands you near 93°C, which is right where this coffee wants to be.
2. Tear the top off the sachet, then open the bag at the printed "open here" line. Not the dotted line — the dots are just where our sealing machine closes the bag, and tearing there opens the wrong edge.
3. Pull the paper handles out to the sides. They unfold like little wings.
4. Mount the handles on the rim of your cup so the bag hangs inside, above the bottom.
5. Pour a small splash of water first and wait 30 seconds. This is the bloom. Wetting the grounds lets trapped gas escape and opens up the flavour. (You can skip it if you want your coffee piping hot, but we think it's worth the wait.)
6. Fill the bag with water and let it drain through. Pour slowly in circles rather than blasting one spot.
7. Repeat two or three more times until you've used roughly 200ml. Fewer pours makes a stronger cup, more pours a lighter one.
8. Lift the bag out by the handles and enjoy. Grounds and filter go straight in the bin or compost.

Once your water's rested, the coffee's in your cup in about a minute — add 30 seconds if you bloom. It lands hot.

How Strong Can You Make It?

Strength comes down to how much water you pour through the same dose of coffee. Stop at two pours (roughly 150ml) for a short, punchy cup, or stretch to four for something longer and gentler.

And because you control every pour, no two people at the same campsite have to drink the same coffee. Try getting a pod machine to do that.

Can You Make a Milk Coffee with a Drip Bag?

Yes, and the trick is to brew it double strength so the milk doesn't drown it. Fill the bag twice, let it drain fully, and stop there rather than continuing to a third or fourth pour.

Then heat your milk however suits (the microwave is fine, nobody's judging) and add it to the concentrated brew. You'll get something in flat-white territory, minus the queue.

What Mistakes Should You Avoid?

The two big ones are boiling water and impatient pouring. Water at a full 100°C burns the grounds, and dumping the whole 200ml in one go overflows the filter and under-extracts the coffee. Slow down. The kettle isn't going anywhere.

And don't squeeze or dunk the bag at the end like a tea bag. Everything worth having has already dripped through, so squeezing just pushes bitter sediment into an otherwise clean cup.

One more we see often: tearing along the dotted line at the top of the bag. Those dots are the machine seal, not a tear strip. The opening point is the printed "open here" line — tear there and the bag opens cleanly with both handles intact.

Which Coffee Should You Try First?

If you drink your coffee with milk, Hodophile is the one — it's built to hold its flavour through a splash of milk. Drinking it black? Wayfarer is the smooth all-rounder, a Colombia single origin and the bag we hand people who just want a good cup. Nemophilist (Kenya) runs a bit darker and bolder, Gadabout is our organic decaf, and Bunji is Australian coffee, grown on the Skybury farms in Far North Queensland.

We're always working on other roasts too. Keep an eye on the rotating Roast of the Month — a one-off microlot we roast while supply lasts, in drip bags and beans.

All five come in Pantry Packs for home, and Wayfarer, Nemophilist and Hodophile also come in Travel Packs for the road. Subscribers save around 30%, and shipping is free Australia-wide over $80.

Quick answers

How much water do you use for a drip coffee bag?
About 200ml, poured in two to four passes. Use less water for a stronger cup and more for a lighter one. The bag holds about 14g of ground specialty coffee, so it can handle a generous pour.

What temperature should the water be?
93°C is the sweet spot. The easy method: boil your kettle, then let it sit for about 20 seconds before pouring. Boiled water burns the grounds and makes the cup bitter.

How long does a drip coffee bag take to brew?
About a minute once your water's ready — the pours drain fast, so the coffee lands in your cup properly hot. Add the optional 30-second bloom for maximum flavour and you're still well under two minutes.

Can you reuse a drip coffee bag?
No. The grounds give up nearly everything on the first brew, so a second run tastes thin and woody. One bag, one great cup, then bin or compost it.

Where do you tear open a drip coffee bag?
At the printed "open here" line. The dotted line near the top isn't a tear strip — it's where the sealing machine closes the bag. Tear at the printed line and the bag opens cleanly with the handles intact.