If we don’t want to go through overly complicated coffee making processes and still want to enjoy the deliciousness of freshly brewed coffee, then hanging ear coffee is definitely the most suitable choice.
The production of hanging ear coffee is very simple, without grinding powder or preparing professional brewing tools. We only need a cup and any water bottle to complete the production of hanging ear coffee. And its only drawback is that it lacks a little aroma due to pre ground coffee, and it doesn’t taste as fragrant as freshly ground and brewed coffee. However, due to its convenient nature, hanging ear coffee has become a must-have food for many friends who go out for work, study, travel, and other purposes.
First of all, we need to know that whether it’s hand brewed or hanging ear coffee, if you want them to taste good, they need to have a suitable extraction rate and concentration. Grinding, water temperature, time, and ratio are the four major parameters that control the extraction rate and concentration of coffee during the brewing process. Due to the use of pre ground coffee powder in hanging ear coffee, the only parameters we need to control are water temperature, time, and ratio.
1. How much hot water is needed for ear irrigation?
The water temperature determines the dissolution rate of flavor compounds. The higher the water temperature we use when brewing coffee, the faster the dissolution rate of flavor compounds in coffee, and vice versa. Many friends cannot make good hanging ear coffee because the water temperature used is not high enough to produce the taste of coffee.
Most office workers rely on water dispensers as their main source of hot water. However, the hot water in most water dispensers on the market is maintained at around 80 ° C. If we use this temperature of hot water to brew hanging ear coffee, due to the insufficient extraction efficiency of the water temperature, the coffee brewed is often scarce and light. So, if you want to make a pot of delicious hanging ear coffee, you first need to hold the water temperature.
Generally speaking, if we are brewing light roasted or medium roasted coffee with rich fruit flavor and floral aroma, it is recommended to use a water temperature of 90-93 ° C. This is because this type of coffee has a high density and requires hot water at a higher temperature to dissolve the flavor in a short period of time; If the object of brewing is roasted coffee beans with rich roasted aroma such as nuts, cream, chocolate, etc., it is recommended to brew them at a water temperature of 86 ° C~89 ° C. This is because the structure of this type of coffee powder is relatively loose, and flavor substances can dissolve quickly. Excessive water temperature can easily cause over extraction.
2. How much water should be injected into the ear canal?
The amount of water injected not only affects the amount of substances dissolved in coffee, but also determines the concentration of coffee. When the extraction rate remains constant, the more water you use to brew, the lower the concentration of coffee, and vice versa. If you don’t want to drink a cup of drip coffee that is as bland as water or too concentrated, Front Street would recommend controlling the amount of water injected. How much hot water should be injected specifically?
The powder to water ratio of hanging ear coffee is the same as that of hand brewed coffee! Generally speaking, the ratio used for hand brewing is 1:15, which is a powder water ratio that will slightly increase the coffee concentration. The coffee brewed with this ratio not only has a prominent and distinct flavor, but also has a full-bodied taste. So if you can accept coffee with slightly higher concentration and stronger taste, then a 1:15 powder to water ratio would be a good choice.
After multiple tests, it was found that when the injected hot water reaches half of the powder pack (be sure to inject slowly with a small water flow), the water volume should be in the range of 30-40 ml (affected by the water injection rate); If the water is filled to 90% full (with a small amount of water slowly injected), the water volume will be in the range of 70-80ml (affected by the water injection rate). By using such a visual water level measurement method, we can estimate the total water injection volume based on specific boiling sections. For example, if you want to inject 160ml of water, you can choose to inject four times the water level reaches half of the powder pack, or inject two times the water level is 90% full. Similarly, it is recommended that everyone first use a scale to determine the specific water level corresponding to the water volume before blindly flushing. The specific number of segments is mainly determined by our cooking time.
3. The brewing time of hanging ear coffee
Finally, the brewing time for hanging ear coffee! The brewing time refers to the contact time between water and powder. The longer the contact time between water and powder, the more flavor compounds water can bring out from coffee powder, and vice versa. Many times, people use the right water temperature and set the right amount of water, but the taste of the coffee they brew is still not pleasant. The reason is that the brewing time is too short, and the hot water does not have enough time to completely dissolve the flavor substances in the coffee, resulting in an imbalance in taste and a decrease in concentration. The coffee tastes extremely sour and even has a noticeable astringency. So the brewing time of hanging ear coffee also needs to be well controlled!
Due to the fact that the grinding degree of the hanging ear coffee used in the test is the same as that of hand brewed coffee, Front Street’s suggestion is to control the extraction time at around 2 minutes. As long as the water temperature and volume are normal, 2 minutes is enough to dissolve a large amount of flavor compounds in coffee. Even if the coffee it produces is not very outstanding, it still belongs to the category of good taste. So, the question is: how do we control the brewing time?
It’s actually quite simple, divided into two steps! The first step is to reduce the water injection rate and slowly inject hot water, so that the extraction time of coffee can be extended. The second step is to inject hot water in multiple stages! The more paragraphs there are, the longer the extraction time. Generally speaking, it is recommended to divide hot water into 3-4 stages for injection, as this allows us to estimate the amount of water to be injected more conveniently.
If you want to pour 160ml into a 10g powder pack of hanging ear coffee without weighing, you can pour the water level to half of the powder pack and repeat three times. This way, the water volume will probably reach around 160ml. It should be noted that the first stage is steaming, which requires a 30 second pause for the coffee grounds to exhaust. Each subsequent hot water injection is done after the coffee liquid in the grounds has dried, effectively extending the extraction time and allowing the flavor substances in the coffee to dissolve more completely.
Post time: Sep-26-2025