If you like coffee, you may find yourself thinking of ways to make the brewing process easier.
A common question among coffee drinkers who like to make their brew fast is “Why doesn’t coffee come in tea bags?”
Brewing coffee in bags that act as filters would save time and money for coffee lovers.
It may also result in a better-tasting brew due to the steeping factor.
All you would have to do is drop a coffee bag into your hot water, wait for 3 – 5 minutes, and enjoy your coffee.
What Are Coffee Tea Bags?
Brewing coffee in a tea bag style poach involves pouring hot coffee over coffee grounds in a bag.
Coffee tea bags are mesh-like bags with coffee grounds in them. They work the same as real tea bags. Once you drop one in hot water, the flavor of the coffee grounds seeps through the coffee bag mesh, leaving you with a strong brew.
Coffee tea bags are heat-sealed and made with fine mesh bags that you can dunk in hot water. Infusing these coffee tea bags in hot water for 3 -5 minutes will give you a great-tasting brew.
Once the coffee is to your liking, you can throw away the used coffee bag. That seems like a simple process, yet there are very few coffee bags similar to tea bags in the market.
Why is that?
5 Reasons Why it’s Hard to Find Coffee in Tea Bags
1. Popularity of Coffee Machines
While some people may feel using a coffee machine is tedious, most people think it’s an awesome method of brewing coffee.
Steeping coffee in a mug of hot water cannot compare to using a pour-over coffee maker, a drip coffee maker, an Espresso Maker, or a French Press.
Coffee machines extract all the flavor and aroma from coffee beans in a way that you can’t when using grounds in a tea bag. That’s why you cannot find many types of coffee in tea bag-style pouches.
2. The Existence of K Cups
While you may think coffee in a tea bag filter is a good idea, there are better ways to brew coffee fast.
A good example is by using K cups. They are the closest thing to coffee tea bags you can use to brew a good cup of coffee.
These individually packed coffee cups are used to prepare a brew like Drip coffee, Espresso, and even Lattes. They come in various flavors such as chocolate, hazelnut, and caramel and can prepare coffee in minutes.
However, you need a coffee machine to use them. And these machines are not always around, especially when you are on the road or at the office.
3. Coffee Tea Bags Brews Coffee with Residue
Most of the coffee tea bags in the market contain micro-ground coffee. The coffee dissolves when brewed, which is why these bags are usually single-serve coffee bags.
However, small particles known as residue or sediments find their way to the bottom of the cup when using coffee in tea bags. Therefore these coffee bags always end up making a brew with some sludge at the bottom.
That’s because the coffee bags are mesh-like with small holes that let small coffee particles through. That doesn’t happen when using coffee machines because they require filters.
Although that may not bother some people, it’s a health risk. Coffee sediments contain harmful compounds called kahweol and cafestol that can cause health problems. It’s the main reason we use filters when brewing coffee.
4. Coffee Tea Bags Are Expensive
Pre-made coffee tea bags are quite expensive. That may be because they are few and far between.
Very few companies pack coffee grounds like tea bags. Therefore, those that do charge much more than your average coffee drinker would like to pay for them.
You could get around this by making your own coffee tea bags. But that would require you to buy mesh bags, grind coffee beans, and fill them with coffee grounds. That’s a lot of work, which is what you are trying to avoid by using coffee tea bags in the first place.
However, making your own coffee pouches would be much cheaper than buying them. So try making your own if you are serious about using them.
5. Tea Bags Expose Coffee Grounds to Oxidation
Coffee in tea bags does not last long. These coffee bags dry out or get stale because they inevitably get moist or are exposed to oxygen and light through the tea mesh bag.
That’s one reason you are advised to store coffee grounds in air-tight containers. It keeps them fresh away from oxygen, moisture, and light for a short period.
However, there are single-serve coffee tea bags that are sealed in plastic bags like Folger’s, single-serve coffee tea bags.
Where Can You Find Coffee in Tea Bags?
Coffee has been sold in sachets for a long time as instant coffee, but that’s not to everyone’s liking.
Most coffee drinkers prefer coffee made from coffee beans or coffee grounds. That’s why the question,” Why doesn’t coffee come in tea bags?” is so common.
However, there are a few coffee tea bags in the market. A good example is the one drip coffee bag from Japan. It’s a flat sachet of coffee that unfolds to form a scaffold you can place over any mug or coffee cup.
The scaffold consists of a filter containing coffee grounds that you can pour hot water over whenever you need to make a cup of coffee.
Folger’s also produces single-serve coffee in tea filter bags. Some examples are Folgers medium roast single serve coffee bags and Caffe Borsa single serve hand drip coffee bags.
There are also coffee tea bags containing tea, such as Javazen brew bags. The tea in these coffee bags reduces coffee’s acidity, resulting in a smooth, unique tasting brew.
If you really need coffee in tea bags, these are examples of something similar that you can use when you are away from home. They are ideal for a road trip because you can use them to make coffee anywhere as long as you have hot water.
You don’t have to worry about grinding your coffee beans or cleaning up after yourself afterward. Once you steep your coffee tea bag in hot water for a few minutes, you can throw it away and enjoy your amazing brew.
Most of these coffee pouches are biodegradable; therefore, using them is an eco-friendly choice. You can compost them with your coffee grounds and add some nutrition to your garden soil.
How Does Coffee in Tea Bags Taste?
Coffee in tea bags should taste just like coffee made through immersion. It’s usually robust and full-bodied because the hot water extracts coffee from packed grounds as it does in a coffee machine. You only have to deal with some residue that passes through the tea bag mesh. And that can be eliminated by using coarse coffee grounds.
If you prefer using coffee in tea bags, why don’t you make your own? That will give you more control over the coffee beans and the size of coffee grounds in the tea bag.
All you need to make coffee in tea bags is unfilled, compostable tea mesh bags, your choice of coffee beans, and a burr grinder.
Grind the coffee beans to a coarse consistency, fill the mesh bags and seal them. That will give you a ready-made batch of coffee tea bags to use whenever you need a quick cup of coffee.
Conclusion
Now that you know there are coffee tea bags in the market, would you like to try them? You could also make some yourself. As you can see, they are an excellent way to make coffee fast.
Once you have a pack of these coffee tea bags, you can make coffee anywhere you find a mug of hot water.
However, you shouldn’t expect the same kind of brew from coffee in tea bags as you would get when brewing coffee in a French Press or automatic coffee maker.
But these bags are worth it for those days when you don’t have the time or energy to brew coffee using a machine.
