There are a number of different names for coffee and making sense of the differences between them can be confusing at times.
This post will show you how filter coffee differs from regular coffee, why you should or shouldn’t use it and how it differs from other types of coffee as well.
So, what is filter coffee? Filter coffee refers to coffee beans that have been roasted and ground. Unlike instant coffee, it is still necessary to filter the coffee away when making coffee with filter coffee.
Normal coffee can refer to the coffee beans themselves or it can refer to the coffee beans after having been roasted and ground as with filter coffee.
What filter coffee is
Below, I will show you what you can do with filter coffee, why or why not to use it and alternatives to consider.
What filter coffee can be used for
Filter coffee is designed to be used to make coffee with using any of the typical brewing methods such as via drip coffee or by using a french press.
It can also be used to make espresso which is the mixture that you get when you push pressurized and hot water through finely ground coffee.
However, filter coffee will normally have a coarse grind size meaning that it’s not very fine. This is good for making coffee with but espresso is meant to be made using a very fine grind size. By making espresso using filter coffee it is likely that you will end up with a very sour tasting espresso.
Instead of making espresso using filter coffee it would be better to use espresso roast. This is where the coffee beans are roasted for longer than with filter coffee and they are ground much more finely which makes it ideal for making espresso with.
Two common ways to make coffee using filter coffee are to either use a french press or to use the drip method.
To make coffee with the drip method you put the filter coffee into a paper filter, then you pour water into it and wait for the water to mix with the filter coffee and to drip down into a glass container below it.
It is easy to make coffee using the drip method. However, it is not so easy to control the strength of the coffee without changing the grind size.
A French press is a pot that has a plunger in it. To make coffee using a French press you put the filter coffee in it along with hot water, wait and then push down on the plunger and pour out the coffee.
The advantage of using a French press to make the coffee is that you can control the strength of the coffee by pushing down on the plunger sooner or later.
The French press that I would recommend the most would be this one on Amazon.
Advantages of filter coffee
There are a number of advantages to buying filter coffee instead of buying coffee beans.
The main advantage of getting filter coffee is that it will save you time. By getting filter coffee you will not need to roast the beans or grind them. This means that you will be able to reduce the time it takes you to make each coffee.
Additionally, you will not need to get a grinder if you just use filter coffee. This can help to save money. Another reason that it will help to save money is that filter coffee tends to be cheaper to buy than the beans. This is likely to be because the suppliers are able to make it in bulk due to a high demand but also because the beans used to make it tend to be Robusta beans which are less expensive.
Another advantage of buying filter coffee is that it is still fresh tasting especially compared to instant coffee.
Disadvantages of filter coffee
There are also a number of reasons that you might not want to buy ground coffee.
The first reason being that ground coffee does not have a long shelf life. If you leave it sealed in an air-tight container in a cool dry place (not a fridge) then you can reasonably expect it to last three months. However, to get the best taste out of it you’ll need to use it within three weeks.
Another disadvantage is that it won’t be as fresh compared to grinding the beans yourself. Instead of buying the beans already ground you could buy them after being roasted and then grind them just before you use them.
Additionally, you won’t be able to control the grind size if you buy filter coffee. Whereas, if you buy the beans instead, you can control how finely you grind them but you would have to grind them yourself so it would be more work for you.
There are also a wide variety of beans that you can buy and you could mix and match them as you please. However, with filter coffee, there isn’t as much variety.
The type of beans that are used to make filter coffee also tends to be lower quality Robusta beans with a darker roast. This means that the coffee that filter coffee will give you will tend to be more bitter since Robusta and dark roast beans have a bitter taste. If you don’t want the coffee to be bitter then it would be necessary for you to find filter beans made from Arabica that also have a light or medium roast but they tend to cost more.
Filter coffee vs instant coffee
Filter coffee is very similar to something else known as “instant coffee.” This is where the coffee is roasted, ground, brewed then dried and frozen. To make coffee using instant coffee it is only necessary for you to add water to it and then to stir. Whereas, with filter coffee, it will be necessary for you to filter the undissolved coffee away.
You might be thinking that instant coffee must be better than filter coffee then. However, brewing, drying and then freezing the instant coffee causes it to lose a lot of its flavor. This is not something that happens with filter coffee meaning that filter coffee will generally have a much fresher taste compared to instant coffee.
Should you buy the coffee beans and grind them yourself instead?
The grind size and type of beans that you use to make coffee with can actually have a large impact on the way that it tastes. Buying the beans and grinding them yourself will allow you to have full control over the size of the grind and the type of beans that you use. It will also allow for you to maximize the freshness and the tastiness of the coffee.
However, filter coffee still has a fresh taste and there are different grind sizes that you can buy. You also won’t have to worry about grinding them too finely or coarsely.
