by At Beans and Burrs, we are amateur coffee lovers. We intend to write coffee reviews in a way that makes sense to regular coffee drinkers. All opinions expressed here are our own.
I started this blog to help everyone who enjoys a good cup of coffee that preparing good fresh coffee is affordable and not as difficult as many think. If you follow my articles, you get my contempt for “convenient” solutions like pods and capsules that favor convenience at the detriment of quality. When Natalie and Melody from Hangover Coffee contacted us to propose sending us a trial box of their pre-packaged pour-over baskets, I was initially skeptical. After looking at their website, I was intrigued. They seemed to care about the fundamentals of making a good coffee cup. I decided to give it a try. What if they propose a solution that genuinely combines convenience and quality? Let us find out.
What is Hangover Coffee?
In their words: “The simplest way to brew a fresh premium cup of coffee! We make single-serve Pour-Over Pouches – filter bags filled with coffee grounds that can hang over any cup.”
“They are ultraportable, require no specialized equipment to brew, and stay fresh for a year. We source 100% specialty grade, single-origin coffee, so you never have to sacrifice quality for convenience. Hangover Coffee is perfect for small kitchens, dorm life, travel, or just a busy day!”
Who are they?
After traveling in Asia, two roommates (Natalie and Melody) returned with suitcases full of coffee pouches. They loved their simplicity and quality, but they were hard to find in the USA. And that was their aha moment! Hangover Coffee was born.
In their words: “As roommates, we’ve spent many mornings scrambling over each other in our tiny San Francisco kitchen, trying to brew a cup of coffee before our first meetings. We were so excited to find the perfect solution overseas and share it with everyone here.”
My review of Hangover Coffee
We received a trial pack that contains three pouches of their Ethiopian Guji Light Roast (Happy Hour) and two pouches of their Nicaragua Jinotega Medium Roast (Breakfast Buzz).
Candidly, this is the only pre-packaged coffee I would recommend to anyone who cares about good coffee. Hangover Coffee does not force me to compromise between convenience and quality. It is super easy to take anywhere and brew. However, unlike any “convenient” solution, the result is at the level of a cup from a specialty coffee shop. There are three reasons for the delicious cup.
- It is evident that they use good quality coffee; the coffee smells fresh and delicious when you open the pouch. When closely looking at the coffee, the other noticeable thing is that it is properly ground, perfectly even, which will help get an even extraction. “Our coffee is roasted to order and quickly packaged after grinding to ensure freshness.”
- The big one for me: they put the perfect quantity (13g for a 200ml cup, which is approximately the 1:15 coffee to water ratio that I use for a pour-over). The temptation would be huge for many businesses to reduce the cost by skimping on the coffee dose, they chose to do it right.
- The suspended basket lets you pour your hot water perfectly and achieve an excellent extraction. I had the trial pack; the Nicaragua Jinotega (Breakfast Buzz): balanced, fragrant, sweet. I found the Ethiopia Guji (Happy Hour) a little light for my taste (I would have ground it finer given it’s a light roast) but a fine coffee nonetheless.
Another benefit of these baskets’ design is that it has less impact in the landfill than a single dose pod made of plastic or aluminum.
The bottom line
Hangover Coffee did not disappoint me! I was curious to try their product, and they didn’t force me to compromise between convenience and quality. All you need is two minutes of your time, a kettle, and a coffee cup. I was impressed with the result. It will not replace my gear and my fresh beans in my daily routine, but it is an ideal travel solution. I always plan to keep a few pouches in my suitcase to enjoy a cup of coffee meeting my standard in my hotel room.
If you are a Pour-Over fan, this fantastic article is for you: How to Get the Best Out of High-Quality Coffee Beans? Use the Pour-Over Method
