The filter is plant fiber and corn starch. The wrapper is uncoated kraft. The box is the box. Bury the whole thing in the garden and it's soil in 8–12 weeks in a home compost bin — faster in a hot pile.
§ The full method
How to actually
get this right.
The short version is on every bag: tear, soak, wait, lift. This is the long version — what each step is doing, why it matters, and what to do if the cup still isn't right.
Water temp
93°C — just off the boil
Ratio
1 filter : 220ml water
Time
5 minutes
Same method for every blend and roast — light, medium, or dark. Nothing to adjust.
Light
Medium
Dark
§ Step by step
The long version.
01
Tear.
Open the notch at the top and tear straight across in one clean motion. No scissors, no sawing back and forth.
Why it matters — A single clean tear keeps the filter's side seams intact. Ragged tears can weaken the paper lower down and let grounds sift into your cup later.
02
Soak.
Hang the paper tab over the rim of your mug so the filter hangs freely inside it, then pour hot water through until the bag is fully submerged. Give it 10–15 seconds to bloom before topping off.
Why it matters — Water that's genuinely off the boil — around 93°C — extracts the coffee's sugars without scorching them into bitterness. Water that's too cool under-extracts and tastes thin.
03
Wait.
Five minutes, start to finish. Don't stir it, don't press it, don't peek early — set a timer and walk away.
Why it matters — The filter does slow, even extraction the whole time. Pull it early and you get a thin, sour cup; leave it in longer and you start pulling out bitter compounds.
04
Lift.
Lift the filter out by the tab, give it one gentle press against the side of the mug to catch the last drops, then set it aside to compost.
Why it matters — Squeezing hard forces bitter tannins out along with the coffee. One gentle press is enough — a hard wring is where a lot of bitterness complaints actually come from.
§ If it's not right
Fix the cup.
It tastes weak
You probably pulled the filter early, or the water wasn't hot enough. Give it the full five minutes with water just off the boil (93°C), and make sure the filter was fully submerged the whole time — not just floating on top.
It tastes bitter
Usually over-steeped, or the filter got squeezed too hard on the way out. Stick to five minutes exactly, and give it one gentle press against the mug instead of a wring.
It tastes sour or thin
That's almost always water that's too cool, or a rushed steep. Off-the-boil water (93°C) and the full five minutes fixes it nearly every time.
There's sediment in my cup
The filter likely tore during the pour. Tear along the notch in one clean motion at the start, and avoid squeezing the bag once it's out of the water.
What if my mug is bigger than 220ml?
One filter is dialed in for about 220ml — a standard mug. Adding more water to the same filter just dilutes it, so for a bigger mug either top up with a splash of hot water after steeping and accept it's a little lighter, or use a second filter side by side for a full mug or small pot.
Why use a timer instead of just eyeballing it?
Because a minute either way is the difference between weak, right, and bitter. Eyeballing it works once you've made a few hundred cups — until then, five minutes on a timer is more reliable than a guess.
Can I re-steep the same filter?
You can, but the second cup will be noticeably weaker. We'd rather you use a fresh filter and compost the first one — that's exactly what they're built for.
Still stuck? Email us at info@offline-coffee.com