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Among the ‘non-connoisseurs’ of coffee, making a great tasting brew can either appear as straight forward as pouring boiling water as you would with tea or it can appear quite mystical with all the different blends and roasts, never mind the coffee machines of varying designs with switches and levers, filters and pots!
The simplest and most common process of making coffee is ‘Instant’. In decades past, the Israelis drank an ‘instant’ made from pulverized coffee beans and a little sugar. This was popularly known as ‘Botz’. Once drank the coffee grounds clang to the bottom of the cup leaving a muddy substance, hence the name Botz which means mud! It was a very easy brewing method, but the drinker needed a stomach lined with lead even to stomach it, let alone enjoy it!
As all connoisseurs of coffee know, there is an art of coffee making. If coffee is to live up to its aromatic promise it must be made with love and respect with each part of the process – from brewing to serving. There are many methods of coffee making, each having their advocates. Whether it is for the taste of your coffee, aroma, lifestyle of just habit – connoisseurs of the perfect roast, each have a favorite way of brewing, just because they admire and love it so much.
Before falling victim of just one brewing technique, try them all and see which one suits you and your lifestyle best. But that being said, there is no shame for sticking to one particular style – even if you are just using one of the latest espresso machines or coffee makers. Your expertise could one day serve the greater good at the local fair! You never know.
A cup of espresso coffee, known for its distinctively deep aromatic flavor, is probably the most popular brew to be drank in coffee shops all around the world. A decade or two ago, the French Press or plunger method (the cafetiere) was the most popular way to drink coffee in the home. In fact, I think my own is at the back of the kitchen cupboard somewhere – but that was replaced with a beautiful stainless steel Kenwood!
The roaster has already ‘cooked’ your pre-brewed aromatic delight, and your coffee grounds have been born from the grinder, so all that is left now is for them to be dissolved in hot water. Brewing is a matter of two principles – boiling or infusion. The abundance of makers, machines and devices including vacuum pot, pressure, filtration, pumping and percolation and steeping are all based on this idea.
Infusion
This method serves to preserve the best aroma of the cup and the maximum flavor. Boiled water is poured over the thirsty constituents of the cup, when the temperature has cooled somewhat, which extracts the caffeine and releases the aroma without driving it away, as when boiled.
Boiling
Most people are unaware that when boiling water is poured over coffee grounds, a partial decomposition of the grounds causes a slight bitter taste as the aroma (caffeol) is distilled from the cup! However, drinking ‘instant’ is normal for most people anywhere in the world and the ‘bitterness’ has become an ‘acquired taste’, or is it just a habit stipulated by time constraints of the modern ‘nanosecond’ world? In fact when it is strong, a cup of java provides that extra kick or stimulation from the caffeine, which compensates for the lack of aroma. This loss of flavor, is usually and sadly substituted by sugar.
TIP: Try using slightly cooled boiled water.
The Plunger Method
The French Press method of coffee making is done by putting the required amount of perfect ground beans in a pre-heated (with boiling water) glass thermal carafe. Nearly boiling water is added, then stirred. This fusion is then left to steep for around four minutes, before being stirred one more time. The plunger filter is then gently pushed down as far as it will go, pushing the grounds to the bottom of the beaker and is ready for serving.
The Coffee Drip and Filter Method
Originally devised by the Archbishop of Paris (Jean Baptiste) de Belloy in 1800, it was just called the Drip Method (or percolateur). A cone-shaped filter or fine cloth bag removes the sediment of the grounds, resulting in the perfectly flavored brew.
Most modern filter machines are based on this technique, because it is reliable and more so, a convenient way of brewing.
The Vacuum Method
History of the Vacuum method of coffee making – A Scottish marine engineer invented the first vacuum pot in 1840. It was a magical looking contraption – A silver globe, a syphon and a strainer over a mixing bowl. It was a world favorite at one time because of its aesthetically enlightening and charismatic appeal. The glass container showed off the brewing coffee, with its changing colors and mixes as it infused.
This really is the forgotten method of making coffee, replaced by the percolator in the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century. Cold water is placed into the lower bowl and placed on a heat source, usually a stove or an electrical hot plate. The filter basket is placed in the upper funnel and the fresh coffee grounds added. The funnel is then placed over the lower bowl and sealed tightly and the ‘contraption’ is brought to the boil! Once the steam has risen into the funnel through a pipe, the mixture is stirred.
The water is left in the ‘brewer’ over the heat for a few minutes, then the whole pot is removed from the heat source and left to cool. Low Pressure develops in the lower pot like a vacuum, causing the hot brew to be sucked back down into the lower pot. This is then used as a serving pourer.
