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Samantha Reichman is an intern on CNN Early Start and Starting Point. She is a senior at The College of William and Mary, a coffee fiend and a trained barista. She blogs at Alimentación. All pictures taken at Blue Bottle Coffee in Manhattan. As local coffee culture seems to be approaching critical mass, the need for a superior, distinctive product is becoming even more pressing. Caffeine aficionados are also experiencing a phase of experimentation. Myriad styles of coffee preparation and presentation combined with selective sourcing allow for unprecedented levels of personal flair. But can individuality truly be achieved at an espresso bar? It was only adopted by coffee epicures and American roasting companies in the past decade, and the time constraints of many customers have prevented the practice from taking off, especially in grab-and-go-style businesses. The practice gained exponentially more buzz last year when the New York Times examined the origin of the pour-over. In all, the process takes three to four minutes to complete, and the wait is worth it. The benefits of pour-over compared to other brewing tactics lie in the timing and control in the wrist. Infusing the ground coffee for the correct length of time with a controlled hand will produce a fuller, fruity taste, often accented with floral notes. Take a minute (or two...or three...) and steep in this beginner's tutorial on brewing a single cup of glorious coffee via the pour-over method. Supplies you'll need: - Fresh coffee (roasted under two weeks week prior to brewing) Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Pause long enough in order to let the grounds settle, then begin pouring again until the scale has reached about 515 grams in total (Note: grams of water also differs based on grams of coffee). Step 8 Step 9 (Optional) Keep in mind that perfecting the pour-over process is personal. Yes, a particular portion of water will enrich the flavor of the coffee in a specific way, but each individual also maintains a unique palate. Practice your steady, even pouring technique at intervals that you prefer and you will be just fine, says this barista. Previously - Want great coffee for less? Take matters into your own hands |
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I threw out all coffee making stuff that had smelly plastic. I use a wide stainless tea strainer with a very fine mesh, moisten the coffee with some of the not quite boiling water, wait a bit, and then ladle the rest slowly over the grinds. I wouldn't be caught dead using paper filters, good grief. All that yummy oil and flavor LOST.
I have been using a Melitta since the 70s, but only when I want to make one cup. I take it on trips for a cup in my room or tent. It's always nice, but not worth the fuss or bother if I need to make more than one cup of coffee. Now, with coffee pods, it's easier to make single cups, but that requires another countertop appliance.
There is an hourglass shape glass coffee maker, brand name Chemex, that was popular in the 1950s and is still being made today. You fold a circular sheet of filter paper into a cone, place it into the top half of the Chemex and proceed as described in the Samantha Reichman recipe. Matter of fact, that is the exact recipe that Chemex has been providing with their coffee maker the past 60 years or so. Nice to see it's being rediscovered.
I live in palm beach and I want to make my house look more of a country home. We are one 1 1/2 acres and my house is painted cream with a brown roof. We jhave a huge circle driveway and have a fence that is not in front but is in the middle of the yard. It is wood with flowers and bushes as landscape. How do I make if look more country and friendly?.
Check it out.
My European-born Mom got a Melitta filter in the 1970s with her S & H Green Stamps that she saved up for over a year. It was the new thing at the time and she loved it. It made the best coffee, and even though she went on to use a Mr. Coffee type machine in her later years, I've always used a Melitta filter. It takes a few more minutes, but when you're serving a great cup to your loved one in the morning, it's just more love added to the mix. I use basket filters instead of the funnel type. Open the basket filter, fold it into a half circle, and then in half again, fitting it down into the Melitta basket, moisten the filter, dump the water from that, then add coffee and pour slowly, getting all the coffee soaked, as suggested in this article. Basket filters are cheaper and the flow is better. Enjoy! And a Bon Appetit from my late Mom.
I've been making my coffee at home like this for almost 30 years. Where's the news?
Melitta Bentz, a housewife from Dresden, Germany, invented pour-over brewing in 1908. Today, the Melitta Company remains family owned and a worldwide leader in coffee and coffee preparation.
I had pour over coffee served to me in Vietnam. Although it tasted fine, it was served over ice, which is a substance to be avoided in that country. After losing 6 pounds in one evening as a consequence of having coffee prepared in this manner, I think it will be many years before I get brave enough to try it again. LOL
Chris, you should definitely try it again! No ice, just great beans to start....there is no bitterness or acidity to the coffee. It is smooth and delicious. I can actually drink a pour over black and really enjoy it! Good luck!
This is how I make it when I camp.
Just for the record I tried this stuff years ago, before it became all trendy and hipster, at a place in Marina Del Rey, CA called Joni's. The men serving me spoke Spanish and were the friendliest and least pretentious guys around. By my second visit they knew my name. I remember thinking that the pour over method made a delicious cup of coffee and if I lived in LA I would be spending a lot of money at Joni's.
Agree with Chuck. This is the simplest and best way to make coffee. The modern technique is descended from Melita but the technique goes back to the origins of coffee in Ethiopia in the first place. I have estimated my cost as about 10 cents per cup including the coffee and paper filter, grinder, kettle and filter cone. This intern has just demonstrated that journalism majors usually know nothing about the subjects they write about.
What kind of shallow research did this writer do?
Mrs. Melitta Bentz patented this in Germany in 1908, over a hundred years ago!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melitta
This is the one-cup version of using a Chemex Coffee maker – the only way that I make coffee.. If you don't know Chemex look at http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com.
We still have our glass and wood Chemex from the seventy's, but we use the little Melita singles when it's just us.
Hope you don't mind, but... I admit, I mix my donkey's semen, urine and dung into the beans before making my bean deliveries.
Obama sent federal agents wearing masks into San Diego to terrorize law-abiding cancer patients and shut down all state sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries and gave assault rifles to drug cartels. Obama is a thug.
This has nothing to do with Obama. Nor did he cut whatever from Medicare. If the GOP gets back in office then you'll see Medicare disappear.
Sorry to burst your bubble Earl, according to the GAO, Obama cut over 740 billion dollars from Medicare... he wants old people to rot.
Obama cut 700 billion dollars from medicare – Obama is a terrorist.
Can I use my EBT to gets me sum of dat really good coffee from da sto? I be using my Obama phone to call dem MF's first to make sho dat I can buy dat good schitt wiff my EBT card. You know whut I'm sayin?
No. Just sayin'...
Eatocracy has gone from interesting and a little snooty to downright new-age pretentious. The article prior to this gem is about pairing wine with potato chips. For the record, potato chips pair perfectly with cheap beer, coffee is best made with a drip coffee maker or a french press. We don't need to invent new ways to be pretentious.
Pretentious, eh? To quote Fezzik, "I do not think it means what you think it means." Definition: attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.
The articles in this blog are posted to teach, inform and generate readership. How someone uses that information determines pretentiousness – not the article itself. Where else would you go for food news & information and new ways to combine flavors? The entertainment section? This is a food blog, genius. They're doing exactly what they're supposed to do.
Actually, that line was said by Inigo.
"Anybody want a peanut?"
If mon is a Holliday and you took a vacation day on fri, you just got a 4 day weekend (aka, a trip to Vegas) for the cost of 1 vacation day. If you already have all the stuff to brew a decent cup of coffee isn't it worth the additional 4 mins to brew a great cup? Minimal additional input, potential for maximal output. Starving 3rd world kids and internet trolls will still be the same regardless of your level of input....
I know all of this sounds fussy, but don't knock it until you try it! It actually does taste different when it is made this way. I tried it on a lark, and was blown away. I'm not one for noticing subtle shifts in taste (including wine – I never get when people say there are "notes of peaches" or something of the like. I can never taste the darn thing). However, the first time I tried pour over coffee it tasted like coffee infused with violets. Where I live it's the same price as a cup of regular, plain coffee you would get at Starbucks. It's a nice treat every now and then and it reminds me of the joy that one can get with food / drink when you really taking the time to enjoy and experience taste.
so true...take the time
I really thought this was some kind of joke. Are you absolutely freaking kidding me? Ohhhh it all is soooo precious and self absorbed.
To each his or her own. I'll never understand why some people care so much about baseball stats or video games, but it doesn't take anything away from me if they do. So long as no one is forcing you to participate, isn't it nice that some people can find joy in a ritual like this? I'm all for people finding their happy wherever they can.
And it does make really good coffee.
This is truly, truly sad - I can appreciate subtleties in foods and delicate flavors and all of that, but seriously, how far are we going to take this stuff?? There are people who would be happy to lick the leftover dregs of a burnt pot of gas station coffee and we are worried about "pouring slowly in circular motions while blooms are settling and measuring the grams of water and pre-infusing" and, blah blah blah??? If you read this article and got to the bottom and said to yourself, "oh wow that sounds great i need to try this!" Shame on you!!
Seriously? You're upset that some people might not be bothered by spending a few extra minutes and a few extra bucks on supplies to make a better cup of coffee? If you're so pressed for time, then just drink instant coffee but don't judge those of us who indulge in small luxuries. I repeat: small luxuries. Spending $5000 on a watch when a $100 watch would suffice is snobbish. Spending $100,000 for a luxury sedan is snobbish. This is just COFFEE.
And I agree that there are those in need who would love to have cheaply made coffee. So what? Give them some, too! Nobody's stopping other people from helping those in need AND maintaining a modest level of comfort.
Have a little perspective. And if this is too much work for you, then don't do it. But don't criticize those who take the time to give themselves a treat. And no, I haven't tried this... but if I do, I don't think I'll need a gram scale. That's a little overboard for me personally but you won't see me criticizing someone who does have one (unless it's made of solid gold, then I'll roll my eyes).
The upside of this is ...coffee can actually taste good while you drink it and you'll get off on it more..and its cheap..beyond all the bullsh!t such as wording hype gram scales. also, coffee makers are in the same note complete bullshit. coffee sitting for more than a freaking minute goes bad. truth. its not that people are sensitive about coffee,,,its that coffee is sensitive, and it then attracts alot of flowery aroma """ around this bloom. and the one cup coffee makers dont work. they have design flaws and then youve wasted money. okay ..read it slowly, fast, flowery, whatever. Either lick coffee grinds off of the sides of mudflaps or do ghetto style for a chopstick and drink the damn coffee right motherfluppers
For crying out loud people, talk about first world problems
Coffee is one of the magical beverages in which great discussions such as first world problems take place over. Coffee has a history in ceremony and you know this. Brainstorming sessions, problem-solving, receiving important dignitaries, peace talks.... coffee is often right there.
That's right, once we live in the first world, we should never try to improve our lives ever.
First world problems are solved after drinking third world coffee.
Buy an old non-electric Corningware percolator at a tag sale and throw away the "guts." Boil water, throw in a scoop of coffee. turn off pot after all grains are wet, let settle five minutes or so, and strain. Great coffee.
Amen
Try a metal cone filter so all the oils remain.
Dang, just show us a video!
Julian Assange is having his coffee now! He has been accepted in Ecuador, so says all news but CNN. So his coffee from now will be some of the best.
lol....I honestly thought this was a joke
it is freakin' coffee people!
Born in raised in Seattle....have parents and grandparents who still drink it by the pot full.
I can't stand the stuff but have a husband who likes it....you waste a lot of time and money drinking this pretentious crap. I guess you got money and time to burn thinking your gov't is going to hand you a new lifestyle of free crap with big O-Change in office.
calm down honey..smiles
I think you have valid points! Me, I'm a Folgers guy. Seattle? really? all your life?
Tell me...What is it with your state? Why so "Blue"? Politically speaking...
Must be the same reason I can't win a bet here in Las Vegas on your teams.
Don't get me wrong tho! I am in your corner..
Home brewed coffee,at home, from a stove top? Not expensive at all! It's even better for the environment!
– quote –
you waste a lot of time and money drinking this pretentious crap
– end quote –
One thing about life is if you enjoy something, it's not wasting money.
The pretentious part, no more pretentious than double barreled whiskey. It's just more work for a more appreciated taste.
Since you don't like it, you're not a key demographic of this product.
I'll use my Keurig for a perfect cup every time. Plenty of variety and perfect blend.
Keurig machines brew the same low quality, under-infused, stale coffee perfectly every time, yes.
Same here. Doesn't taste stale to me. There are several varieties that are very good.
Get ready, America. If Mitt Romney and "Medicare" Ryan get elected, this is the kind of job you'll be lucky to have.
That's what I got demoted to when Obama took over...then went on welfare!!
Now that's funny Jim!
smiles...
but you know what tho?...it's true! Many men and women as well as young adults can make that same statement.
There's an old saying........"It's funny, cuz it's true"..
good eye
ps,
He and Reid have turned Las Vegas into a ghost town. Needless to say have shut down many businesses which took away the health care we "did" have...You Democrats are bigots and are the reason i changed to Independent.
Yeah, and the wacko you elected, a guy who has never held a real job, has really taken care of things, hasn't he?
As to coffee..I crack up at those who sniff it like it was a glass of wine. Pour me a cup of Folgers and I'm fine but leave the foo-foo creamers out of it.
Too much work to make just one cup of coffee.
I brew my coffee in one pot, worm the milk in the other pot. Pour the hot coffee to the pot with milk and pour the coffee mixture back to the empty pot and repeat it a few times. Viola it tastes fantastic! The key is the mike must be worm not cold from the fridge. I learnt this technic from a Japanese chef to make milk tea in youtube.
I'm not a fan of Walmart but their coffee is better than those so called glamour expensive ones, also the Oakhurst milk taste much better than other brand names also only from Walmart.
Where do you find the worm milk at?
Hey, have you ever tried miling one of those little creepy things? It ain't easy!
"got worm" milk
I thought I was the only one who enjoyed worm milk in my coffee!
I bet that would be great to do. But using a regular percolator that releases just the exact amount of water through what I know to be the exact amount of coffee for six cups, is just dandy great too.
don't mind me..
was just trying to stir things up a bit.
However...For the "love" of coffee it did replace tea long back..and is the number one beverage of the world..
Whether you like it poured fast or savor every moment...either way it's always good to the last drop..unless you married someone who does't know how to make good coffee...
I make pour-over coffee in a 4 oz carafe every day. After trying many different brewing techniques and apparatuses, I find it is the easiest and most consistent way to get good coffee without a lot of mess (or parts) to clean up. I highly recommend it.
I drink coffee to wake up. No way I can manage this routine before I have had my coffee. Where are you, my lovely french press?
las vegas! my fine grind!
smiles..
I sometimes think that if some of overly serious coffee drinkers had to take a blind taste test comparing the tastes of their various cofee prep gimmicks, they wouldnt be able to accurately know which was which. The whole thing seems to be more about imbuing coffee with ritual so as to create an experience, rather than something that truly adjusts the taste itself.
You can do the same thing with a coffee maker, just drink it right away. That's why it tastes better.
I use a regular coffe maker also but leave the pot off until water fills coffe grounds about half way the pace pot on maker. With mine I can also stir the grounds as it is brewing.
My servants don't do pour-over.
Geez i didn't know it had a fancy name. We've been doing this over the campfire for decades here in Minnesota...
Personally the pour over is only good if you have fresh roasted single origin beans. I use an Aeropress, Moka Pot, or French press. If I want a good espresso, I don't go to Starbucks, I'll find a good local coffee shop in the city I'm in to get a good cup of coffee. For me it is not about the caffeine, but about the taste of the coffee. I totally agree with Samantha Reichman's article if you are using fresh roasted single origin beans at 24 hours and no more than 14 days old and grind at the time of use. This makes an excellent cup of coffee. Talk to you later, going to make a fresh cup now!
not to 'making' this into more than what it is...but it seems that 'coffee' is much like a 'relationship'..there's always seems to be a spoon of something involved...or whatever you prefer in your mix.
my last comment is being 'filtered'..I was laughing whist writing..
I LOVE coffee, and take it fairly seriously. I have a French Press, a couple different auto drips, a percolator, and a pour over cone.
I find the pour over to be the best of the bunch and use it daily. I rarely if ever use any of the other methods I have to make my coffee.
As the article states, grind your own, have some patience, and enjoy. The 4 minutes or so it takes to make a mug of coffee are WELL worth it in my opinion.
you live in NY? i assume you are a lady..
Nope, you assume wrong. Definitely a man (who loves women only by the way), and live in Kansas. I just know how to appreciate a great cup of coffee.
laughing...it's cool...wouldn't have guessed Kansas tho. Ol' Bean..
I didn't even have the patience to read the entire article, much less do all that for a cup of coffee...
just what i also like, fast girls who can read right away, a quick sip of coffee and get down to business...wink
When I was only a year old I began my 'coffee quest', going around and hitting the adults cups of joe. I voted 'other' because I became 'familiar' with 'what makes' great coffee long ago. Personally I favored the old ceramic Corning percolator which did very much the same thing.
nothing beats a cup from a french press. Why dilute the flavor through a piece of paper?
STARBUCKS ROAST TENDS TO BE BITTER DEPENDING ON THE ROAST... WHEN MIXING WITH SELECTO OR CAFE CREMA (WHICH IS SWEETER BEAN), IT BALANCES IT BEING SO PUNGEANT AND IT MAKES IT A MUCH MILDER, PLEASANT AND EVEN WITH A SWEETER TASTE...
I HAVE HAD MANY OF MY FRIENDS, COMPLIMENTING IT... SAYING THAT THIS BY FAR HAS BEEN THERE BEST CUP OF COFFEE EVER..
I enjoy a good cup of Joe in the morning. After I finish with him, then I have some coffee if there is enough time left.
What a load of BS for a cup of coffee. Drink a freaking Coca-Cola and get over yourself with your $5 Starsucks.
Ill stick to tea after reading this.
It's a drink, not a job.
I barely held concentration long enough to read this article....This coffee method is not for me
That's how I make coffee when I go camping. Tastes great!
Nah..... Just give me my instant coffee while I am still bleary-eyed in the morning and I'm a happy camper. Pop that puppy in the microwave and there you have it: Instant awake!
I make drip coffee in the morning for work...I own a moka pot and make coffee that way...I do the pour over coffee when I am traveling or deployed overseas. I go to a coffeeshop for espresso or cappucino. I like coffee.
This is a bunch of bullcrap. If you've got sh*tty coffee, none of this junk will make it taste good. And if you've got good coffee, you won't need this.
Been doing this for at least 10 years - you need to check with Melita .... aaaaaa ... this isn't something new!
Thank you! My dad used a single cone filter all my childhood, 40 years ago. Just because they're suddenly doing this at coffeehouses, and charging a lot of money for it, doesn't make it "new."
@Anne–I agree, not new. My first coffee pot back in 1977 was a Melita with the hand-pour cone filter thingy.
This is a secret?? You must be kidding! I've been making coffee this way for over 30 years, ever since I was a teenager (in Canada). My wife says that is the way they always made coffee when she lived in Germany. It only takes a few minutes. Far, far better than anything made in a machine. Worth it. Maybe Americans are just slow, or lazy, or both (of course, if you are drinking 10 cups a day, your boss may start to wonder where you are at if you are spending an hour a day making coffee! :-).
Cheers!
This is an adaptation of the method my parents used to make coffe. They used a simple drip pot. Boiled water goes into the top container and the water is slowly dripped through the coffe below. Perfect coffee every time. The "Uncle Bens" of coffee brewing!
Except that there are more factors than hot water and dripping. Water flow and temperature are extremely crucial to proper extraction. 90% of automatic home drip machines simply do not heat the water to a high enough temperature (as the article said 200 avg) for ideal extraction. Factor in the fact that the majority of people don't use the proper grind with a drip machine and you get hot brown water with hints of weak coffee notes. Side by side taste test will shoe you that they're not the same.
Source: Artisan barista at a well-known Cincinnati coffee shop/roastery for two years. I really don't want to sound pretentious, there is plenty of that in the coffee industry, but the fact is the majority of American's subsist on bad coffee and that includes Starbuck's. There are amazing, complex coffees out there, and once you've had them, not only will you understand, but you'll never go back.
gerard is not talking about a machine. He is talking about a coffee pot that is several pieces, made of tempered glass. The bottom is the actual pot that the coffee ends up in, then the filter, then the receptacle for the hot water. You boil the water separately and pour it in. The shape and diameter of the top part regulated the flow of the water onto the grounds.
Just use an AeroPress, people who know better have been using them for years.
If you like this method you really should try a Vietnamese Phin Drip Filter, easy to adjust to personal taste and is a lot of fun.
If anybody wants to try they sell the cone at Williams-Sonoma for $12 and the filters too (50 for $4). These directions are basically straight out of the little instruction book that comes with the cone.
When visting Japan back in 2005 and staying at a Marriott, the room came with what I called Origami Coffee and an electric kettle. You would open this packet of coffee (not instant) and follow the directions to get the paper "sides" to balance on your empty coffee cup (very similar to origami instructions). You'd boil your water in the kettle and slowly pour over the balanced coffee contraption. Those cups of coffee were WONDERFUL! I even took a few extra packets back home with me at the end of the trip.
"Try this trick..." - Is CNN heading towards the tabloid realm like Yahoo already has?
This is the way a large number of people across the world drinks coffee. In India especially in the South, it is called a decoction or filter coffee. We have a pour over filter to make a decoction which is then mixed with milk and sugar for a great coffee. We also add Chicory extract to get a better flavor, something which I have never seen in the US. Indian coffee is also sometime flavored with aromatic spices or herbs.
Hey, Fab, if you're not interested in an article, why feel the compulsion to click on it and take the time to leave such an unnecessary and worthless comment? That bored with your life?
I like an occasional cappuccino too, but for the most part stick to plain ol' coffee. Is it *really* necessary to refine the coffee experience to this level? Cant people just be satisfied with a cup of coffee without all this insanity? Is the difference between the two really worth the additional environmental and economic costs? Seems really silly to take it to this level.
I thought that until I tried a pour-over. Holy cow! For the most part, I drink bad office machine coffee or what I brew at home, but the pour-over is like nothing I'd ever had before. Think of it as a once in a while treat. Grocery store cheddar...deli Swiss...fast food American...zOMG Epoisse and Rogue River Blue.
Treat yo self!
I've had French Press coffee before and it was outstanding. However, I guess I don't have the patience to deal with the intricacies of a pour over routine. Perhaps if someone made it for me I would try it.
The best of both worlds. I love this device:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-brewers/filtercones/clever-coffee-dripper-large.html
This is why God made the French Press. What a buncha rigamarole.
I like my coffee like I like my women: dark and bitter.
I love my Bodum portable french press. VERY tasty.
Don't do the pour-over!!! Take the time and make a french press - it's the best, hands down. Go into Starbucks, they'll make you one.
If you can stand the taste of Starbucks coffee...
No thanks. I don't like BurntBucks coffee.
"Don't people have better things to do?"
Perhaps making time to concentrate on doing something, however mundane, with a willing effort at the best quality that can be achieved is ultimately the "better thing to do"?
Is doing something just 'good enough' more valuable? I'm not so sure.
It can be a philosophy about life, you know, not just about brewing a cup of coffee.
hardly a revolutionary ida
Wow, I've been making coffee like a hipster for years! Who knew "didn't bother buying a new auto drip" was the Next Big Thing?
Vastly inferior to the French press.
I used to brew all my coffee in a press until I bought a V60.. I find a French Press tends to produce a more full bodied cup and will still use mine if I have a medium/darker roast (which is not often these days). V60s produce far more nuanced cups that truly showcase a quality coffees subtle complexities that you just won't be able to replicate in a French Press. I'd also recommend playing around with an Aeropress if you like French Pressed coffee. All the body of a press while still delivering the delicious complexities of a quality light roast.
I go across the street for my coffee...
i go down the street for mine...
I go kinda diagonally across. Well, sometimes I zig-zag, depending on traffic.
For people with nothing better to do, I guess.
Perhaps making time to concentrate on doing something, however mundane, with a willing effort at the best quality that can be achieved is ultimately the "better thing to do"?
Is doing something just 'good enough' more valuable? I'm not so sure.
It can be a philosophy about life, you know, not just about brewing a cup of coffee.
Its coffee.....sure there can be a difference between bargin bin crap and good beans. But babying a cup of coffie with pour techniques and other such nonsense. Sure it might make some kinda subtle difference. But id be wiling to bet in a blind taste test no one would tell the difference.
People this into coffee, have problems.....
The brew makes a difference. And, as you say, the beans makes the biggest difference.
For me, often times it's just the ritual of the process that's engaging.
Brewing the coffee is a gradual way to start the morning. And I never rush it, so it allows me to stay relaxed yet focused.
I'm not surprised this technique is Japanese. They like to make strict ritual out of the mundane things in life and give details focus that otherwise would go ignored.
Also, I'd argue that people that are unable or unwilling to focus on the details of your environment "have problems."
A moderate pace in life equals a higher quality of life.
Just sayin'.
The same could be said about wine.. Or beer... Or steak.. Or anything for that matter. There is a difference. And believe it or not, some people do appreciate quality.
TRY MIXING EQUAL AMOUNTS STARBUCKS DARK ROAST WHOLE BEANS AND CAFE SELECTO FROM PUERTO RICO GRIND BEANS AND THEN PLACE IT IN COFFEE MAKER WETHER IS SLOW DRIP OR A REGULAR ONE WITH AS MANY CUPS OF SPRING SPRING WATER IN THE RECEPTICLE AS YOU MAY NEED...
AND VOILA!!! IT IS INDEED THE BEST COFFEE YOU HAVE EVER TASTED!
No. It's not.
It's the best for you perhaps, but a Starbucks blend with another rather generic brand coffee is never going to be better than a finely roasted Ethiopian Grade 1 Yirga Cheffe.
Sorry, it's just not gonna be anywhere close.
Try mixing equal amounts
This is not new or pretentious (unless one cops attitude). I have been making coffe this way for 20 years at home, one cup at a time. I don't like the way coffee maker-coffee tastes, sort of metal-ly...Melita brand coffee (they're in the coffee aisle) makes 1- cup filters and drippers. You can grind or use pre-ground. Any coffee you like is great. Starbucks, Cafe Bustelo and Cafe Lallave are my faves. It doesn't take THAT long to make – just the time it takes to heat the water and drip takes 30 seconds. No big deal, just yummy.
Noa Noa coffee in Golden, CO.
Just use regular drip coffeemaker. More coffee + less water = richer taste
This is the 21st Century....we want are coffee 4G.
...for those who have too much time on their hands...
My method for a perfect cup of coffee.
1. Drink a shot of good Kentucky Bourbon.
2. Have another shot of bourbon.
3. Go to sleep. Drink coffee tomorrow.
4. Repeat next day.
Eight steps? Dang, I don't like coffee THAT much!
In Atlanta, visit Octane Coffee or Steady Hand Pour House or Condesa Coffee to try some exceptional pour-over coffee.
In San Diego, definitely try Bird Rock Coffee.
Does coffee drinking get any more pretentious? Should it be pooped out of a bobcat first perhaps?
Oh man, it's crazy, but that cat poop coffee from Indonesia is ridiculously good.
But.... Its really not =(
Wild Asian palm civet can poop as much as they want, I'll roast, brew, and drink the beans that they leave "behind."
Jeez...all this trouble for ONE cup of coffee. I've done experiments in college chemistry class that were less complex than this.
Clown college, perhaps?
Or, the other title of this article could be "How much time would you waste for a cup of coffee?"
3 to 4 minutes
Has anybody mentioned Dr. Toons Nuclear Coffee?
1. Fill Mr. Coffee with water.
2. Fill basket with Coffee grounds of choice.
3. Turn on Mr. Coffee
4. Enjoy!
The tried-and-true French press method is as good or better than this. Without a filter, this allows all the coffee's oils to go into the cup. Regardless of the type, a filter does filter some or a lot of these out. C'est vrai!
The article says this method is about a decade old. I have done this off and on since the 70s, and for the last 20 years it is the only way I do it. It happens to be the way that I have the most control over the process and there is nothing to break, Steel flask and plastic filter cone, thats it. I do however spend above average money on higher quality coffee, and never on "Blends" or dark roasts. I could go on about that.
Steps for good coffee: avoid Starbucks
I can't believe that anybody thinks the burned, cheap beans made into watered down swil can be called coffee. Then the names they have are absurd. Most of the people doing this are too young to have traveled and lived to have experienced good coffee. It does not need to be dark to be good. It does need to be strong, but never bitter, hard to find coffee that will do that.
yeah, that's what everyone's been wondering about lately.
Too much fuss. Make a pot of Folgers and get on with your day. If you want something a little special, sprinkle your grounds with some red pepper flakes. Spicy hot!
I use a Chemex pot at work for this. At home I use a vacuum pot. And yes, it is worth it.
Vel,
I had a extra large blown glass heavy Chemex flask for years when I was in California and LOVED it. It fell and broke one day. I replaced it with a Milita flask and plastic cone. That flask broke and I evolved to using an insulated steel flask and plastic cone for the past 10 years or so, and nothing to break. I must say, the quality of the beans is what matters most.
Yes, pouring it as into a Mellita one cup at a time makes the best for drip coffee, although I confess I typically make myself espresso in the mornings. The SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING is the freshness of the beans, though. Two weeks is pushing it they're best when between 2 and 7 days old. I roast my own beans, have done so since about 1989, so have gotten rather spoiled with respect to fresh beans (it's also a significant savings over buying them already roasted). Next most critical thing is not to grind them until you're ready to brew. They go stale within hours of grinding. And grind them fine enough so you can extract as much flavor as possible. The only other really critical thing is not to brew it too weak. If it's too strong you can always dilute, but if it's too weak there is no saving it. Then whatever brewing method you like best is the way to go, I do it differently depending on my mood on a given day. One day it's drip. One day it's espresso. Another time maybe the French press.....
Almost any method of drizzling hot water over properly ground coffee works well. The key is where you buy your green beans and how you roast them.
if you need to go to all this trouble just for a cup of coffee it isn't the coffee you're into, it's the "experience". I don't have the time or patience for a single cup of coffee. I'll stick with my mini-coffee maker, Folgers or Maxwell House, and a nice flavored cream. Works just fine for me. If I want something extra special I'll go for one of the coffee mixes.
I guess I like my coffee the way I like my men...simple, slightly (not TOO much) sweet, and the real thing. =)
"The Real Thing" Haaa!....as if coffee farmer always intended on pre-roasting, canning and shelving coffee all along! Goes to show you what is considered 'real' nowadays.
Jules, it isn't any more trouble to grind and brew it properly than it is to use a poor quality mini-drip machine and open a can of poor-quality pre-staled Folgers or Maxwell-House. Admit it, you just don't really like coffee. You just like caffiene. Which is fine, who could live without it. But don't pretend that those of us who are a little more careful are actually putting in any more work than you are. We aren't. We also have busy lives. We just want to really enjoy the taste, and you cannot do it with Folger's.
This was the only way my dad would make his coffee. He had to have his slow, single drip in the morning and in the afternoon. He always said it was important to let the grounds swell after that first small poor of water...I doubt he had a specific scientific reason...just made it taste great. My dad's been dead for almost 20 years. He would have gotten a good chuckle out of NPR highlighting what he considered the only true way to drip and enjoy a cup of coffee!
Thanks for the tip...
Here's all you need for good coffee:
1) Any auto-drip coffee maker
2) Relatively clean water
3) Chock Full O Nuts Dark Roast
4) No god damn measuring: just pour a crap load of it in the basket
Tip: the brew should be opaque, preferably thick. Strong enough that a 1/4 cup of cream barely changes the brew's color; so strong that the caffeine permeates the roof of your mouth and goes directly to the brain, soaking each little jonesin' cell with orgasmic, toe-curling pleasure. If your palms don't sweat and chills dance down your arms on the first sip, it's too weak. Coffee is a serious, mood altering substance that is best relegated to those who can handle and appreciate its powers.
This person knows what they are talking about.
Another important tip: it is preferable to drink your brew after a minimum amount of sleep in order to get the full hallucinatory effect.
I just had the most amazing head rush. Oh thank you.
I just use a bong and inhale... All the aroma of the coffee meld in your nose and the caffeine hits you instantly!!
I approve of this post. Not to mention getting the full effect of the Stank Diesel, too.
I just use a bodum – French press. so easy and so good. And not expensive.
French press gives the same results....and it DOES taste better than auto drip. When you press ...the coffee has a lot more body; viscous even. The color is cloudy......you would think it would taste bitter, but boy is it good! Pressing really allows the flavor to develop. But with any method....fresh beans and good water is key...I keep a gallon on filtered water of distilled especially for my coffee and I grind fresh beans every time I make coffee.
Fresh grinding, clean equipment, 190-193 degrees for the water, and drinking it BLACK!!! Worth waiting for.
Oh yeah, and please let me drink my coffee before you ask me questions, tell me anything, or make me think.
Better yet, just let me wake up for about 2 hours...
Fresh grinding isn't worth diddly if you don't have fresh beans to begin with, though.
i like mine anyway i can get it.
Cold-brewed is where it is at for me. It takes a lot longer than this method, but results in a much smoother cup of coffee. It seems a lot less fussy, too.
I like my coffe like I like my women, ground up in a coffee can in my freezer
PATHETIC
A.H.
I just like coffee. I'm not particular on how it's made. Black coffee that is you know, coffee flavored. Why make everything a snotty yuppie thing?
Seriously, Japan? I have been doing this for the past 20 years plus, when I only want one cup!
I like my coffee like I like my women. Cold and bitter.
Wow, she's a "trained barista!" That makes this oh so official. Get a grip folks. The average joe can't tell you the difference between Pete's or Folgers! Besides, MOST people put those yukky creamer flavors in their coffee which signals the end of a cup of REAL COFFEE!!!
Nothin' better than a hot cup of sludge water from the gutter poured down the buttcrack of a "lady of the night" with most of her teeth missing. Collect it in a rusty Mt. Dew can that's sittin on the ground below and enjoy! You guys can have your coffee, you'll find me chatting on the corner of 5th and Vine with that lady named 'Russell'.
Gimme coffee like my prez – half and half thats forgetable taste in half an hour!
Coffee is not intended to be poured, just brewed. This is why the best coffee is made in french press makers. Enjoy.
Its only boiled water with bean residue – no more no less – keep your five bucks a pop for charity Jo!
I totally agree. French press every day. Enjoy.
i like my coffee like i like my men when i put it to my lips its all creamy .
But do you swallow?
GROSS
We prefer the AeroPress. It's the perfect marriage between a french-press and a pour-over. Takes less time than either, and the coffee is always smooth.
Yep, I also use the AeroPress – good unit and makes good coffee. The best coffee is in Vienna I don't know how they brew it but it has a creamy soft texture and fabulous flavor.
Just give an old fashion Maxwell House instant coffee, black, 2 sugars on the rocks.
Amen! And take the thousands you saved for a week on a beach in Costa Rica for an even better 50 cent cup of coffee!
You can find one cup cones and filters in the coffee aisle at nearly any grocery store. You don't need to be fancy or prolong the procedure, but wetting the coffee and letting it sit for several seconds before you finish pouring the rest of the water makes a big difference in the depth of flavor. This is the way it's done in Costa Rica, and the Ticos really know their coffee!
I like my coffee the way I like my men: hot, dark, deep, rich and not bitter. ~_~
I like mine strong and black...
Single huh?
With a double edge shlong!
You will love me then, you fiery infidel minx.
Chemex is the OG if pour-over, the rest are imitators. Chemex has been around since the 40's and still produces the best cup of coffee around! Also, their filters are far superior to other brands out there.
I only drink my coffee "black as midnight on a moonless night", and avoid at all costs any 'floral' or 'citrus' tastes in my coffee. The best and cheapest way to get that done is a bulk grocery store dark roast (takes some experimenting to find a standard for oneself), filtered or purified water, carefully measured into any old automatic filter pot (try 5 flat scoops coffee, 6.5 cups water) in the mornings/breakfast; in the early to late afternoon its a french press (3 flat scoops coffee, 12 oz purified water, stopped at first boil) for a stronger syrupy blast.
When I want to buy out, I discovered that NORDSTROM's cafes have the best drip coffee (all of their roasts are darker). Starbucks is watery, acrid, stale or burnt and too commercial to expect quality. Stumptown is pretentious and tastes like wet toast (they're too effiminate to make a dark roast).
If it's local coffee shop atmosphere I need to read a book, *even though* I live in Portlandia, I have to settle for some pretty crappy coffee or hope that an Americano will do the job. I tried this whole "pour over" thing while out and it was a bust, would have rather had the Americano. Besides, I might expect the pour-over at an art museum bistro, but not at my local coffee shop when the lines are long enough as it is. Tried the 'pour-over' at a friends house in his kitchen, and it tasted pretty much like my french press, only missing some desired velvety texture.
French Press! Exact mixture, Exact Temperature, No paper filter to worry about. Pure Taste!
Oh Yeah.. I forgot to add. My own home-roasted VERY fresh coffee!
CNN discovered the Melitta, you Clowns in the news room REALLY need to get out more.
Exactly. My parents have been doing this since the 70's. LOL.
I've found that the quality of the grind makes one of the biggest differences. I used a Braun grinder for years, then I switched to a Krups. Both grinders are burr grinders, but operate at high speed. They don't grind uniformly and they add heat to the grind that hurts the flavor. I recently purchased a Kitchen-Aid bur-grinder. It has a HUGE motor and turns slowly. The grind is very uniform and the coffe that I make from it is far be3tter than with the other grinders. If I had known about this, I would have sprung $200 for that grinder years ago.
Yeah right, pay $2 – $3 extra for a cup of joe is for pu$$ies and hipsters.
I like my coffee as black as a moonless night and thicker than mud. The best way to brew that is with a pot, a filter and about 3 times the number of scoops you'd normally use.
If you want a great cup of coffee, go to amazon and order an Aeropress. French press style coffee but without the sludge. The filter is at the bottom not the top and it allows you to control all the variables so you can experiment to find the right taste. And unlike those expensive, overpriced Keurig machines that give you a weak cup of coffee and produce tons of waste (non-recyclable K-cup plastic), the Aeropress is relatively inexpensive at around $25 and portable enough to toss into a suitcase or travel bag.
Much more important is the water quality. The tap water in my present home is so soft and good (coming from Baltimore City's rain-retaining reservoirs) that certain finicky species of tropical fish will lay eggs in it – ones who normally have to be tricked into thinking it's the rainy season when relatively pure water abounds by mixing 50% distilled water with tap water. Previously, in my prior home, the county's water supply came from hard well water. My coffee is delightful. And I don't buy the "purity of the region" b.s. I think the blend known as Peet's Coffee Major Dickason's Blend is the best I've ever served. And for an every day morning-coffee, the inexpensive Eight O'Clock Columbian is the best selling coffee – and for good reason. I don't worry about the beans being "roasted within the last two weeks." I've bought fresh roasted beans and didn't notice them going downhill for months.
Oh please...Americans know NOTHING of coffee, any more than you can claim to know anything of beer.
American tastes combine the perfect hybrid of being undeveloped, ignorant and unrefined. You all would have been FAR better to have never strayed off the continent.
Been a snob long?
100 to 1 says she's french and knows nothing about WWII or Normandy. Make it 1000 to 1!
Or you of manners. :)
Says you! You must be one of those snooty europeans. Just remember, you might have been an "unrefined" American if your ancestors hadn't been to chicken sh*t to leave the old world.
You must be French.
A British troop would wear a bright red uniform so if hit by a bullet, the troops behind him would not see the blood.
A French troop wore a brown uniform. In case, well, you get the message!
something to read
I don't do that many things great, but making coffee seems to be one of them. It's all about the correct amount of (fresh ground) beans, filtered water, and the right coffee maker.
The best coffee is Turkish/Bosnian coffee. The way it's made, the way it tastes....easily a winner.
Had this before. It the difference is marginal compared french press. This drip is more about the show and making people think they are getting something better since it took longer.
You got your facts wrong, the French introduce coffee to South East Asia in 1857, Vietnam to be exact. The pour-over coffee is purely from Indochina. It is the Vietnamese coffee brewing in single-cup filters. In Vietnam, a cup of coffee is nearly always accompanied by a cup of hot or cold tea. The slow dripping coffee has never change since 1857. Vietnam had become the world's #2 coffee producer after Brazil. The French press was a modification of the Vietnamese slow dripping in 1929. Japan may perfect tea ceremony but only in 1969 they start drinking coffee. Another fact, Ice coffee started in Asia during colonial period 1805. It was the envy of all the colonists sweating in the Indies.
Honestly. The distance some people will go to be different. For me, by the time I add the creamer and sugar you really cant tell anything other than if the coffee is bold or mild. We bought a Keurig coffee maker 2 years ago and never looked back. It makes delicious coffee.
Obama sent federal agents wearing masks into San Diego to terrorize law-abiding cancer patients and shut down all state sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries and gave assault rifles to drug cartels. Obama is a thug.
Wrong article numb-nuts...and besides, the ATF did that not Obama.
No. It was Obama. Obama personally performed those raids and trades himself. Remember Osama Bin Laden? It wasn't Seal Team 6 that got him, it was the Obamanator!!
I use a Keurig, too. It's great. But, putting creamer and sugar in your coffee is a cardinal sin in my book...
I LOVE my Keurig! I make just what I want and no more. Yeah, its a little more expensive, but I have an option to grind my own beans and using the Keurig filter save a bit of money. Besides, the variety is fun and I'm able to try coffee that my spousal unit might not like.
French Press is the only way to go.
Amen brother – French press (press pot) is THE way to make a great tasting coffee.
Oh, darn...I just gave mine away to Goodwill, too.
Krups Moka Brew beats french press. Unfortunately, it's not available anymore.
This is nothing more than the old Chemex system from the 70's. (Remember the big hourglass shaped pots and filters?) Still makes a great cup of coffee, too...otherwise I prefer a French Press or a Keurig system. Starbucks always tastes like they burned the beans...
Starbucks = Charbucks = Starburnt
Here! Here!
Whatever happened to a simple good old fashioned perculator with the glass bubble, bubbling up the coffee in the morning? None of this new fangled garbage will ever be as good as back in the day when a real perculator was going on the kitchen counter.
With eggs in it...yummy.
Boiled coffee. Yuck.
Wannabe coffee officinados, yuck
Still using both a Farberware electric (circa 1990s) and Corningware electric percolator (1972!) and both make great coffee. Much easier to clean than most drip machines.
Amen brother. First time I used one of those percolaters It was while camping and I made a pot over the campfire. It was AWESOME! Makes sleeping on the hard cold ground worth it in the morning! I really should try it in the house! (the coffee, not the campfire).
Unfortuatlely nothing can be done to make Folgers taste good.
My exact thoughts. Drank it for a few years and hated every cup!
Canned coffee from the supermarket.....shudder.
WHAT A CROC OF BS. Come on PEOPLE SERIOUSLY. Smell the coffee and WAKE THE HELL UP. This is all Marketing BULL. Ten years ago we didn't give a damn and NOW WE DO. That is the definition of Marketing. CREATING FAKE DEMAND> STOP DRINKING THIS BS STUFF. I mean are you serious " a swan neck sprout for precision pouring" WWWWWWTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whoa, Charlie, it's time to ease back on the caffeine.
amen brother!
Ha! Seriously? Marketing? I am assuming you don't enjoy good wine either - its about the subtle and unique differences between different batches of freshly roasted coffee.
You might want to consider tea. Of course, that is a bigger field to negotiate when trying to choose tea bags or tea leaves. Orange Pekoe or Darjeeling? White tea or black? Never mind.
How did that first paragraph pass muster? "Local coffee culture " can't reach "critical mass", and the phrase "is becoming even more pressing" is - cute pun aside - messy, passive language. I realize this is from an intern, but writers learn best from good editing. Edit, CNN.
I've been making my coffee this way since 1979. Been using the same Melitta pour-over cone the whole time. Funny that people are now just catching on.
You've been using the same filter since 1979...ewwwww.
I think you don't understand that the "cone" is the ceramic part. The filters are "filters".
I C...
If you're serious about coffee get a French Press, filters deprive you of so many of the great flavors in coffee. Plus the press is a lot less expensive and doesn't require as much work as this suggestion.
Off-The-Wall Methods:
OTW-1
I've wondered if anyone has ever tried rigging up a centrifuge to provide pressure and (at the same time) serve as a substitute for filters. Grounds would be stratified and fully separated from coffee by the high G forces, they would get trapped and collect in a groove at the perimeter of the spinning "pot." No filters of any kind would be used.
OTW-2
An acquaintance whose family has been running a farm in Pennsylvania for a few hundred years didn't use filters either. They just made coffee in a sauce pan and used egg whites to trap the grounds. Haven't tried that either. Possibily substances other than egg whites might be more effective and serve more than one purpose in thr process.
I simply use a French Press. It is a heck of a lot easier and quicker! And – -The coffee is Delish!
The method above make a much better cup and you don't have to chew your coffee.
I saw a show that had a machine (very big with all sorts of levers) that controlled the temp and pressure of the steam (maybe just the pressure). That with the time spent under the steam made huge differences in taste with the same bean. It was a machine unless you are very wealthy isn't for the home. But if a coffee shop had it the combinations with different beans almost seems infinite with the possibilities of flavor.
French Press?
Snobs are snobs, be they're drinking wine, beer and now coffee. Why is it that people make such ado about nothing? It's a freaking cup of coffee and not some magical elixir.
LOL...It all comes down to, taking time out of your busy day to just enjoy life :)
hey realist. it doesn't make you a snob if you want to be able to detect differences in tastes between different varietals of wine, different hops/malts/yeasst in beer and the effects of different temperatures and brewing techniques on coffee. it makes you a snob if you can't stop talking about it and if you look down on others for being disinterested. just to clarify, right?
whoa dude – you're a little defensive. He's right – it's just something to drink, not like it's going to change the world. Nobody should have to go thru this much trouble for a cup of joe, it's really not going to change your life at all. Now go out there and get one!
The right cup of coffee can be magic.
Not originally from Japan, but from Germany (need to check their historic accuracy before they write a story). This method has been passed down in my family for generations. This is the way my German mother taught me..
to confirm: http://coffee.wikia.com/wiki/Pour-Over_Filtration_Brewing
Lame. The point of coffee is to help you not kill everyone first thing in the morning, if I made it this way at home I'd kill myself... if I ordered it in a shop I'd have to kill the barista for being a freaking slurpie server with an attitude. Admittedly not all coffee counter brewers are jerks... but $4 a cup still brings the rage...
Ef this, I gotta get to work.
Ya got that right!
If you're rich and have no job (or life, or kids...) then sure, this is great! Otherwise, the other 99% of Earth will just have to do with good 'ol automatic drip. Tastes fine to me.
And a hell of a lot cheaper...
We started using the Melitta drip system during high school in 1983...never went back to crappy coffee.
All you have to do is put the grounds in a fine mesh tea infuser and pour boiling water over and you can get the same effect. This weighing water process is lame. I bet Samantha is a real laugh riot at a wine tasting.
Just give me a cup of Sanka already, and stop with the pretentiousness. It's just coffee, you dopes. Drink it and get on with your life.
Instant coffee....gag.
There's a new place in my town that serves coffee this way. It's pretty pretentious: $4 for a cup, and the 'expert' water pourers, I mean baristas, treated me like I was an idiot for not understanding how superior their method was. And they wouldn't serve mine (iced) in a plastic cup unless i was going to immediately walk out the door with it. Heaven forbid someone sees one of their customers drinking out of something besides a mason jar. That would ruin the whole experience and degrade their special status above all other coffee drinkers. I was treated like a peasant among aristocrats. Their point exactly.
Just use a French Press available at Walmart. It uses a wire mesh filter so all the flavors and oils of the ground coffee pass into your cup. Paper filters absorb all these aromatic oils, and leave u with a tasteless cup of coffee.
Too much work for just coffee. Most of us just don't have that kind of time to waste. Dunkin Donut coffee is good enough and so is McDonald's.
The best coffee is made in a canteen cup, cooked over a heat tab.
We used C4 in Vietnam to heat the water and it tasted great...
Got rid of those pesky grounds that always settle to the bottom of your cup, Ill bet!
I agree with Mel: The truly memorable experiences cost way more than a $4 barista-poured cup and an "interminable" 3 to 4 minute wait. [*gasp; my butt has gone numb!*] They involve the investment of time, planning, sweat and commitment of taking the whole experience someplace where it can be enjoyed above the treeline, away from the rat-race, and serve the double-purpose of both boosting open one's eyes to the vast vistas of unsullied nature as well as letting the taste buds give a luxurious wake-up call to the muscles that carried you to this exotic early morning eyrie. And, for the truly dedicated, you could haul a small Melita cone along (it's plastic) and pour your tab-heated, hand-filtered glacial runoff into your canteen cup....
Agreed!
..Or.. Simply use a coffee press....
This method has been used by Melitta for years. It is the instruction given with their equipment. Nothing new here.
I have been using a Melitta for 35 years and my daughter says I make the best cup of coffee she's ever tasted. Always believed in the manual process because you know what goes in it and how to make it right.
Very good review of coffee and brewing techniques here: http://www.podmerchant.com/coffee/complexity-of-coffee.pdf
Too much work. Just buy a Keurig brewer.
Much too expensive.
I use mine all the time and it's great...less than 40 cents a cup.
Errrr ... this is almost exactly how I made coffee 30 years ago with a one-cup Melitta coffee brewer cone. Sits directly on a mug. Put a paper filter in the one-cup cone, put in freshly ground coffee, I used an old Revere swan neck copper tea kettle, moisten grounds until the foam disappears, and then very slowly pour water into cone. Simple and the best coffee ever, but not a new idea at all (unless you count the exact weighing of the coffee, water, etc. But experience and how you enjoy your coffee will advise you in this regard). Nice to see this "no machine needed" method become popular again.
Problem with paper is that is absorbs some of the oil. I prefer a golf filter or press pot, but one has to drink the coffee fairly quickly since there is still micro grounds in it which slowly release off-flavors. Also – don't overlook water. Chlorine or chloramine in water adversely affects the flavor. Filter thru carbon to remove. Distilled water not recommended – the dissolved salts in water can help the flavor/taste.
That's exactly what I as going to say! As the coffee cools fairly quickly, we used to add hot milk (the Dutch way).
"Complement with a light citrus dessert to further enhance the flavors."
This turned pretentious quite rapidly
I'm afraid "turned" is redundant.
I've been using an aeropress for the past few months and it makes great coffee. It's inexpensive small enough to take with you when you travel or go camping.
I used one for a long time until I found the Krups Moka Brew.
Agreed, Aeropress is the way to go. It lets you control all variables for a great cup of coffee. And with the filter on the bottom, you get all the taste benefits of a french press without the sludge in your cup. Now all I need to do is to try out one of the stainless steel filters made for it that people claim give you a more flavorful cup by allowing more of the oils to pass through.
I was given a $100 Keurig machine. It rarely gets used as the cups are weak and have no flavor and the used plastic K-cups can't be recycled.
BTW, try the "inverted Aeropress" method for an even better cup! (Google or YouTube it...)
What a retarded article, 1) fresh roasted and ground will always have better flavor since the aromatic compounds will be retained. 2) more coffee = more flavor, who would have thought?!?! 3) Prewarming the cup is stupid unless you plan on drinking 180 degree coffee, which is more likely to burn your mouth and destroy taste buds instead of contributing to the flavor. Want to know how to brew a good cup of joe? Take a chemistry class.
Coffee is over 70% water. The most important ingrediant in coffee period is good clean filtered water. Any coffee lover will tell you the same. Of course the US has been pretty much ruined by what Starbucks calls coffee. It's a real shame how many people think Starbucks is good coffee.
I use sometimes Nescafe instant coffee...it's so fast and tastes decent...way better than some places that sell coffee for almost 2.00 bucks a cup...
Starbucks coffee tastes great. What say you?
Where ae things headed?
Starbucks noticed how Keurig (Geen Mountain?) was cleaning up with K-Cups etc. I understand that Starbucks will be introducing their own "S-Cup?" product in a few months. (If it's true, I'm sure it's old news here.) Obvious the general concept (good, quick, painless one-off coffee) was great but execution not so great.
You need the right coffee, the right water, the heat source, the process and the mug. Look for somebody really getting this thing right with similar economics to Keurig. Eliminate the coffee maker. Sell canned coffee and water with a "can" that fires up internally, makes 16 oz of coffee serves a good heated mug, and is bio-degradable. (no – it doesn't need to shine your shoes too)
Put every available man on it!
If they don't go to Starbuck$$$$ how else will they get the paper cup
that says "I paid WAY too much for a over roasted cup of coffee that I
had to learn Latin to order"?
Or buy a Cuisineart auto drip and choose the 1-4 cup feature.
Screw this hippie coffee, drink BUSCH LIGHT
Thank you for the very detailed recipe, Samantha.
The key is fresh coffee. I have very good success transferring the coffee grinds to a set of jam jars (air tight) right after opening the can. Then, use two filter papers and bottled or reverse osmosis water for brewing. One scoop per cup for regular strength – add more for stronger coffee. I would never drink coffee anywhere else!
I used to live and work in Japan. There you can buy disposable pouches that contain grounds (or empty ones you can fill with your own). They are designed to clip directly onto your mug. In my opinion, this pour-over method works better in Japan because most homes and offices have electric hot water dispensers which make this method much easier to prepare. In the U.S. you'd most often have to boil water and sit there with a kettle.
I wonder if I could get the same effect if I plugged my Keurig into my iPhone charger and used kitty litter between the K-cup and the spout?
I'm sure it would. Do try.
so close to being funny – you had a good start then it fizzled at the end....
Most excellent. And make sure you filter thru your teeth also.
That requires the very expensive "toothy filter" from Melita. (requires measuring your jaw).
Do you use fresh kitty litter or not-so-fresh kitty litter?
All Vietnamese coffee shops brew this way – give it a try and stop by one.
Starbucks does this when they're out of coffee, like towards the end of the day. they'll use this process. I'd rather do french press
Even better coffee: Aeropress
And no, I have no interest in the company. I simply love the product.
We make it that way when we go camping. Didn't know there was so much fuss .
Seriously? My family has done it this way for three generations– my grandparents did it, my parents do it, and so do I. You can buy a plastic cup-top brewer funnel thing for like... under five bucks at the grocery store. Imported from Japan? Some fancy new "artisanal" method of brewing superiour coffee? Sure, okay, if it makes you feel special... It's just a more convenient way to make one cup of coffee than hauling out some contraption that will take ten minutes to heat up.
It's always enlightning to read stories about how the other half lives.
Are you referring to the articles author or the respondents?
A 16oz coffee? From a pour-over? For *one* person? The subtlety of the technique developed in Japan certainly did *not* come along with the technique itself. That's a typically "American" (US, specifically) portion. Ugh. So unrefined.
Seriously?
I work in an office, some of the seniors I work with used to say coffee always takes better out ot an older drip coffee maker. I think I understand from reading this article, the coffee makers drip hole would start to clog causing the water to stay with the coffee longer.
I have been making coffee this way for years. Mainly because I am the only coffee drinker in my house so it doesn't make sense to brew a whole pot. Who knew I was sooooo cutting edge! LOL
You forgot the salt. My Father was Native American. Every time he made coffee, he would shake some salt into the dry coffee before he pushed the button. The salt neutralizes the acid in the coffee, no bite and no stomach upset from the acid. I NEVER brew coffee without salt. Don't knock it until you've tried it.
and ketchup! lotsa ketchup!!
I first heard the salt trick on an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats. I tried it and loved it. It seems to help accentuate some of the more subtle flavors whilst simultaneously keeping the bitterness at bay. I would say it is important not to add too much salt because it is undesirable to actually notice it. One need only add enough to enhance the natural flavors of the coffee and minimize acidity and bitterness.
Yes, a tiny bit of salt. And (not mentioned in the article) bottled or distilled water, not the stuff from the tap that has been chemically optimized for use in your washing machine.
Want great coffee?
Step 1: Get in car
Step 2: Drive to local coffee shop
Step 3: Tender payment
Step 4: Enjoy!
How pretentious!! Me? I grow my own beans and roast them in a fire i made by rubbing two sticks together, grind them between two rocks, boil the water using a magnifying glass while my girl cups the water in her delicate hands and when it gets too hot to hold i wait another 2 minutes, then i sprinkle the grind into her hands and when the grinds settle, she gently pour the coffee into my waiting maw. The way coffee was intended.
I love that your girl cups her hands to filter the grounds. What a gal! This process sounds more simple than the one above.
And she can skip having the dye put on her hands when she goes to the tanning booth... I'm just thinking of ways to save her money!
Id like her to cup her hands too. But not on coffee beans but some other thing...Mmm...i think i would like that a lot buddy..
I like Folger's ground, morning brew(very weak), lotsa half and half plus sugar.
Why bother with the coffee? ;)
I had a hand poured coffee from starbucks a couple weeks ago. It was so strong that I almost vibrated my steering wheel off my car.
YOU PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS!!!!
ur correct.
I can't believe TWO articles from Atlanta-based CNN talk about "local coffee culture" without mentioning the Steady Hand Pour House! Do you get out much, CNN?
If you want to witness coffee made the right way, go there and order a carafe, siphon-brewed. The difference is immense. You won't look at coffee the same way again, and it's a great show to have the folks behind the bar playing mad scientist and lighting things on fire to make your coffee.
Atlanta Stinks... then there is the people that live there.
ab-so-lllloooooooooooottttt-ly....[spelled on purpose].....most non english speaking....rude...low class...low forehead..people that will steal dirty underware just to steal someting and run over you if you are not doing at least 85 in a 55.the closest i ever come to atl now is about 6500 feet overhead.thank goodness for GA.
I know how good my coffee tastes... and there is not a dead Ni@@er storage sign in my front yard.
I could have sworn that was tasters choice.
The missing piece from the article is to squeeze the remaining coffee out of the grounds before you take them out of the filter. If you like bold coffee it provides the last little flavor shot that makes a good cup of coffee great.
Why use water!? Just a pinch between cheek and gums!
Any coffee-prep that involves more than 2-3 steps (add water, add grinds, push ON) isn't worth it.
Coffee is either a commodity or a luxury. If it's a commodity, it's something like Bustello or Folgers, which ships stale, tastes bad, has problems with slave labor in the supply chain, is drastically overpriced for a slave-produced product, and comes out of a tin like this is the war. Don't even bother to brew that stuff "correctly," because there is no right way. Just chew the beans and be done with it. Or boil the grounds like you're on the cattle drive. Doesn't matter, it's junk.
If it's a luxury, then do it right. You don't microwave a porterhouse, and you don't put real coffee into a Mister Coffee.
You uncultured poops don't even pass your beans through the gut of a civet cat! How drole
fool.
"You uncultured poops don't even pass your beans through the gut of a civet cat! How drole" Umm, that's 'droll'. Lern too spel, pleece.
Yep! People have WAY too much time on their hands in order to go through this effort for a cup of java.
Fastest and most convenient way to make a single cup of coffee (aside from instant). No special equipment, nothing to wash – I use a cheap plastic coffee "cone" and unbleached paper filters. Like that you can control the strength to your personal taste – just dump another tablespoon of coffee into the filter, pour as much boiling water as you need based on the size of the cup, and voila – a custom cup of coffee for the road.
LMAO. Just buy a Tassimo and get real. Note I didn't say Keurig.
In my great-grandmother's house in the Netherlands, this is how it was done – I never knew you could make pour-over coffee in any other way. Here is another twist though: in her house the filter would be set up the night before with an ice-cube on top. The ice would melt overnight and slowly infuse and swell the coffee grinds. The next day, just add boiling water in slow, measured quantities. No one actually measured amounts though. One just 'knew' how much coffee and water it took to make the perfect cup.
My German Grandmother made coffee in the morning like that, when I was a child. She used Melitta ceramic cone and paper funnel. Same technique and timing. She also had a heating coil she would set into the metal water pot to bring to a boil then let it sit. The other poster is correct, people were brewing coffee like that for decades.
Coffee for the obsessive-compulsive! When I get up, I want my coffee NOW, not to perform a Japanese coffee ceremony.
I grew up (say 40 years ago) with my mom preparing coffee this way every morning. She would have just the right touch in pouring that boiling water just so in order for the grounds to steep just right. Brings back a lot of memories i.e. the smell of rich, dark fresh brewing coffee and the taste of lots of milk and sugar to coffee ratio for a 10 year old's palate (mom could make a spoon stand up straight in that coffee :).
Jean Reno picks up one of the donuts and "hilariously" says, "No croissant?" Then we get a shot of him "hilariously" sipping the coffee and wincing at the taste of it, setting up this riotous exchange:
Jean Reno picks up one of the donuts and "hilariously" says, "No croissant?" Then he takes a sip and winces at the taste of it:
Jean Reno: You call this coffee?
French Guy: I call this America!
funny scene
What a bunch of crap.
...now, when I circle, is that clockwise or counter clockwise? Any difference if I'm in the southern hemisphere?
hahah agreed. when circling, we don't want to throw off the whole zen of the thing. one must know hemispherically, what is the proper rotation. I, for one, will not sleep until this is unveiled!
omg.. lol... my coffee almost came out of my nose!
Moka Pot is my favorite, makes just the right amount, tastes amazing and I save a ton of money brewing my own cup of joe.
Forget that, Cafe Bustello is where it is at. Only 4 bucks a can, strong as heck, and even when poorly made taste better than Starbucks. Only a poser pay 3+ for crappy coffee.
Right on!!! Cafe Bustello rocks, especially for the price.
I'm heating up the water pot right now and give it a try...
Eat the grounds, and chase it with scalding water.
LIKE A BOSS!
I'm glad LouisP pointed out that we brew coffee this way in New Orleans. I always thought it originated a few centuries ago with the French. We even have special coffee pots covered with enamel that help measure the coffee and provide two enamel filters. The top filter is made to keep the water drip slow and even. I was always told never to skip the step of pouring enough water to let the grounds "set." Also, we wait about 40 seconds before we begin to pour so the boiling water will not burn the coffee. These pots come in two sizes. A better coffee maker and a better cup of coffee can't be found.
This process is MUCH older than the article seems to imply. Like 1908 old: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melitta
We made coffee this way in the 60's and still have a large glass pour through carafe from the 70's.
This is the only way we have to make coffee in our house. We gave up on coffee makers years ago.
I am not sure why but people have been making coffee with this method for quite a long time. I use a Chemex coffee maker and employ the techniques described in the step by step process. I have been making coffee this way since the early 80's.
Our old glass one is a Chemex, thanks for reminding me of the name.
Nice How TO...now the next step is doing this at home with a Chemex or Melitta rig, or if you prefer an Automatic I suggest a Techni Vorm model, as they are the only pots that will actually bring the water temp to the desired level...more than most would pay for a 'coffee maker', yet mine has lasted close to 15 years and still going strong....try Sweet Marias online.
For your next trick you should get into Home Coffee Roasting, a very satisfying hobby so you don't have to rely on a coffee shop that's buying who knows what and telling you he knows what he's talking about. Good luck!!
BonaVita machines also produce the proper temperature and, along with the TechV, are the only machines endorsed by the Specialty Coffee Association. Been using one for 6 months. Great coffee when combined with freshly ground/roasted coffee.
"...will produce a fuller, fruity taste, often accented with floral notes."
Elitist pap. Sounds like some twinky-headed wine 'expert.' Does the coffee have a "nose?" How about "delicately nuanced hint of the Mediterranean."
It's like anything else, if you're interested in it you'll learn, if not, just drink Dunkin Donuts coffee and get on with your life.
I agree, Monger! It is getting as bad as pretentious wine drinkers: "oh, this wine has fruity overtones and a hint of guano." Now we have elitist snobs poo-pooing on people who just want a simple cup of java.
Lost my interest when I read that it was drip coffee. You need not only temperature but also pressure to get the good stuff out your beans...
I use a Vietnamese drip coffee filter.
The old fashion "on the stove" metal purcolators make great coffee.
Ahh, thanks for the memories.
The only thing that used to bother me about this method before I started making my own espresso, is that frequently by the time the coffee was made, I was wide awake and might have some burnt hands. But it does make a tasty cup of coffee.
Seriously? In a world rampant with hunger, disease, war and poverty THIS is the level of self indulgent, pandering nonsense we have stooped to in America. No wonder we are looked upon as spoilt, selfish, hedonistic wimps.
AMEN!!
relax.....
Mr./Ms. Reality Check, in a world rampant with life-destroying and family-destroying and community-destroying addictions, this attention to coffee brewing seems productive.
Good grief! What a belligerent blast just for someone sharing something good. Who are they hurting? Get over yourself! And you are a paragon of virtue who has no waste (or for that matter any personal pleasure) in life? Why is enjoying something that does no harm wrong? You are definitly a joy buster.
Exactly. Good comment.
Hear, hear. Sheer lunacy. An entire article on a news (?) site devoted to this insanity. The country is rapidly spiraling down the loo, but, by all means, let's stop and ponder the virtues of pouring-over civet cat droppings vs the Maxwell House ooze that the dirty commoners drink.
Pardon the interruption, Nero, you may now continue.
Really, would the world be a better place if no good news or enlightening articles were published until the world was perfect for everyone? As trivial as this article may seem to you, it may have just given someone the spark of hope that they needed. Strongly opinionated idealists are the biggest problem this country (and the world) has.
Get over it!
Hunger, war, disease and poverty have been around since the beginning of time. It's not new to the world. Life is very short in the grand scheme of things. I work hard every day, take care of my family and live a pretty honest life. If I want a good cup of coffee or a properly aerated glass of wine and it gets me through the day, that's my business. If you are so concerned about these things, then feed the hungry, join the military, cure diseases and give all your money to the poor. I'm pretty sure those issues will never cease. They are more a product of corrupt governments and rampant greed by the 1%, not by the average middle class person who wants to have small enjoyments in life for making good decisions and taking care of oneself. If you don't want to read a light article on coffee, then don't click on it and then make a douchey comment. If I sat around and fretted over all of the world's ills, I might as well just end it today.
Hmm...I'm thinking you should switch to decaf
....was only adopted by coffee epicures and American roasting companies in the past decade
Please – This is how I made coffee back in 1979 as one of the only options to a percolator. Melitta has been making pour over coffee makers for decades.
I love a good cup of coffee as much as anyone, but this is an example of self-indulgence gone overboard. No wonder the US is declining.
bronsond, I bet that cocaine, heroin, and meth have more to do with America's "decline" than attention to how a sefl-indulgent person brews his coffee
Jonathan...I beg to differ. This is just another example of needless self-indulgence and imagined self-importance. The Cult of Me is exactly what's going wrong here. Remember JFK? "Ask not what your country..." and all of that old rot? Try that approach on the America of 2012.
This style of preparing coffee has ben done a very long time ago! If anyone ever hear of a coffee joint-Cafe du Monde in New Orleans serve their coffee this way with some beignets and voila French style coffee...Duh!
I'd recommend a blend of beansmy taste Arabica and robusta and a pinch of salt.
Grinding your own fresh beans is the key ingredient in great coffee. But I simply can't believe that coffee dripped through a paper filter can be better than that made in a French press coffee-maker. Apart from god-knows-what chemicals are in the paper filters, the paper traps most of the wonderful natural oils that provide the rich flavours in 'real' coffee.
Agreed. French press all the way.
Absolutely the best
Curious how a 'pour over brew' is any more self indulgent than a French Press cup of Joe?
Make one and you will find out
I agree that pressed coffee tastes better. But some of us (including me) are sensitive to coffee fats—our cholesterol levels shoot up in response to them..
The idea that white filters are done that way because of chemical flushing is inaccurate; they are oxygenated to make them white. Also, paper holds back a particular chemical that in the body creates bad cholesterol. Also, because there is no filter cleaning up the body its hard to get the origin flavors and subtle nuances that one can get from a hand-pour like a v-60 or Chemex. The only reason french press is so popular is because, for a lack of better words, its idiot proof and a giant step up from your standard Mr Coffee style auto drip. 60g/l, coarse grind and 4 min brew time, plunge and serve! Super easy. Also, hand-poured started in Germany with Melitta NOT Japan. But oh well.
Zen and the art of making coffee.....
Do it this way all the time. Coffee is one of the great pleasures of life that society still hasn't been able to f up.
I do the same thing with a Mr. Coffee coffeemaker.
So I take it my cup of store brand instant doesn't make the nut any more.
Oh well.
Try the Original blend with a little sugar and powdered cream at Quick Trip. You won't need Starbucks any more, and a HELLUVA lot cheaper!
Come down to thee KwikyMart, it's all ready for you.
Yeah.....if I could do all that in the morning I wouldn't need the coffee. quit being so prissy.
1 – instant coffee and water in cup
2- nuke
3 – add cream
4 – go do
I'm worn out just reading about it. Waitress! Bring me a coffee please. I'm so tired now.
Yeah, right?! WHO does this?! How much time DO they have in the morning?! My guess is that they're either extremely self-indulgent, independently wealthy, retired, or ALL three... I'm going to go warm up my coffee in the microwave now...
More pie?
This has been around far longer than a decade. My parents were doing this back in the 80's with the plastic filter holder which set on top of the cup, mass produced for this very thing. Welcome to the '80's, eatocracy.
Yes, it has been around for longer than a decade. This is why the article states 'it migrated here from the Far East, Japan to be exact.' Please read properly before commenting.
Actually it's been around for more than a hundred years and it's from Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melitta
‘He mashed hundreds of cakes of GI soap into the sweet potatoes just to show that people have the taste of Philistines and don’t know the difference between good and bad. Every man in the squadron was sick. Missions were canceled.’
‘Well!’ Milo exclaimed, with thin-upped disapproval. ‘He certainly found out how wrong he was, didn’t he?’
‘On the contrary,’ Yossarian corrected. ‘He found out how right he was. We packed it away by the plateful and clamored for more.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.
.
After having read this story, it reminds me, "what's the fuss all about?" I began to grind my own cofeee around 1980 and haven't stopped since. Around the same time, I discovered Chemex which is virtually identical to the "pour over" system here, except with Chemex you got a full pot, not a single serving. I also confess to having tried Senseo's pods and Keurig's k-pods (if you prefer convenience and want to end up paying $25-30 a pound for your coffee, this is the way to go). My Keurig machine, which I kept at my office, went kaputt in under a year. Years ago I bought a simple Bodum (plunger) or Cafe press. It's simplicity in itself. Grind coffee to desired consistency, then put 2-3 coffee scoops in the Bodum. A thicker grind is preferred for the Bodum. Boil water, then wait for 30-60 seconds before pouring over the ground coffee. Place the plunger and top back over the steeping coffee or sit a lid over the top while the coffee steeps. Wait 4 minutes, then stir, press the plunger down to the bottom, and pour. NOTE: Making breakfast, I've often been busy in the kitchen and don't get to the coffee until 5 or even 6 minutes later. No harm done, it's still a fantastic cup of coffee at a mere fraction of the cost of the local coffee shop and even less expensive than the Keurig or Senseo pods. With the "pour over" method, you have to buy coffee filters (ah, the choice...and cost... of bleached vs. unbleached filters now) and, if you're like me, you prefer a huge cup of coffee, 16 oz, not 6,8, or 12 oz. A medium size Bodum style press will cost $30-40, depending on who's selling it and can make 2-3 normal cups or one neat 16 oz . It has its own stainless steel mesh filter which never needs replacing (forget the expense, then, of "bleached" or "unbleached" filters). With the Bodum style, you never need to replace a filter. Simply wash it off after every use, disassemble the plunger and wash the 3-4 components once a week. The "pour over" is simply the old tried and true Chemex system downsized, re-priced (and hyped) for the 21st century.
All this fuss, and then they go and use chlorinated tap water.
I've been doing this in my office for years to avoid the cr@p they bring in. Who knew I was so cutting edge?
lol.. I was thinking the same thing. And using that method does make a good cup, imho. Although in recent decades, I've made espresso every morning – I can't remember when I last had regular coffee.
I drink coffee because I like the taste and for its caffine effects. Not to make the scene or look cool in the coffee house.
In Costa Rica this is the traditional way to brew a cup. They use what I refer to as a small cotton sock held open by a wire frame and pour directly into your cup. Boiled water is cooled to a lower temp than what this article recommends.
I like coffee that is fresh, old, hot, cold, strong, weak, sweet, bitter, black or creamy. People are way too fussy about things. Every taste has its own good and bad points. Sometimes, a HOT pepper is just right and other times a cool pepper is what you need. Variety is what life is all about.
Agreed. But sometimes things will taste OK, but will act strangely in your body once consumed. I don't know why, but I've tried all the creamers available in the northeast of US and the only commercial one that doesn't tie my stomach in a knot is the regular vanilla safeway creamer (lucerne brand) (even though i hate having to go into their stores). Of course if i use lactaid and sugar or agave, that's ok, but is not as convenient. Regarding the sw creamer, I think it has something to do with the type of milk additive and absence or presence of coconut oil. (And i think without the coconut oil, the sw creamer tastes more like vanilla and less like coconut. I like coconut, but the oil, I think doesn't something funny to my tummy. also, if you make a creamer and it tastes mostly like coconut, why call it vanilla?)
Wait, I'm confused.. A "pour-over" sounds an awful lot like a "reach-around". Are they similar?
I think you're on to something. Steps 7 and 8 sound like a carnal act too!
It's a cup of coffee for Christ's sake...
citation needed for Jesus' use of and experience with coffee
"It was only adopted by coffee epicures and American roasting companies in the past decade"
Too bad this writer is so poorly informed (and didn't bother to do a little homework for this piece). I've been making coffee this way with the same Chemex cone maker for more than 30 years, and the Chemex has been available since at least the 1960's (along with a similar plastic Melitta model and others). They have gone in and out of fashion, but have been consistently available.
Zapper- You're right! I have had one for years and it makes great coffee when I have the patience. Chemex coffee makers were invented in 1941 and I believe that it is in the permanent collection at MOMA for its innovated design.
It also shows up in lots of movies (Rosemary's baby, Pillow Talk) and TV shows like Mary Tyler Moore and is mentioned in Ian Fleming James Bond novels.
Why they passed this over in this article is a mystery. There was a coffee bar in South Coast Plaza here in Ca. that made their coffee with the Melitta method you mentioned back in the 1980's. ??
I do not know of Chernex....but personally, I have not experienced coffee that is consistently as superb and simple to brew as that which is done with the AeroPress. A BRILLIANT concept invented in 2005 by Stanford University engineering prof Alan Adler. Check it out on Wikipedia or just plug it into a search engine. YouTube abounds with video demonstrations. Virtually every friend I have made a cup for has immediately gone out to purchase this fabulous invention, which goes for maybe 40 bucks and has no really breakable parts. It puts Starbucks to shame. Think of a thick walled lucite syringe that goes through another cylinder (near air tight)that pushes the brew threw a micropore small paper filter and results in perhaps the smoothest and least acidic coffee I have ever had. No electricity required! A HUGE amount of research and experimentation went into this device. It comes with at least a year's supply of the small filters, but these can be washed and reused again and again and again. I have routinely been able to reuse a single one for at least a month, with no negative effects on the taste. There are a slew of writers who make their living from writing about coffee and coffee makers who have basically let their $400+ Espresso/Cap machines gather dust, once they brought the AeroPress into their home. Kudos to Alan Adler. The company he started does very little advertising–a single cup and you are in coffee Nirvana. No technology to break down....and you can take it anywhere, there are just a few parts. Small, cheap and low-tech and one of the best investments I have ever made for early morning delight.
Mrs. Melitta Bentz patented it in Germany in 1908!
What kind of shallow research did this writer do?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melitta
I've got a love fantasy somewhere between steps 3-5, after step 8 everything was over
Meh... any real coffee snob will turn their nose up at the use of the paper filter. anyone that's dazzled by this would have their minds blown by a coffee made in a Syphon pot! that's my go to most mornings. got it down to a quick process. any method just takes a routine to get used too.
Syphon pot is the greatest....trying to find one is tough...Sunbeam from the 50's is my choice on the weekends, wihs I could get a Bodum but too pricy on ebay.....fresh roasted beans in a hot air popcorn popper....fresh ground.....don't get any better than this....!!!
I didn't drink coffee before I joined the Navy back in '69 and navy coffee spoiled me for any other type. Dark, hot, and strong, all else is a waste of time and money. If I can see the bottom of the mug then it's just tea.
But then, that's just me. Ya'll have a good time with your fine coffee.
If you can see the bottom of your mug, there's a good chance that your mug is still empty. Try that 'pouring' thing again.
Ah Troll, may haps I should have clarified the statement.
If I can see the bottom of the mug then it's just tea or it's empty.
Another vote for Navy coffee (just don't let it sit for 12 hrs.... ;-)
Oh I don't know about that. The last cup or two out of a thirty gallon pot at the end of a twelve hour watch is very stimulating stuff.
Mind you it tastes like bilge water but it'll stiffen your resolve for sure.
The Cajuns of Louisiana have been making drip coffee like ths for a couple of hundred years. They even have a special coffee pot to do it!
Yeah camp coffee...we've been drinking coffee this way while camping for more years than I want to admit, its the best!
1. The pinch of salt is actually right on point, especially with a drip coffee maker. An old friend of mine that was in they Navy picked it up when he was on board... the tradition is that you take a little piece of the sea with every cup. The salt also enhances the flavor.
2. I've done the hand-pour thing, gravity brewing, french press, drip method... you name it. By far and away the best I've found is a product made by the folks that make the Aerobie, which is similar to a frisbee... it's called an AeroPress. It'll set you back about $20, but it is a quicker way to brew than the hand-pour method above (which DID originate in the Far East, despite the fact that one person 'has been doing it for years'... they were doing it for years LONG before your ancestors were born, bub)... and TASTIER too.
Try the AeroPress... I'm telling you, you won't be disappointed.
100% agreement with the Aeropress. I bought one a few months back and fell in love. There is nothing pretentious or snobby about it. It's just a great way to make a cup of coffee. And yes, I have time to do it EVERY morning before work despite these people claiming that this all takes 'too much time'. I own an Aeropress, a drip maker, and a Keurig, but the Aeropress is by far the best.
Another vote for the AeroPress. Cheap, simple, easy, and makes a FANTASTIC cup of coffee. I got one as a Mother's Day present and use it every single day.
I don't see what the fuss is here. For decades MELITA has been producing cone filters and baskets.
You are simply renaming a old process and touting it as something revolutionary. Get a life!
Pour-over and Aeropress are the two methods I use, and both are good. For simplicity and value, pour-over is hard to beat, but the Aeropress is faster, somewhat better tasting, and very easy to clean up. The inner rubber plunger squeegees the chamber clean, and grounds and everything pop right out the end. This article makes the pour-over method needlessly complicated - just fill the cone, watch it drain, and repeat until your cup is full.
@Dennet, think you meant to comment on another comment...
For everyone else, HELLS YEAH on the AeroPress!
This is pretty much the same way I've been making coffe for years, but I vary the procedure slightly.
Instead of a purpose-made pour-over cone, I use the plastic bin from a drip coffee maker. And instead of heating the water in a kettle and letting it cool slightly, I use the heater system from a drip coffee maker, which heats the water to slightly below boiling. And instead of pouring the water by hand, I let the drip coffee maker pour the water over the cofee automatically.
Yes, this sounds like I just use a drip coffee maker, but there's a huge difference. I use a _small_ two-cup coffee maker, and I only use enough coffee and enough water to make a single cup.
I'm quite sure there is no discernable difference between what I do and this ridiculous pour-over technique.
And while my "automatic pour-over" system is doing its thing, I can do something productive like read a batch of nonsense on CNN's Eatocracy.
Hey that sounds a lot like what I do but with a slight twist. I will actually do up to 8 cups at a time. You have to refine your wrist technique to flip the "on" switch just right.
I can't apply any finesse to my switch-flicking until _after_ a transfusion of coffee.
I don't buy cheap coffee (and I buy from local organic stores) and I'm not some starbucks brainwashee but at the same time I have things to do in the morning so I use the classic drip coffee maker autoprogrammed for each morning. While a great cup of coffee is wonderful in the morning its a bit of snobbery to assume everyone has the time in the morning to pour-over or french press their morning joe on a daily basis.
French press really does not take much time. I am not a morning person, and I am one of the laziest people you will find (chronic illness has a way of doing that). French press takes me no more time to make than my old coffeemaker did, and tastes way better.
I chew the beans and then drink my urine
I can't stop laughing.
YEAHH!! Cuz this is 'Merica! WOO!!
Brad,
That is a perfect response to the frivolous, nonsensical and pompous butt-wipers who spend countless hours, laptop in hand, hanging out at coffee shops and java chat boards in search of the perfect cup of coffee.
I am quite sure at least one of the morons will attempt your recipe and report back of their findings. I hope gargling pee is the next big thing.
Whazzup, wuzup? Question: When has gargling pee NOT been the big thing? Clearly, you are not using the internet properly. A few Google searches and you will surely be enlightened.
Really? Gargling Brad's have you?
Thank you for the laugh, Brad. Better than a cup of coffee.
Best comment here! Bravo
Meh. I've had better.
My friends and I do that with fly agaric mushrooms. Then we put on our bear skins and chase the neighbors with swords. Fun times for all. ;-D
Love the FireSign Theater reference. Chasing the neighbors is cool too. Don't forget to pump your shoes.
Pump my shoes? Gave 'em up years ago... ;-]
...shaken, not stirred.
Or you could skip all the fuss and have a nice cup of tea.
Ditto! I gave up coffee months ago; hot tea, brewed in the coffee maker in the morning, with a little honey and soy milk... yum. I'm sure I wouldn't have the patience to do the pour over described above because I didn't even have the patience to read the whole process. Sounds a little silly to me.
ditto
Tea? I never get along with tea drinkers. Anal retentive do-goodin' sissies. The same annoying normal folks who eat right and get plenty of rest. Whatta y'doin' reading this article anyway, let alone chiming in?—when you don't understand the sweet despair, the hopeless, irresistible black widow love affair that is coffee addiction. (I'm just kidding...sort of)
Nice responses to this article. We either have coffee snob-douches, or negative Nancies. The method outlined in this story is really that bad?
Is there no help for the widow's son?
My brother Bob would like this. He's a pretentious snot.
You read a whole article on how to prepare coffee in the lifestyle section of an online publication and HE'S pretentious?
I didn't read the article, I just looked at the picture.
'I leave comments on articles that I didn't read because that's how one sounds extremely intelligent. GENIUS!' – David
... because that's how..., er, wait,...now I'm all confused!
I'm sure your brother Bob fondly talks about his simpleton brother David.
This is all wrong. There are two vastly superior methods for making coffee.
There are stainless steel pour-over filters that don't require the paper filter which soaks up the natural oils in coffee beans. The natural oils is what gives the coffee a great mouth feel.
Additionally, you can just use a french press...which also preserves the oils and provides s great mouth feel.
Just because a new process seems elaborate and is time consuming doesn't mean it will produce a good cup of coffee.
You spelled your name wrong Patrick...
MMMM... I need a good "mouth feel"
I follow the steps above (heating the water to just below a boil, fresh grinding at the moment of preparation and c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y weting the grounds to release the flavor, but instead of a filter I use a french-press (also pre heated of course). Takes a bit of time, so it's a weekend and holiday drink, but well worth it.
With a portion of scalded milk – Yessss!
Further proof the P.T. Barnum was right, there's a sucker born every minute. What a pretentious load of crap. I've been doing this for years, with my Melita cone filter. Saying it came from the 'Far East' is complete and utter BS.
Yeah my dad drinks coffee this way because this is what we did before Mr. Coffees were invented, and he's a creature of habit so he never bought one. I still do it camping.
Now, now, Centurion - Melitta comes from Germany, and that is east of me, at least....
Snark aside, I agree - I have done this for years (maybe not quite so anal retentive with pouring precision), and love it that way. It is easy, relatively clean, and does not take THAT long. To the lady who invented it – Melitta Bentz – cheers!
Geez... Its a cup of dirty hot water, no amount of extra time on fancy tricks is going to change that.
YEP, let me run down to the store right now! OR, we can make some old ARMY coffee. Take off your sock, put in coffee grounds, ANY kind you want, tie sock in knot at top, throw in hot water! Now that's coffee!
That is also disgusting, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do! Thank you for your service!
Hey, I've had worse. I've had Nescafe.
for MARINE coffee use a sock after a long force march
army guys are such pusses....... ;-)
I thought you marines stole a sailor's sock for that?? Something about the sea salt helps out when you've used the grouds for the third time.
This from a sailor that never met a Marine I wouldn't drink beer with. Good folks, a bit crazy but good folks. Semper Fi man.
(photos) All of that trouble just to put the coffee into a paper cup that ruins the flavor. Complete waste of time. The only way to experience the true taste is porcelain or glass. A cheap ceramic won't hold the temperature consistently either.
If you like cream, drink cream. Fat-free is a waste of milk and coffee. Might as well add more water because all it does is dilute the coffee. The fat from the cream gets infused with some of the acids in the coffee and creates a great taste. Which is the point of the cream in the first place.
Artificial sweeteners? Another great way to ruin the taste of your cup of coffee. Honey is not ghastly but doesn't pair well with a darker roast. A brown sugar for the darkest roasts with a white cane for the lighter. You can do honey with a light breakfast.
Citrus? WTF? Do you eat cheese puffs with your wine too? The citrus better be orange, sweet and paired with a bit of chocolate if you want it to blend well with your coffee.
I use a combination of French Press and Pour Over:
Basically you make French Press – Grind / Soak, but then instead of plunging, I just pour it through a paper cone filter for a final extraction. You get the full extraction like with a French Press, but not the grit . . I'm drinking a cup of it at this very moment, and the beauty is in the consistency of the strength and extraction. Plus there is less chance of mess and splashing hot water. Plus, when you're done, you just drop the filter and grounds in the compost.
Oh brother. Are people really THIS vacuous?
Enjoy your Folgers . .
With the way some of the coffee stands produce their product, you would be better of with Folgers. I think I might have to consider crack as a morning pickup if my only other choice was Sanka. I pretty much draw the line at freeze dried.
I enjoy it every morning as i pollute it with creamer and sugar, on my way to work. I only pull out La Pavoni on the weekends.
I have pretty much won all the arguments I have gotten into on the internet, so if I was you, I would back off.
Your mother must be proud. After all, all she has to do is call you from the basement to hear of your accomplishments.
That...along with owning a Mazzer Major and GB5...quite the resume.
A pinch of salt will make an 'ok' cup of coffee into a good cup of coffee... try it sometime.
I don't even have the patience to read this whole article, let alone do the pour-over.
Samantha, grocery stores in Japan have been selling single-serve, pour-over coffee kits for at least 30 years. I used to buy a few every trip I made when I worked for an airline. Even these mass-produced commercial-style kits make better coffee than any of that French press nonsense.
1 Hit the button. 2 Get in the shower. 3 Dry off, get robe. 4 Get coffee.
I'm sorry, this over the top, one cup of joe, is not part of my morning.
Did you tell how much this cup of coffee cost?
A scale? Kettle with a swan neck spout?? Does anyone really have this much time to prepare 1 cup of coffee? A silly trend, that is all.
It takes me 4 minutes once the water is hot . .
Don better stick to his Folgers crystals if he can't tell the difference between roasted and ground. Idiots like him need to learn to keep their thoughts to themselves.
What were you trying to say here? So, you don't "grind" your roasted coffee? You just pour hot water over beans? Can't buy ground roasted coffee? Sorry, but by the time all coffee gets into your mouth it has been "ground" at some point unless you just chew the beans.
All you have to do is get a little Italian Espresso pot by Bialleti ($20) and you'll
have better tasting coffee than any of these methods. Want it weaker, add a little water.
This is nothing new ... people have been brewing coffee like this for decades in Europe. I remember visiting my family in Germany as a kid in the 70's and they made full pots using this method. Just proves the saying "everything old is new again".
I like a good cup of coffee, but this is ridiculous.
Do I pour the water in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction and is there a specific chant to be used when creating the "brew"?
in the end its the type of machinery used which will produce the quality of the output.
It depends iwhether you're in the northern or southern hemisphere!
I dont like it. Espresso, moka opt or even a press is much better. If you like watered down coffee (I don't) like that comes from a drip or pour-over, try adding a little water to an espresso or moka coffee.. 100% better. Or even better, just have a 4x espresso or a normal moka pot coffee no extra water.... 100000% better....
Coffee is the drink of the infidel. It is the creation of the great Satan who dominates western culture.
Boo!
Funny, I feel that way about your religion. And it's a good thing I had my coffee this morning or I would let you know how I really feel.
AMEN BROTHER !!
you're a narrow minded idiot. Get a life!
...or at least a humor transplant who can't recognize the parody in the name.
You can't say that about my jihadi brother!
You take that back!
YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!
A nice Zappa reference in the morning is better than any cup of coffee. Thanks.
Ahh, my friend Yerbouti... how I long for the days when you and I hung out with Bobby Brown chasing after those baby snakes.
His name is Shave Your Bush, you've been trolled.
...need it all spelled out for them.
You are smart, Lindsey... Of course, in my country, we would stone you for the crime of having a labia.
...we filter our coffee THROUGH a bush.
Those were indeed the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end...
You DO realize, don't you, Yerboosh, that YOU started out with labia which then BECAME testes under the influence of testosterone?
Oh Lindsey, how you flirt so shamelessly with me. I will take you out on my camel and then later we will make sweet love. Then I will turn the tables on your Zionist government by waterboarding you.
Begin pouring again very slowly, allowing the water level reach halfway up the... (use your, er, yer, imagination, you saucy Shia) for optimal "extraction". Continue pouring in a circular motion, working your way out,... This should last 40 to 45 seconds.
Oh, Yerboosh, I'm yours, I'm YOURS!
"Uh, I'll have what she had."
I
I love the drink of the infidel and I embrace our Satan induced western culture.
...where it'll be all Eight O'Clock instant!
Hmmm, I seem to remember that Coffee came from some Middle Eastern country. Sheppards noticed their goats got a bit extra frisky after eating the beans from the coffee bush. So they tried it themselfs, the rest is history.
By the hairy sack of Allah, you do not defile my goat with your harmful words!!!
Oh, Yerboosh, defile me, DEFILE ME, I'm bio-degradeable!
A great video on the 'how to' of pour-over coffee can be found at Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151212335571622
All kidding aside (an there are some funny parodies here) the fact that they would seriously consider using stale, two week-old, already-ground coffee gives away the fact that whoever wrote this silly article should stick to instant freeze dried since they won't know the difference. A quality roasted bean that has been ground seconds before the water hits it in the filter cone makes all the other "requirements" meaningless in terms of what a real person can actually taste. Two week old coffee? With what? A moldy bagel?
Read the article again. It says "roasted" within two weeks, not "ground".
Are you really that bad at reading comprehension?? The article said to use beans that had been roasted in the last 2 weeks, not ground.
They freshly grind beans that have roasted within the last two weeks.
And grind your beans first, and THEN roast them seconds before you pour Guatemalean rainwater over a filter made from the opinion section of the New York Times, no more than three hours old.
That's only on weekdays . .
On weekends it's the Book Review
Where does it say 2-week old pre-ground coffee? The article says to use coffee within two weeks of roasting, not within two weeks of grinding. Many good coffee shops sell beans that are roasted on premises.
I'm just a pigment of your imagination.
For those of you with heartburn problems or hate coffee's bitter flavor, COLD DRIP BREWED coffee is a fantastic alternative. It is much less harsh and removes a lot of acidity and bitterness.
Good coffee done right is not bitter. Bad coffee (from harvesting unripe fruit, to too dark a roast, or an improper roast) is bitter. If it's bitter to you, you might want to actually try the method described in the article, with a quality coffee. It will be sweet and fragrant and wonderful.
Chemex is the way to go. I haven't went back to auto drip since I got one. The key is the bloom. If you get a good Mexican or Central American bean and brew it in the Chemex you get great floral notes. This article isn't for the everyday coffee drinker. It's for the coffee fan that thinks Starbucks is the best and doesn't know any better.Granted breaking out a scale is pretty ridiculous. Grind beans, boil water, wait about 1 minute for water to cool, cover beans with water, let sit for 1 minute and then pour the rest of the water in. Perfect cup of coffee.
I'll stick with my french press for now–imo, it's the most idiot-proof way to make coffee, and you can even make cold-brewed iced coffee in it as well.
Agreed!
This article belongs in a magazine for people who make large annual salaries and have the time or servants to do this process. I'm sure its delicious, but I find this elitest, and self indulgent for a news channel such as CNN.
Yeah, occasionally CNN puts out these useless classist articles for the One Percenters who live like they're in Downton Abbey. Wait till the SHTF and these pantywaists can't figure out how to make coffee on a camp stove!
This is how I make coffee every day, if I'm in my kitchen or out camping. On the rare occasion I forget my filter, I'll throw some gounds into some just off boil water and let the grounds settle out before drinking, butit just isn't the same.
I totally agree! If you need to read a story on how to make coffee, your parents didn't raise you right. The very idea that anyone would put their NAME on this story is also ridiculous. Don't you have any SHAME, girl? Couldn't find something REAL to write about? Oh. Yeah. CNN. Sorry, I forgot.
This comment is a classic example of "I personally don't have an interest in the topic at hand, so I'm going to put down the people who are interested to make myself feel better."
I thoroughly enjoyed this article, because I enjoy good coffee, and I like learning how to do things. I can guarantee I'm not a 1 percenter, I'm not a rich snob, I just like good coffee. Just because you're bitter because of your lot in life, doesn't mean you need to put others down.
+2
+2.
Well, put.
-4
Do a lot of work in 3rd world countries. It's how most people in the rest of the world drink coffee. I find your narrow, cynical view elitist.
I'll stick with my french press. I can boil the water, then pour and let it brew while finishing getting ready. Plus, it seems to come ut better for me.
Samantha, saw in your entry that you are an intern and a college student. What an awesome way to cap your highly sought after summer experience at such a prestigious organization within the industry! Great writing and way to go! Best of luck to you in school and after graduation.
We got lucky nabbing her for this piece before she left!
I use instant coffee. It's the best.
Grams? Liters? Hello what is wrong with that picture
I saw students doing this in their dorm rooms in the late 1950s because it was quicker, more convenient and cheaper than using the percolators that were prevalent at the time. Most agreed it tasted better. At the time, I preferred Coke for breakfast – that vintage Coca-Cola in a 6oz glass bottle with with unmatched taste and caffeine hit. (Rumor was it contained cocaine.)
Actually, it was a 7 oz. bottle.
I'm just going to assume that all of you haters out there are not interested in foreplay either. You should know that if you take some extra time, you can have something amazing going on. Treat your coffee like you (should) treat your woman. Take some extra time, do it right, and pour a little sugar on her for flavoring when applicable.
Slapping it around a bit brings out the full flavor.
O.M.F.G. What sort of pretentious a-holes are these? Its "in the wrist" ?? Its *coffee, not rocket science! Morons.
+2
What kind of pretentious a-holes put down others because they don't "approve" of the interests of others. If you don't care about the topic at hand, go elsewhere. Putting others down to make yourself feel better just comes across as childish.
@squishy hmmm calling people who take different interest than you moron is very ... moronic, to say the least.
Yeah, right! I barely have time to brush my teeth and dress before the dash to the bus stop. And if by some miracle I ever have more time, it'll get devoted to a lot more important things than improving the aesthetics of my morning joe..
Sounds like another Japanese way of doing something mundane in an ornately byzantine fashion to supposedly make it better.
To me, it sounds about as silly as shaking a cocktail in a different motion; coffee is coffee, and if you get the temperature and infusion time right, 99.99% of people won't be able to tell whether it was infused in an old hi-c can or in a platinum and pyrex French Press.
actually, sir, they DO taste all different. I myself prefer Bialetti moka express, however.
this is how coffee is made in Brasil... sugar is boiled with the water and poured over the grounded beans, amazing!! I have never been able to drink black coffee until I had it this way!
Boiling the sugar with the brew... this is also why REAL sweet tea is better than Yankee sweet tea.
Like!
Sorry to burst your bubble, Melissa, but if there's sugar in the boiled water, it's not black – it's got sugar in it. (Like when you use a moka pot [Italian stovetop espresso], but put sugar in the bottom section, like my mother often does – it's not black espresso, it has sugar.
That's why she said she can't drink black coffee anymore.
im pretty sure she meant black, as in without milk...
The only coffee invention I need is the easy to use DIY coffee IV. Easily hooked up in your car, library or dining room. Refresh on the patio without all those breakable cups and having to get up to refill. Just hook up and enjoy, also available in black silver and red. Oh and if you act now, you can get another complete set for your loved ones(just pay separate shipping and handling). What better way to say "I love you" than an intravenous caffine apparatus. Call now!
Your "pour-over" technique is more like a "comb-over". Genuine coffee aficionados know that the only way to brew a true cuppa joe is to hand-roast each bean over an unscented candle for perfect consistency, grind the beans, and then double-sieve the grounds to eliminate all pieces larger than 3 mm and smaller than 1.2 mm. You will need 18 grams of these consistently-sized grounds. Spread the grounds evenly on a filter that has been pre-moistened with mineral water. Warm this preparation on a pastry pan in an oven pre-heated to 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, misting every 5 minutes with distilled water.
Remove the filter, shake out and dispose of the grounds, and rinse briefly in chilled springwater. You have now conditioned your filter. Hand-roast another batch of beans, grind and double-sieve to a consistent particle size of 3-4 mm.
Now comes the tricky part. To ensure consistent brewing temperature, the process must be completed inside a Swedish sauna heated to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the filter in a Corning laboratory funnel, with its glass stopcock in the closed position. Arrange the funnel so it is perfectly centered above your coffee mug, with its stem 1-2 mm above the bottom of the mug. Slowly add the coffee grounds into the filter. Add 100cc of water that was heated to 99 degrees C. Allow to steep for 285 seconds, then quickly turn the stopcock to half-open, closing it after 18 seconds. Pour the remaining water, heated to 97 degrees C, into the filter, and open the stopcock after 20 seconds. Enjoy your coffee while still in the sauna.
Wow... you used a LOT of shortcuts in your perfect coffee process... LOL!
THAT is outstanding!
Cute, and I get it, but the fact is using a Melitta has been around for decades and it's not very hard. The only thing that requires more work than a drip maker is to pour the hot water over the filter manually, let it "bloom" for about 15s, then pour the rest of the water in. About 20s of marginal work. If it took you 10 minutes to write your masterpiece, that's 30 days worth of better coffee.
That's exactly how my coffee is made each morning. The effort is worth it. I generally hire an unemployed neighbor to make it for me..
LOL. Perfect.
Melitta Mill-n-Brew makes a superior pot of coffee if you can find one anymore.
Can do that! Just got to build in the sauna and I will be ready to go. Got candles, check and the rest, check. Now off to Home Depot to get the sauna materials. Maybe pick up some new fresh candles in case the others have picked up any dust so not want to ruin the purification process. Thank you so much. (Very funny)
If you align the coffee pot with the earth's magnetic field, it brings out thebest flavor by getting rid of the negatively charged flavor destructer molecules.
" ...... stopcock ...." LOL.
Who would've thought, hot water poured over fresh coffee.
Yeah, this isn't the Wheel people.
Tastes better than the wheel though.
Tried many ways to make coffee over the years, and I do prefer it strong... standard drip machines (fall-back), pour-over in the Tico/campesino manner (interesting), those horrible stovetop 'espresso' cookers (ugh!), French press (my standard for many years), cold steep overnight (smooth, but flavor is missing something critical for me), AeroPress (nice, clean and simple, but flavor still isn't quite right to me)... Of these, I think French press is the winner for me, by a long shot, once I learned the right mix of coffee/water/temp/time/etc. for my taste...
I can't stand paying up to $5/cup, though a buck for a nice espresso can be nice on occasion...
Recently I was considering trying to roast my own, sourcing from Sweet Maria's, but I never got my gumption up to just do it... Maybe one day!
Then a number of months ago my wife got one of those Nespresso machines, much to my shock/horror/disgust, but having tried it now I have to say that it makes a really fast/simple cup of consistently delicious espresso (IF I control the amount of water!)... I hate the idea of being beholden to Nestle for the pods (can't wait until their patents expire so others can make them!), but I've found the ones I like... and since one of their 'boutiques' is nearby it is easy to drop off the used pods for recycle/composting, and I don't pay tax or shipping... Not for everyone, but for me it is an almost ideal solution re time/cost/taste!!
Yeah the French press is the way to go. I have one of those electric water pots that sits on a base so pot is removable. Gets a boil on fast. Actually once you know your measurements it is a very easy process. Coffee is so much better than a regular maker.
I agree with most of your points, but if you do it right, Bialetti Moka Express (stovetop) makes much better coffee than a frenchpress. You have to measure the coffee right and control the heat and time. It's even better than coffees made at cafes with 3k espresso machines.
Sounds a lot like french drip to me. French drip has been around in Louisiana for at least a couple hundred years.
"...a fuller, fruity taste, often accented with floral notes"
Someone is writing in the wrong column.
When I was young in the 60s and 70s, my father always insisted on making the coffee at holiday get-togethers. He got out his Melita drip, hand pour coffee pot and filters (he raved about Melita and would use nothing else) and would take the time to make small pot after small pot this way. I have no idea what happened to those white porcelain coffee makers, but they even looked a lot like the pictures above. Anyone else remember these?
Yes, I still use the Melita method every day. The cones are plastic, but still function the same way. I've used this method for at least 20 years and I have to laugh at the big production that the writer of this article makes out of pouring hot water over 2 tablespoons of freshly ground coffee. It works great, but it's a whole lot simpler than the coffee snobs make it out to be.
The Mellita filter introduced me to GOOD coffee! My then wife would make it right into my thermos bottle. It was "high cotton" from there on! Must admit we now grind and run it through the trusty Bunn for a good brew. Life is too short at 72 to wait!
I used this method for years and decided that the secret was in having the water contact the coffee for a longer period than the standard drip method. So, I switched to a French press that allows the water and beans contact for even longer. It's the method I use now. For my friends who don't like the oils that remain using the French press, I let the coffee sit in the French press for 4 to 8 minutes then don't press the top but slowly pour the coffee and grounds into a cone but prefer to use a gold filter to the paper filter. I prefer the French press myself. I also prefer buying my coffee directly from Beanstock in Eastham, Mass. They know how to roast coffee.
Coffee can be a hobby just like anything else. So many of you people are complaining about the fact that this takes a bit more time or overly complicates the process, but if it makes the person who is doing it happy, then who cares? I'm constantly seeking new things to try in my life and coffee happens to be something that intrigues me. Just like anything else, there is a science to it and there's huge difference between the product you get from using a Mr. Coffee drip maker and what you get from using something else. If you don't want to get the extra time and live off Folgers the rest of your life, then so be it. Personally, I'm going to try as many new methods as possible so I can experience all that coffee has to offer. I'm personally an Aeropress fan (and I see a few of you out there are as well) but this is definitely a method that I'd like to try.
Have you tried the Steven Wright recipe? You put instant coffee in a microwave and travel through time. That way you can sleep late but get to work before you left. If you get to the point where you remember the future, you can quit your job and hit the casino. Only drawback is all your dreams will be about Einstein, which is not good for your libido.
I bought some instant water one time but I didn't know what to add to it. – Steven Wright
Same effect: with a coffee maker. take a 22 oz of water. Use a measure of coffee (2 heaping T) pack it into the filter, leaving a depression in the grounds, pushing them up the side of the filter. Fill coffee maker with 1/3 of water. Turn on coffee maker. When dripping has stopped add the next third wait until dripping stops then add last 1/3. That will give you 16 oz of great coffee..strong with flavor, not the wash water perked stuff they charge you $2.00/cup at diners.
Been using a simple 1-cup conde filter (on and off) since 1968. Does this make me a hipster?
No, but talking about it does. :P
Depends. Have you taken pictures of yourself doing this that were later posted on Instagram?
i read this article while drinking coffee made very inprecisely in a large party kettle – yesterday – and reheated in the microwave...but i do love a really well made cup of coffee too
That is SOOO me. I also remember my mom making "hobo" coffee. Just a saucepan, coffee and water thrown together in a pot and then a filter over the cup. Awww memories.
Put as many coffee beans in your mouth as you can. Chew. Add water as hot as possible. Gargle. Suck coffee down throat trying to reserve the grounds. Spit out grounds. Rinse mouth. Repeat.
Hey! That's funny!
Post a video of yourself doing this on Youtube. I bet it will get a lot of hits.
That is fresh!
While I love a great cup of coffee, most days this is just too much time. However, I would love to try it now and then. I mean, if there is a way to enhance something that I already enjoy, why not try it? And for those that quote, "too much time on their hands", ........REALLY? You are on a computer commenting upon the usage of time management? Does it really matter if someone spends their time OFFLINE, making something that they enjoy in real life? In this world, things and life travels by so fast. It's vital to stop and smell the roses from time to time...to ENJOY life. And yes, there is coffee....auto drip (blech) and there is the fine cuisines of coffee preparation. I prefer the fine dining rather than a ton of regular drip "coffee".
I drink it every day at my house and don't waste my time buying it on the go.
The BEST coffee in the world is what we call IRISH STYLE. Fill cup with coffee, set cup on the table, pick up the whiskey bottle and drink it's magical fluids heavily all day.
I got a coffee press as a gift and the coffe it makes is awesome! I buy good coffee (I like Peet's the best) and use the press. It's the best!
Wonderful way to make coffee. Though pricey a similar automatic method is used by Jura Cappresso's Automatic Coffee makers.
Blue Bottle makes delicious coffee. Period. The ice coffee needs nothing..just plain and simple. Worth the line every time!
I only use the cold toddy method which is a wonderfully smooth, yet strong coffee. It originated out of South America where coffee is brewed overnight in ice water, then strained into a carafe through a 1/2 inch cotton filter, leaving an elixir to mix with water. The best ever. I switched to this method 15 years ago. No bitterness at all. Available on Amazon
to all the fools who spend vast amounts of money on their daily fix, i call all of you stupid!
get a cup of coffee and get on with the day!
i'm heading to Starbucks now to pay $5 bucks for my fix!
It seems as though you are the fool!
2 1/2 pounds of high-quality roast for what you spend on three cups. Who's the fool, Fool?
I have never been to *(S)ucks! But I have had the coffee because I didn't have to pay for it from my pocket. Not much to it.
I also limit my visits to Italian Restaurants (I my own pasta dishes).
Point is, why buy it out when you can make it so much better at home.
The last time I had that was during a power outage.
Uh, so you pour hot water over fresh coffee? Who would've thunk?
I'm stunned by the complex sophistication of this method. Let me a get a pencil and paper so I don't forget it.
The coffee at the Blue Bottle behind the Salt House in SF is stellar. Plain and simple. It's not the only way to make coffee, hell I have my Mr. Coffee rolling right now, but it sure is nice.
Response summary:
Some people love their coffee and will go to great lengths to brew the perfect cup.
Some people drink coffee as a pick-me-up and as long as it does not taste like dung, their fine with it.
These two groups rarely understand each other.
Personally, I like a really good cup of coffee but will not make the effort or pay the price. I understand both sides.
I understand both sides as well. For me, as long as the coffee isn't bitter, I don't really care how it's brewed. I'm good with McDonald's coffee. Tea, on the other hand, is an entirely different story – I'm very picky when it comes to tea!!
That is just WAY too much work for a cup of joe im sorry. For one, i have had coffee all over the world, two i have had it done this way and yes it is a great cup of coffee, but three and most importantly the amount of time needed per cup is just absurd and this will cause any place that serves coffee this way to overcharge out the wazoo. Its bad enough i have to pay almost 6 dollars (on the cheap) to get a decent coffee now.
I agree...this is waaaaay too much work for a cup of coffee. Sounds like it is for people who can taste oatmeal and caramel and other bizarre flavors in a cup of coffee. Too snooty for me.
greginso is right, this is for people with way too much time on their hands!
Interesting. So because you can't relate or understand one's passion about coffee they become snooty or smug? I'm going to start calling NASCAR fans smug because I sure as h3ll don't understand them or their passion.
I loooovvvee a good cup of coffee while watching Nascar. So what does that make me??
You can make a good coffee from a good coffee..
The late Andy Rooney was as persnickety about his coffee as he was about most other things in his life. He found the preferred way to brew coffee was the Chemex system – water just below boiling, cone paper filter, ample amount of coffee poured slowly over the grounds. So well worth the wait and the effort.
white people problems
I laughed so hard at that I almost spewed my mr. coffee brewed coffee. Thank you.
I think we do!!
I don't recall anyone claiming there was a problem with other methods of brewing coffee. I think this is simply highlighting one method of brewing coffee that afficianados enjoy. What's wrong with that? I know black people who love a fine cup of coffee or a nice glass of wine. Do they have "white people problems" too?
Great comment – I almost spewed my french press coffee all over ;) Yes, white guy here!
Chickory for you, eh? Maybe an infrequent cup of Nescafe de-caf if you're living high-on-the-hog. I am so jealous.
Try ETHIOPIAN COFFEE ceremony: Ethiopian is the Origin of coffee and they have the best power over coffee ceremony better than anybody. Here is the the explanation how to make ethiopian coffe:
Ethiopian coffee ceremony is one of the most enjoyable event you can attend at an Ethiopian Restaurant. The coffee is taken through its full life cycle of preparation in front of you in a ceremonial manner. Coffee is called 'Bunna' (boo-na) by the Ethiopians.
The ceremony starts with the woman, first bringing out the washed coffee beans and roasting them in a coffee roasting pan on small open fire/coal furnace. The pan is similar to an old fashioned popcorn roasting pan and it has a very long handle to keep the hand away from the heat. At this time most of your senses are being involved in the ceremony, the woman will be shaking the roasting pan back and forth so the beans won't burn (this sounds like shaking coins in a tin can), the coffee beans start to pop (sounds like popcorn) and the most memorable is the preparer takes the roasted coffee and walks it around the room so the smell of freshly roasted coffee fills the air ...
The roasted coffee is then put in a small household tool called 'Mukecha' (moo-ke-ch-a) for the grinding. Most restaurants at this time incorporate modern coffee grinders into the process, this is to save time and it does not take much from the ceremony. For those interested mukecha is a heavy wooden bowl where the coffee beans are put and another tool called 'zenezena' which is a wooden/metal stick used to crush the beans in a rhythmic up & down manner (pistil and mortar).
The crushed fresh roasted coffee powder then is put in a traditional pot made out of clay called 'jebena' (J-be-na) with water and boiled in the small open fire/coal furnace. Again the boiling coffee aroma fills the room, once boiled the coffee is served in small cups called 'cini' (si-ni) which are very small chinese cups.
As you sip your first cup of coffee, you've gone through the full process of watching seeing the coffee beans being washed, roasted, grinded, boiled & now the culmination you're drinking them. By now the process is finished at most restaurants, but traditionally Ethiopians stick around to get at least a second serving of coffee and sometimes a third.
The second and third serving are important enough that each serving has a name, first serving is called "Abol"; second serving is "Huletegna"(second) and third serving is "Bereka". The coffee is not grinded for the second and third serving, a portion of coffee powder is left on purpose for these two ceremonies.
Source: http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/ethiopian_coffee.html
what a lovely description – i could almost smell and savor the coffee all the way over here in india!! thanks for sharing!
Wow, that sounds amazing. I am going to have to seek out an Etheopian restaurant to see this!!!
I agree with smr, thank you for writing that up! More 'real' coffee houses should do this.
Clever coffee dripper...look it up, you'll never need another coffee gizmo. I laugh at the dopes who get suckered into buyin those keurig single cup shams, and yes I can afford one...
aeropress. quick, easy, delicious
Yupp Aeropress and Clever dripper, great stuff
I'll drink pour-over if I can't get it siphon. I prefer the greater amount of oils from using a steel filter, and the slightly faster method of the siphon. Plus it's harder to burn the coffee this way.
You people have way too much time on your hands. Imagine using all this time and effort on something worthwhile.
To some, this is. Don't be a d!ck.
. . . . and yet, you took the time to read the article, instead of doing something worthwhile. Good for you, you may be learning to relax!
and iu suppose that commenting on peoples post and putting them down is worthwhile right?
You want strong staff...try Turkish Coffee (way it's made)...btw the best coffee is Lebanese (fine ground with cardamom) – to prep Turkish Coffee
or just get Dolce Gusto machine...coffee is heavenly...no fuss no mess :))
You have to be very careful with so many things with this method: (1) The temperature of the water when you do the pour has to be selected the way you like it. You can't use boiling or close-to-boiling water, b/c the beans will burn, and you'll get bitter brew. (2) The amount of time during which the coffee beans stay in the water also must be regulated, the longer the time, the stronger and more intense the coffee. This method really can work well only after you've learned how to do it to your taste.
I think 30 grams would be too strong. I use 22 grams and I like my coffee pretty strong too. I am wondering what most people use that make pour over.
I roast my own coffee beans (over three years now) and 90% of the coffee we drink is pour-over drip, the exceptions being either a vacuum pot or a Moka pot. I have the fancy kettle and brewer, and they make an amazing cup of coffee. Ethiopian dry-process coffees are spectacular.
1. Fill coffee maker with water and coffee.
2. Push "Brew"... wait 5 minutes
3. Pour coffee into cup
4. Drink
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until either full or out of coffee.
End of story
End of story
It's sad that so many people drink so much coffee, and yet have no idea what coffee *really* tastes like.
Or maybe it's so amusing that some people have so much time on their hands that they have to invent silly new ways to pour hot water over ground up coffee beans. There are plenty of things in this world to be sad about, how someone chooses to drink their coffee shouldn't be one of them.
How bout those coffee beans that are coveted, but are actually harvested from a dung pile that comes out of a catlike animal's but t? Now that's devotion baby. hehe
Love my Mazzer Major and GB5.
Well how nice for you. Please send your mailing address so I can ship you a prize.
os·ten·ta·tion (stn-tshn, -tn-)
n.
1. Pretentious display meant to impress others; boastful showiness.
2. Archaic The act or an instance of showing; an exhibition.
A veracious statement if ever there was one!
Used to use a drip coffee maker, but found I can control the strength, and bitterness, a lot easier using my press. I used to put a pinch of salt in the grounds before brewing to help with the bitterness and acidity, but with press brewing, it's a lot easier on the belly. Plus, I can get stronger some days, and weaker others if I desire. Can't really do that with a drip coffee maker