The path to perfect coffee

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
Throw away that percolator, give the grounds time to swell, and forget
About the egg.

Directions

The melancholy truth is that the two most common ways to make coffee in America produce the worst coffee in existence. You'd think the main villain was instant coffee. But the real offender is perked coffee, mercilessly recycled in a percolator, glub-a-glub-a-glub.

The inescapable sound of morning for several wholly misquided generations. Mostly it's awful because it is boiled, the one thing that coffee should never be. Boiling disperses the fragile, rich aromas that are so important to flavor, while it concentrates acids, extracts extra tannin, and intensifies bitterness. For absolutely the best coffee you must start by roasting your own beans. Fragrance and flavor deteriorate quickly after green coffee is roasted, and from its ancient Middle Eastern beginnings to the turn of the century, almost everyone everywhere who made coffee also roasted the beans as needed. The present proposal is, however, a modest one, so we will simply insist that the coffee be as freshly roasted as possible, ground at the last minute. Although the beans are obviously crucial, water is the main ingredient in coffee. If the water doesn't taste good, the coffee won't taste good. Avoid using very hard water or water that has been artificially softened, heavily chlorinated, or otherwise made to taste bad. In some places this means using bottled water. Draw fresh cold water and put it on to boil. Use hot water to rinse and warm up the china, earthenware, stainless steel, glass, enamel, silver, or gold (but not tin or aluminum) coffeepot. Do the same with the cups. If you intend to use milk, gradually heat it in a double boiler. Cream should be at room temperature. Decide which kind of coffee you want to make. Filtered coffee is light in body and aftertaste, but very clear, refreshing, and sediment-free. Steeped coffee is a heavier, richer product because none of the superfine flavoring compounds have been trapped and filtered out. FILTERED COFFEE: Put the pot where it will remain warm - in a larger pan of simmering water, on a heat spreader, or at the side of the woodstove.

When you hear the water about to boil, grind the coffee fine, not to powder. Put the filter holder over the pot, line it with filter paper, and for each cup of coffee add 1 to 1-½ to 2 tablespoons of ground beans. Tamp down lightly, so the water will take more time to filter through. When the water boils, turn off the heat and let its temperature fall back a few degrees, then pour on only enough to dampen the coffee. Allow the grounds to swell for about two minutes, then add the rest of the water, in batches if necessary. Serve as soon as filtering is completed. (Filter papers are pretty close to tasteless when they leave the factory, but will pick up strong odors ~ garlic, cheese, tobacco smoke - if stored near them.) STEEPED COFFEE: Be sure to use a wide-bottomed high-spouted pot, so the grounds have a chance to sink out of the liquid and stay sunk at pouring time. Grind the coffee (2 tbsp per cup) only to the texture of rough cornmeal. Put it in the pot, pour on the not quite boiling water, and stir well. Let the coffee infuse for four minutes, stir again briedfly, and let steep two to five minutes more, depending on how strong (and clear) you want the product to be. Dash in a few drops of cold water, which will sink through the hot coffee, carrying stray particles to the bottom of the pot. Serve at once, not letting the liquid sit around on the grounds for very long. ABOUT THAT EGG: Many recipes call for eggshell, egg white and shell, or an entire egg at the end of the process. The idea is to have the albumen in egg, bond with the floating coffee particles, carrying them out of the liquid. It isn't really necessary and it certainly isn't very tasty.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT BEANS: A well stocked coffee store can be uncomfortably reminiscent of a well stocked wine store, a place where it's easy to feel daunted by an exotic and unknown array. But, unlike wine, almost all specialty coffee is pretty good, and even the most expensive is a bargain if you look at the cost per cup.

Although about a dozen species of coffee shrub are cultivated, only two have major commercial importance. Coffea robusta is easier to grow than Coffea arabica, and more prolific, hence a great deal cheaper. Though rich in caffeine, it is bitter and poor-flavored.

Robustas are mainly used as cheap fillers and for the manufacture of instant. Arabicas are labeled (and valued) according to the place of origin. Generally speaking, the higher the elevation at which the coffee grew, the better the flavor. Green coffee beans improve with age, but their flavor must be developed and made soluble by roasting.

Heat breaks down fats and carbohydrates as it develops the coffeol, an oily, volatile aromatic (and still somewhat poorly understood) substance that is the soul of the coffee. The longer the roasting, the darker the roast, which leads to sort of false impression.

Roasting reduces both acid and caffeine and brings coffee oils to the surface, so those sinister looking shiny black beans are actually much milder in effect than the ones that look like milk chocolate.

The reputation of dark roast coffee for bitter strenfth is more a function of the intense ways it is brewed than anything else. And there you have it, all the ingredients for a flavorful, aromatic, bracing, soothing perfect cup of coffee. Origin: The Old Farmers Almanac, Hearth and Home Companion. Shared by: Sharon Stevens ++_ End Stevens Recipe ++-

Submitted By SHARON STEVENS On 03-11-95

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