Coffee

[Jovial Monk]

I presume we all drink it?

I am happy enough to drink instant for my first cup of the day or when time is limited but enjoy “real”coffee in a fine cup when there is time.

Three common ways of making coffee at home:

1. Drip filter coffee

2. French press

3. Barista machine (small, not the sort you see in cafés!)

Drip filter coffee is horrible. The best is to use a ceramic filter not a paper one. The heated baseplate under the jug of coffee turns that coffee into tar in minutes. Horrible.

The French press is fine, needs a slightly coarser grind than the barista machine. Do need to preheat it, pour in some boiling water, swirl and empty, same with the filter, pour some boiling water over. Also, fill the cups with boiling water.

Now you have the jar all wet—use a long funnel to get the grounds to the bottom, add the required amount of boiling watere, put the filter over the top of the jar, after a couple of minutes slowly press the filter down and you have nice coffee free of grounds. An advantage of the French press is you can make more than two cups of coffee in one go, difficult with a little home barista machine.

Barista machine. The coffee beans need a fine grind. Again, preheat cups and the group head else the coffee will be warm but not hot. Factors to note: how much coffee to put in the little basket, how much is extracted and in how many seconds it is extracted. Tamping the grounds is most important!

Make sure the grounds are level in the basket. Put your body weight on the tamper! Then press again, mainly on the northern side, then the eastern etc. Turn the tamper to polish the top of the grounds. Have a mat under the group head when tamping!

So—what is your favorite way of making coffee? Favorite coffee styles?