Different Brewing Techniques (Part 3)
Are you up for more different brewing techniques? Well, I have more for you.
Autodrip
Autodrip! This is the most popular way to brew in the US. Drip brewing is simply pouring hot water over grounds in a filter and letting the brew drip out the bottom. Drip brewing is a very good way to brew and can give an excellent cup if the correct equipment is used. A primary issue with autodrip machines is that they don’t brew at the right temperature! I have read that Bunn is one of the few companies who’s machines are calibrated to extract at the right temperature. If one has a good autodrip machine or one decides to heat and pour the water themselves, the next issue to surmount is the filter. Paper filters can impart a taste on the coffee and also do not allow many of the coffee oils and organic compounds through. A good gold-plated reusable filter (we do carry some) is a great option for drip brewing. Provided you clean and rinse it well after each use, it will not impart a taste on the coffee, and they don’t trap as much of the coffee’s essence as a paper filter. Another slight drawback is that drip brewing, in general, does not give the operator much control over extraction time.
To be honest, this is the method that I use daily. I only have a drip machine at home and I think that it does the job pretty well. I do understand the thing about paper filters imparting a certain taste – if you get the “bad” kind of filter. I got a set of paper filters from The Coffee Bean, though, and they were perfect.
Different Brewing Techniques (Part 2)
In the last post, we took a look at how the Middle Easterns brew their coffee. Soon after that, I went around the city looking for Turkish coffee – well not really, I just looked online for shops that brew coffee this way. I turned up with nothing. Perhaps I should look for the restaurants later – they just might offer this kind of coffee. Anyhow, here are a couple more brewing techniques, again courtesy of Alexander Haas.
Concentrate Brewing
The next method, concentrate brewing, is very popular in Latin America and some other parts of the world, and is starting to make a commercial appearance in the US. In concentrate brewing, large amounts of coffee are brewed with little water to brew a concentrate, when one desires a cup of coffee, some of the concentrate is mixed with some hot water. The concentrate can either be brewed hot or cold. When brewing cold one must let the coffee sit for at least a day. This method results in a mild, light-bodied cup with little aroma, and often little acidity and a muted flavor.
This sounds interesting as well – although I don’t know if the flavor will be strong enough.
Percolating
Percolating, the procedure that involves continuous brewing of coffee grounds using boiling water which then turns to boiling coffee liquor brewing overextracted grounds. This method, while practical, is a disparaging disgrace to the coffee bean. Even brewing with boiling water is bad enough (coffee should be extracted at 195 - 205 degrees F), then actually boiling the liquor is asking for a thin, bitter, tarry cup. To add insult to a sufficient mangling, the grounds are continuously being overextracted.
I am not so sure that this method is so bad. I actually like coffee which is percolated, do you?
Different Brewing Techniques
I am sure that you know that there are various ways by which you can brew coffee. But do you know them in detail? I certainly don’t! All I know is that my drip coffee machine works just fine. I found a very informative article on various coffee brewing techniques and thought I’d share them here.
Thanks to Alexander Haas for this information. According to him, there are 6 primary ways of brewing coffee. Here they are.
Middle Eastern, “Turkish” or “Greek”
Middle Eastern, “Turkish” or “Greek” brewing involves boiling in water coffee that was ground into a very fine dust. Traditionally the coffee is often brewed (boiled) with large amounts of sugar, but it may be brewed without the sugar. Middle Easterners seem to like to add spice to their coffee, and their spice of choice is often cardamom. The coffee is not filtered from the liquor and one is left with a pungent, thick, and muddy brew. In the western world this method is more of an occasional indulgence as opposed to an everyday brew.
I have read about how the Middle Easterners like their brew really thick. I have not tried it myself but I am not sure about having grounds in my drink. The spices, however, make sense. I have only added cinnamon to my coffee but am open to other stronger spices. How about you?
Let’s look at other methods of brewing next time.
Coffee Scare?
I am sure that you have heard of the recent scare about milk coming from China. Truth be told, this kind of news is getting old. We have been hearing of so many products from China being contaminated with one thing or another. To be on the safe side, I would rather not purchase anything coming from there. That might sound politically incorrect but I would really rather be safe than sorry.
Anyhow, with this recent scare, I thought it was just limited to milk. Apparently, canned coffee was involved in the hullabaloo – at least in Taiwan, it was. The canned coffee contains milk, that is why. Naturally, the companies involved were quick to release statements about the safety of their products. King Car is one example:
King Car Food Industrial Co., one of Taiwan’s major food and beverage producers, said Sunday its popular coffee products sold in steel cans is free of melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers.
The company made the assurance while announcing its decision to recall eight kinds of its products that may contain small amounts of melamine.
King Car said in a statement that its canned coffee drinks have consistently used milk powders from Australia or New Zealand that are free of melamine contamination.
The statement further said the company took the initiative to send samples of the eight kinds of products, including an instant chicken/corn soup and seven flavors of powdered coffee drinks, to the Food Industry Research and Development Institute for testing after the disclosure that a shipment of 25 tons of melamine-tainted milk powder from China had been imported into Taiwan.
“Upon learning of the testing results that show eight kinds of its products contained traces of melamine, we immediately informed the Department of Health (DOH) of the findings and our decision to recall all of the potentially tainted products from the market, ” the statement said.
As far as you may be from Taiwan or China, it would still be safe to check ALL products that might have milk in it…
Have Your Own Coffee Morning For A Good Cause
I am a sucker for coffee and I’d like to think that I do my share when it comes to good causes. I think it is a good way to give back something to the community or to specific people. Even though I may have my share of flak and bad luck, I know that others have it worse than I do. Anyhow, I found a great combination – of coffee and good causes – in an event that is being held in Milton Keynes in the UK this 26 September.
By no means am I going as I am not anywhere near the UK but the idea behind Coffee Morning is worth writing about:
City gets behind big Macmillan fundraiser
Get ready for the biggest event in the Macmillan Cancer Charity’s year -the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.On Friday, September 26, scores of people across Milton Keynes will be organising get togethers to drink coffee - or tea, eat cakes and biccies and raise loads of cash for a good cause.
Among them will be Sally Wisson from Hulcote.
Her coffee morning event is at Salford Village Hall with full blown English breakfasts also on the menu for a suggested donation of a fiver.
Last year she and her two sons and an army of helpers raised almost £1,800.
To organise your own event register at www.macmillan.org.uk/coffee or call 0845 602 1246.
So I checked out the Macmilllan web site and found out that they are aiming to raise £8.5 million in order to help people who have cancer. The great thing about this is that anyone can organize his or her Coffee Morning and contribute. I am thinking that we could have something similar for other good causes.
I Have To Pee…What About My Laptop?
The coffee culture has spread far and wide – together with the ubiquitous laptop. When was the last time you went to a coffee shop? If you are like me, then you probably went yesterday. If you did, did you notice the number of people fiddling around with their laptops?
I did not really count the exact number of people who had laptops in the local Starbucks I went to but I know that there were at least 4 people who had their gadgets with them. And for a small Starbucks, that can be considered a lot!
It is not even limited to Starbucks! The other night, I was at Krispy Kremes with my husband, brother-in-law, and my dad. We were enjoying doughnuts and coffee and we could not help but notice the number of people with their laptops as well. The funny thing is that we noticed this one guy who was alone. He kept looking around and fidgeting. He did this for a few minutes and then as if he couldn’t help himself, he stood up and went inside – to use the loo – and left his laptop sitting there for all the world to stare at.
I couldn’t help but wonder – what if someone just gets up, grabs it, and walk away? I mean, I wouldn’t do it but what if someone else did? What would that guy do when he came back? What I do know for sure is that I wouldn’t have the courage to leave it sitting there, especially since we were outside.
Oh, the complexities that technology brings…
Dough With Coffee?
I suppose it is not that weird of an idea, is it? I mean, bread, cake, and pastries go well with coffee. Why not make dough that actually has coffee in it? I ran across a recipe from Ideas in Food where chefs Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot share their endeavors in the kitchen. Here is the recipe for the coffee dough:
400 grams AP flour
15 grams freeze dried coffee
250 grams hot waterCombine the flour and the coffee in a medium sized bowl. Stir with a fork to blend, forming a well in the center of the flour. Pour the hot water into the well, stirring with the fork to form a soft dough,
Switch to your hands, pulling in the flour from the sides as you gently stir the ball of dough forming in the center. Once a ball has formed, begin the kneading process, giving it a quarter turn, folding the dough in half and pushing the center with the heel of your hand with each revolution. The dough will be quite sticky and will eventually absorb all of the flour. Once the dough begins to stiffen up, you can turn it out onto the counter with the excess flour and continue to knead until it is firm, smooth and only slightly tacky. You may need to add additional flour to reach this stage. By the time you are finished the dough should be just warm to the touch. Wrap loosely in plastic and let the dough rest for 30 minutes before rolling out the pasta.
Note, however, that this dough is meant to be made into pasta. Coffee in my bread, I think I have no qualms about but pasta? I am not so sure. What do you think? Shall you try this in your own kitchen?
Specialty Coffees Will Become Cheaper
The other day, I ran out of coffee and my regular supplier had not sent me any yet. So I did what I usually do – I set out for our local Starbucks to get some beans. The line was really long though and I had a meeting so I headed across the street to The Coffee Bean, where there was no queue. I looked around for a few minutes and saw a small bag of Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. I was quite surprised because I didn’t really expect our local stores to have them. So I grabbed the bag and proceed to pay. Lucky for me I checked the price right before the bag was rung up. Guess how much? $65 for less than 400 grams of coffee!!!
I guess it is not that expensive for some but for my meager budget, that is way too much! Much to the amusement of the cashier, I asked him to hang on while I made my way back to the shelf where the coffee was. Needless to say, I got a cheaper kind of coffee.
I was really excited about tasting the Blue Mountain coffee as I have been hearing a lot about it. Perhaps in the near future I will be able to. I read on Reuters that specialty coffees are set to become cheaper. The reason for this is that more and more people are looking for specialty coffees (maybe I am one of them) and as a result, the coffee industry has no choice but to produce more of it. As the law of supply and demand dictates, the higher the supply is, the cheaper the commodity will become.
So, if this happens soon, I just might get to taste Blue Mountain coffee.
New On My Wish List: The Various Flavors Of Coffee
Reading is my passion. I think I have mentioned that several times (well it wouldn’t really be my passion if I hadn’t mentioned it at least a couple of times, right?) but for the past year, I have not had the time to read much. Oh, there were a few weeks that I got hooked into re-reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series but my workload just prevented me from staying up late into the night reading (which I normally do if I am really hooked). I think, though, that I am about to spend considerable time reading if I get my hands on this new book that I just found out about.
Titled The Various Flavors of Coffee, this novel is set in the 1890s in London and Africa. The theme, as the title implies, is coffee and its trade back then. The novel is authored by Anthony Capella. The Seattle Times has a write up that begins with this paragraph:
It is London in the 1890s. Robert Wallis, an impoverished young poet living on his father’s allowance, eats breakfast at a cafe. “[A] well-made cup of coffee is the proper beginning to an idle day,” he comments to the waiter. “Its aroma is beguiling, its taste is sweet; yet it leaves behind only bitterness and regret. In that it resembles, surely, the pleasures of love.”
Now tell me, how can you resist a book that begins with a line about coffee? Seriously, I think this book will be a good read – and a light one, too.
Tell Me What Your Coffee Is…
…and I’ll tell you who you will vote for President. Amazing how we can use various things to predict future events, isn’t it? BIGresearch conducted a survey recently. The idea was to see if you can tell which presidential candidate a person prefers based on which coffee they like better. And the choices are:
President:
a. Barack Obama
b. John McCain
Coffee:
a. McDonald’s
b. Starbucks
So what were their findings? People who drink Starbucks more prefer Barack Obama while people who drink McDonald’s more prefer John McCain. CNBC reports:
A recent survey found people who get their coffee from Starbucks prefer Barack Obama (44 percent) over JohnMcCain (37.8 percent), while McDonald’s coffee drinkers favor McCain (45.4 percent) over Obama (29.2 percent).
“If I were McCain, I would carry a McDonald’s coffee cup a lot,” says Gary Drenik, president of BIGreserach, which conducted the survey.
McCain made gains with surveyed coffee drinkers in August, as the percentage of people who say they prefer Starbucks slid 14 percent since February. Dunkin’ Donuts, meanwhile, has the highest percentage of customers who remain undecided (22 percent).
Now if you have any sense at all, you would be thinking that this is nothing conclusive. After all, you have demographics and other factors to consider. What are the other factors that lead people to prefer Starbucks over McDonald’s? Could the location (accessibility) have something to do with it? Perhaps the background of the people who prefer Starbucks or McDonald’s? Laura Stoker of UC Berkeley has the same idea:
However, the correlations are not causations, as Laura Stoker, an associate professor at UC Berkeley who specializes in political psychology, is quick to point out. Rather, demographics like age, income, race and location come into play, she says.
“A survey [participant] cannot express a preference for Dunkin’ Donuts if they’re not around where they live,” Stoker says. “It’s not just about whether conservatives are drawn into one place or another; the places where Starbucks are located which are urban tend to have a more Democratic constituency.”
Ahh, there you go. Still, it is amusing to read about such surveys, isn’t it? So which do you prefer, Starbucks or McDonald’s?;)
