| Back to Home | About Rob | Food and Cooking | Hi End Stereo | Foosball | Marine Mammals | Acquaintances |
Rob's Beverage Jacuzzi
Just some info so far. Information below now includes:
Learn to Make, Drink and Love Turkish Coffee, Roasting coffee beans, Primer on Black Teas, Primer on Espresso Machines, and Travel Coffee Mug Tip.
Primer on Roasting your own coffee beans Roast at home! Enjoy the best coffee you've ever tasted. Here's how and more.
Learn to Make, Drink, and Love... Turkish Coffee
- After you're done here, you can proudly say: "Filters are for wimps!" and actually enjoy your coffee. This is not "cowboy" coffee in a pan, although it is made very similarly. The difference is the grind.
For those of you who have never heard of Turkish Coffee, it coffee that is brewed with the water and served "as-is" with no filtration. The coffee is ground almost as fine as flour so that there are no chunks of grounds floating around, but rather a mist of powder that settles to the bottom of the cup, leaving a surprisingly clear and satisfying drink-- just don't drink the coffee-cement at the bottom! Turkish coffee is also known as Middle-Eastern Coffee, and Greek Coffee, as is also found in Eastern European lands. If you like the texture of french press, but the body, intensity, and aroma of espresso, Turkish coffee is for you. Paper-filter fans need not apply, although gold-mesh folks might give it a try. Here's how:
First, you need the grind. You CANNOT do this grind in a regular coffee grinder-- you know, the type that stands upright, with a removable plastic top that covers a small grinding area that features a spinning bar. If you attempt it anyways, you'll get large chunks, and some small chunks, and the entire batch will be overheated at the microscopic level and you'll notice it tastes burnt, and horrible. Remember you can't really adjust a uniform grind, you can only adjust the length of time you subject the coffee to the spinning bars. You shouldn't even use these grinders for espresso machines, especially pump versions, but if applied to Turkish coffee, we're talking an outright guarantee of caffeinated disaster.
The easiest way is to have it ground at your coffee shop. Ask for a turkish coffee grind. Actually I take that back-- usually they will "know" by the book that it "should" be about a "2" setting on their machine, when actually you should insist on the lowest and finest setting, a "1" or "1 and a half." If you get it any bigger, you'll be scraping black chunks of coffee grit off your tongue, and you'll blame it on me =), never to attempt this nonsense again. For your first time, try a half-pound or less at first, and don't get an over-the-top dark roast: avoid "espresso roast", "french roast", and "full city roast."
Of course, it's always much better to do it yourself, and if you do, you need a mill-grinder. If you have one, you know it. If you're not sure, you don't. It probably cost near or more $100, you put coffee in the top, and it comes out the bottom or side, and most importantly, you can dial in the size of the grind: this really is a "mill" folks, not a $20 spinning bar on a timer. =]
When you get home, the important steps are: 1) boil water 2) remove from heat as you stir in the coffee well 3) return to heat for about 5 seconds: enough for it to foam & reboil immediately, but not long enough to boil over. 4) Wait a few minutes: do not drink immediately, you will get a moutful of silt, and it will be too hot anyhow. .
Here are more details.
Measurements: I do it now by eyeball, but I made some measurements so you have a starting place to adjust to your preferences. Boil only what you need. I recommend 1.5 cups water or a hair less, which means ideally you should find a small pot. This is good enough for a small cup each for two people, which for most is quite enough due to its strength. It is important to let the water boil by itself first-- if you boil mixture of water & grounds, it will taste horrible. Add 3 and a half level Tablespoons turkish-ground coffee. No, I don't measure my coffee by level measurements nor measured water in my daily routine, but I'm listing this as it is almost exactly what I do by eyeball each morning, so this will give you an idea of the proportions. Be sure to add the coffee while the pot is off the heat because it will begin to boil over immediately and brew unevenly. Instead: take the boiling water off the heat, stir in the coffee powder until there are no chunks (just a second or two), and then return to the heat. Let it begin to boil over, then remove & pour immediately, do not leave in pot.
I drink mine black, but of course you may add your cream, sugar, or spices, and let it sit a few minutes until the grounds settle out of the liquid. Just don't drink to the last drop, and you will get a surprisingly clear cup of your first turkish coffee. You may never look back at your espresso machine.
Short primer on black teas, version 1
- Black teas differ from the green varieties in having been fermented. (Chinese Oolong is often called "semi-fermented"). Also, designations of grade exist, ranging from OP (orange pekoe) all the way FOP, GFOP, TGFOP, and even FTGFOP (Fancy Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe). You've probably heard of Orange Pekoe; it's a grade of tea, not a variety! At and above GFOP, these designations may be slightly arbitrary gradings made by the grower's opinion, and difficult to compare across estates. In all of these fine-grade teas, higher quality leaves and buds of the plant have been picked, sometimes at an earlier, more delicate-tasting, lower-yielding growth stage. As stated above, GFOP is very good already. The letter B, e.g. BOP, means the dried leaves are broken into tiny pieces, such that there is more surface area, and consequently less of the tea leaves are required for brewing. Designations are also made regarding "flush." The leaves are picked several times in a season, and the first early harvest is known as "first flush," and has a more delicate taste and color some would say evokes green tea. Second flush is a later harvest with more mature leaves.
- Somewhat analogous to single-malt scotches, there are single-estate, or single-garden teas, and the most well known are the estates in Darjeeling, India. Some Darjeeling estates are: Castleton, Tumsong, Jungpana, Thurbo, Selimbong, Bloomfield, and Margaret's Hope. All have typical flavors, the Margaret's Hope is a good Darjeeling standard, the Tumsong has muscat overtones, the Jungpana has a peach aroma to drug yourself with, and the Castleton is often referred to as the king of Darjeelings. Harrods of Knightbridge in London, England is a great source (see below for contact info), as is Lisa's Tea Treasures in San Jose, California. Now you know what a First Flush GFOP Margaret's Hope Darjeeling is. There is no comparison whatsoever to be made with Darjeeling teas you may find in tins in grocery stores (even Twinings, although I enjoy their Earl Grey), and of course tea bags don't count with this sort of quality. Yes, even P.G. Tips. But enjoy what you drink!
- A final tip for people who use ball-shaped infusers: don't! If you make single cups of tea at a time, use a strainer which fits its rim over your cup's brim, or if your ball is a hinged double-strainer take it apart and rest one half over your cup. I don't know why, but the brew tastes much more complete. I believe the tea doesn't have room to unfurl properly in the confines of a ball. Lifting your strainer and letting the broth at the top of it drip into your cup a few times also seems to help a little.
- Harrod's of Knightbridge, London, England. From the US dial 011 44 171 730 1234. Otherwise it's 0171 730 1234. The UK is about 8 hours forward from PST, 5 hours from EST, and they open at 10am, UK time, on most days. Ask for the Tea Counter in "The Pantry." The person who answers the phone here can help advise you on the available teas and their prices. Then you can ask to be transferred over to "mail order" for your purchase. They have at least a dozen fine Darjeelings. For a few dollars (pounds), they have a very nice "Book of Tea," which is a pamphlet which describes the meanings of the different grades of tea, as well as preferred methods of brewing teas (types of pots, by-the-pot, iced-tea), and descriptions of the teas they carry (black, flavored, smoked, green, etc.)
Short primer on Espresso machines, version 1
As a quick review, coffees drinks are made by putting water in contact with ground roasted beans, then usually removing the grounds from the brew. Drip coffee does this fairly slowly.
Espresso does this extremely quickly (~30 sec) by forcing hot water through fine grounds with high pressure. Because this can be done so rapidly, the taste is more intense and of a higher quality. There is less bitterness and caffeine extracted from the beans. There are two primary types of espresso machines. One produces this pressure by STEAM, the other by a PUMP.
STEAM DRIVEN ESPRESSO - The wonderfully pretty stove-top machines are of course steam-driven, and I feel are best used with a gas-stove. The ubiquitous $80 Krups machines are also steam driven-- in both a chamber of water is heated until enough steam pressure is available to force the heated water through the grounds. This method is a bit unreliable, as the temperature is not easily regulated, and most importantly you cannot stop the flow of espresso-- the most common "mistake" made with these steam-driven Krups machines is to just wait until *all* the water is passed. This absolutely ruins the fine espresso which dribbled out in the beginning. When I use such a machine, I use two cups. The first catches the intial dribblings. As the dribbling turns clear or begins gushing out forcefully I switch cups and let it go. I drink the first cup. I pour the second down the drain as it is thin, bitter, and burnt in taste. If the first cup doesn't have enough crema (froth) covering the top, either tamp down the grounds harder or use a finer grind. If the grind is too fine, or the tamping too hard, any espresso which makes it through will be bitter because the water has become much too hot.
PUMP DRIVEN ESPRESSO - More expensive machines are usually pump-driven. These come in two varieties, the hand-pumped and electric pumped. As I have no experience with those beautifully chromed hand-pump machines (e.g. those from La Pavoni), I will discuss only the electric ones. These include the Krups Novo, the Gaggia (Italian) brand (the Baby Gaggia being the highly regarded $500 semi-professional unit), and others I can't think of at the moment. The advantage with a pump-driven machine is three-fold. 1) You may stop the flow of espresso simply by turning the pump off; you choose the perfect timing; 2) You may add additional cold water to the machine at any point without turning it off or letting it cool; 3) A thermostat may also regulate the temperature of the water to the ideal point for espresso before turning on the pump. Usually, the thermostat also may be adjusted much higher to produce reliably dry steam for frothing milk.
More info: The machines with higher wattage (my Espresso Gaggia has 1400 watts) make it easy to heat water for many successive cups (having a party?) or change the temperature for steam very much faster.Machines with metal bodies are usually quieter, but plastic bodies are fine if you're on a budget. Finally, some machines will have a frothing wand which can also put out hot water (e.g. for heating cups or making Americanos), and other machines have cup-heating platforms. Pump-driven machines can tolerate a finer grind of coffee.
Yahoo, now you know what a pump-driven machine is, and how to make good espresso even from a low-end steam-driven machine. This is of course, assuming your beans are not only freshly ground but freshly roasted as well (within 36 hours is best).
SLIGHTLY OFF-TOPIC SIDEBAR: Melittas are great for drip-coffee, there is no big machine and just pour it in the funnel with a filter straight into your cup or pot. Chemex is very similar except funnel and pot are one piece; it looks like artsy and beautiful chemical glassware, because guess what else Chemex makes? For automatic drip machines, use a paper filter if you like your coffee crystal clear, and a gold filter if you like it more silty and textured... but if you like the latter, you should just be making French-press coffee anyhow, or if you are very much into the silty texture, using a pepper or cinammon grinder and just making Greek/Turkish coffee and leaving the grounds in. For the latter brew, spices are allowed, such as cinammon, cloves, and cardamom. If you really want an authentic brass grinder, look for one by the pepper mills at your local import store; your specialty coffee store may sell one for much more moolah. As for the Ibriks to brew this Middle Eastern coffee in, just buy one if you see one, they are hard to find.
Travel Coffee Mug Tip
The '76 Fastbreak gas-station/minimart's coffee car-mug is the best I have ever seen or will ever want. All others only slightly reduce the chance of utter hot drink disaster, but still splash when knocked, are almost impossible to drink with when the coffee is too hot, and in the event of being knocked over, will slowly but surely pour out its contents. Up until now, I've been saving a disposable plastic top to a styrofoam cup which had a simple cache and a tiny hole, and reusing it when possible. Other plastic tops were either completely closed, or precariously open with a large hole.
The '76 Fastbreak mug has many awesome points: it is always closed unless you push the lever with your thumb at the top of the handle. (It won't spill when bumped or knocked over). Its top is recessed a half-inch below the rim so as to create a small cache for hot liquid to gather and cool. The hole when opened is merely two small slits between the plastic levered layer and the top lid, i.e. not a direct through hole. The liquid dribbles through. (You can really drink hot coffee, since you let it dribble, then cool in the cache before you sip, in controlled tiny sip-quantities each time.) The size of the cup is tall and tapered to soda-can diamater so it fits into various nooks in many cars.
I know this sounds out of proportion, but it really is wonderful. I've been hopefully searching for a good car-cup for hot drinks for years, and this is it!
update: 76 no longer has this cup, although I've seen an exact equal at Gloria Jean's Coffee.
More to come on other topics which drip my way.