[NTLK] [OT] Coffee & the Newt [was "Re: 2010?"]

~~~ On 2006/08/31 18:03, Jon Glass at jonglass@usa.net wrote ~~~

> On 8/31/06, Frederick Bauman <fbauman@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hey now, I use that timer to let me know when my press pot of coffee
>> is finished brewing. Do you know what kind of disaster could occur
>> if I didn't have coffee? ---unthinkable! ;-)
>
> You actually _time_ that? When I'm forced to use those things, I just
> wait until it can't get any blacker, and then it's done. I prefer a
> stove-top "express" myself.

*Of course* you time it, Jon. Assuming you use the correct amount of coffee
and a good bean well-ground for the press (or "cafetiere" as they call it
here in the UK), time is the key! Too little time and the coffee is "thin";
too much time and you start extracting certain more bitter oils that spoil
the flavour and overpower the coffee's aroma. In a press (and for that
matter in a percolator), longer times before ending the brewing process can
only make coffee stronger at the expense of flavour and aroma. Those of us
who depend upon things like the press, out of preference or out of
necessity, know that a *strong* cup of coffee is best achieved by adding
more ground coffee, derived from a bean that was roasted to be stronger.
Anything else is an insult to our taste buds. Right Frederick?

This is another part of the terrible tragedy of not having the use of my
"Extras"; I've had to fall back on using other means to time my cafetiere.
:(

For information, I've worked out a series of equivalencies of the amount of
coffee per cup, which varies according to the particular cofffee and roast
I'm using, so that I can always time the coffee for 4.5 minutes. In my
experience, with most coffees this is optimum to get all the flavour but
none of the nastiness. This has made it possible to teach my wife and son
how to make and enjoy coffee as well. And of course, all my experimental
data was carefully copied over into my Newton for posterity.

PS -- Jon, like you I enjoy stovetop espresso when I can get to a stove,
but even more than that, if I can be at a stove, then I can make -- let's
call it "Mediterranean" coffee, to avoid the arguments about whether it's
Greek, or Turkish, or Damascene, or whatever. I've been fortunate enough
to be taught a number of regional variations, and now everything else,
including my carefully calibrated cafetiere-made coffee, is second best to
me.

Shalom.

Christian

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Coffee, anyone?

http://www.burstfilms.com/animations/coffee.php

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