Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

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

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 1-1/2 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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