Papa New Guinea
Kate picked up a glass tea strainer, which I immediantly latched upon for brewing coffee. On the bottom you can see cuts made in the glass with a very thin saw blade. Unfortunately it didn’t work so well. The water outside the glass was not infused with the coffee, so it ended up a bit weak.
I’ve been experimenting with time, weight, and water volume in my french press. For instance, I just made some cowboy coffee using 1.5oz Papa New Guinea, 20 oz water, steeped for 8 minutes. This might be a little too long, but it’s a very light coffee and I had made the coffee/water ratio very high. Medium acid. Roasted barley and malt flavors. Very delicate and light. Low fruit levels.
February 27th, 2010 at 4:30 am
Hold on, partner, doesn’t cowboy coffee need to be boiled for a few minutes?
Great idea, though, to experiment with making ranch coffee using exotic beans.
Infusing, sufusing, defusing are all great words around coffee and tea.
Another thought – the taste of coffee in the morning depends a lot on context, don’t you think? A cup of cowboy coffee with a croissant at a sidewalk cafe on a misty morning in Paris would taste very different with bacon and eggs in a ranch cookhouse, while barely awake, silently staring into a cold morning of fixing fences.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I’m not sure how actual cowboy coffee is made. I steep the grounds in water and then pour them through a strainer. It’s really no different then french press, except there isn’t a murky pile of grounds at the bottom. The main advantage is freedom to brew whatever quantity is needed.
I agree with you about context, though the reigning orthodoxy of the coffee elites here in Portland is all about hyperprecision and scientific absolutes.
March 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm
My mother used to make coffee in a blue enamel coffee pot. She did it according to my father’s directions. She poured in ground coffee, water and egg shells. I used to think she also put in the egg, but I’m sure she didn’t. Then she boiled it for as long as it took to make breakfast. My father was pleased, but is seems like it must have been terribly bitter. I guess just right for a tired cowboy.