Today I’m going to talk about the great savior to modern life. Coffee, which provides of the much needed energy to drag ourselves into work every Monday. Coffee which is always there for you after a long night of drinking. I jumped on the coffee bandwagon late in life but I’m making up for lost time. The big reason it tool so long to begin my love affair with coffee is that I can’t stand drinking hot drinks. Hot drinks are not refreshing and must be sipped. I take big drinks and this has led to many a burned tongues. Now I have a solution to burned tongues without loosing flavor.
In the past when I wanted cold coffee I had a few choices, let it sit long enough to drink (I’m very impatient) cut it with water a la an Americano, or add ice. While these methods all work they were not optimal. I’m too impatient to wait until the coffee is cool enough to drink. I have literally had Starbucks I ordered while driving and it was so hot I could not drink it for over thirty minutes. Why would anyone want coffee flavored lava! Add in cool water to it can make it drinkable but at the expense of flavor. If you use crappy tap water with you artisan brewed coffee you end up with swill. If your drinking a weaker coffee you will wash out the flavor. I like my coffee strong and watering it down only works with espresso. Lastly you can add ice. Ice cools is down rapidly and can give coffee the refreshing factor I fell it lacks when hot. Ice has a serious downside though. When it melts, and it will quickly, you end up watering it down. Then you have all the same detraction from simply adding water.
The solution that I’ve found is to brew a pot of coffee. Then pour the coffee into ice cube trays and put into the freezer. Once they are fully frozen remove from the trays and put in plastic baggies. The next time you pour a cup of coffee add a few coffee cubes. You get the benefit of rapid cooling thus not burnt tongue. When the ice melts you just have more coffee in the cup.
As a side benefit you have frozen coffee treats for the hot days and here in the south we’ve had a lot recently. If you like me and like your coffee chilly put some coffee cubes in the freezer and have ice a coffee break. Now I just wish I could get it this way in a cafe. How do you feel about your coffee? Let me know in the comments
Ahh, Coffee, The body’s (2nd) life blood. Where would we all be without that first ‘cup o Joe’ in the morning to get our collective hearts pumping to start our day.
Let me start by saying that in my early years it was quantity and not quality…. Over the years we develop and evolve our palates more toward comfort and pleasure. For me anyway, I find a dark robust roast (such as French or Italian roast) made in a Coffee Press one of life’s simple pleasures. A simple device to let the ground coffee steep like tea then a plunger pushed down after 5 minutes to push the grounds to the bottom leaving a dark rich and very smooth cup of coffee. The smooth part comes from the fact that by using a press leaves the natural oils in your cup of Java and not absorbed into a bleached white piece of filter paper. That oil is actually beneficial to you and your stomach lining. Coffee is smooth tasting and does not irritate the lining of your stomach if you consume extra cups. Also you get the full jolt of the caffeine.
Another tip I learned is using distilled (or at least filtered) water is best. Distilled does not leave behind any chlorine, Fluoride or other contaminants. In fact because distilled water is virtually free of all contaminants, brewing coffee in water that’s distilled, extracts all the goodness and flavor available from the beans….
Just speaking from experience of one of life’s little pleasures.
TinMan
Awesome comment tinman! I need to invest in a quality french press. The one I have is a cheapie and lets grinds through
I used to use the Vietnamese coffee filter http://www.mtnevan.com/2010/08/13/mastering-vietnamese-coffee/ After seeing Tim recommend the Aeropress in 4-Hour Chef, the Aeropress is hands-down my favorite. Like the Vietnamese one, the Aeropress is portable, manual, sturdy, retains oils and no waste (if you get the stainless steel filter), and simple. It’s also quicker, easier to control variables, and makes a superior cup of coffee. Only drawback is it’s much larger, but I think it’s worth it.
Actually, if you like cold coffee, check out cold brewing http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/05/how-to-cold-brew-coffee.html
After reading four hour chef I’ve been thinking about getting an aeropress