Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Can you not make it without a machine? (Genuine question - as a tea-drinker, coffee-making is a mystery to me, other than the "instant" variety.)
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Coffee and tea just share the caffeine. I love them both, especially if they are good.
The simplest way to make an excellent coffee, and it does not take a machine, although it is not a cheap cup, is the Brazilian way. It is not cheap because it takes a lot of coffee. Good tea is much much cheaper than coffee.
At home you boil fresh water, in an other steel pot you put your ground coffee, 1 table spoon for each small cup, plus a teaspoon of sugar (if you like it). Stirring it with a spoon over the heat you just make it smoke a little. The aroma is something else, everybody will know that there is fresh coffee. Add the water, heat it up until it foams once and then let it rest while you prepare a filter. They use a heavy cloth around a metal ring with a wooden handle. Use whatever you have. When I was working in Brazil there was a lady, the coffee lady, who just made coffee non stop. She made rounds in the office offering everybody small cups of cafezinho. I usually took 14 in one single day. With no side effects because it is brewed at low temperatures.
In the woods, you heat the water in your enamel pot and when it boils you put in as much ground coffee as you like. You take it away from the fire and let it settle down for a minute or two. Pour it carefully not to disturb the dregs in the bottom.
In South America they prepare it very very strong and serve it diluting it with hot water. Just as good.
The secret, the real secret to enjoy a good coffee is to drink it in the finest cups you can find. Thin under the lips so that you can sip it gently. In Milano we like it hot, standing and payed buy someone else.