How to Brew Coffee

How coffee is brewed is really a matter of taste and how much effort one wants to put into the process of brewing and enjoying coffee.

The most popular method in these times is to use a drip coffee maker. The device will have a receptacle into which water is poured, and then the water will be heated. The hot water is then allowed to drip over coffee grounds which are in a paper filter. The coffee brews and then drips into a carafe. Normally the carafe sits on a heating pad to keep the brewed coffee warm.

A French press does not use paper filters, and many people consider this an advantage because paper filters normally take out some of the essential oils of the coffee. In a cylindrical pot coffee grounds and placed on the bottom and hot water is poured over them. The mixture is allowed to seep for several minutes, and then a stainless steel screen is pushed down as far as possible. This traps the grounds at the very bottom, and the liquid coffee is poured out of the top.

As people have become more sophisticated about their coffee drinking over the past twenty years, coffee percolators are no longer in vogue. The coffee is boiled and run through the grounds again and again, and this destroys flavor and creates a somewhat bitter taste.

There are some rather exotic ways to brew coffee, and the Turkish jezve and Neapolitan flip-drip devices are easily procured. The Turkish jezve creates a strong cup of coffee in its metal pot that has a long handle. Fine coffee grounds, water and usually some sugar are put into the pot and heated. The mixture brews and is poured into small cups. Of course the grounds are not filtered, so they are allowed to sink to the bottom of the pot and each cup. The Neapolitan flip-drip is a two cylinder apparatus with a filter in the middle. Water is on the bottom and coffee grounds are on top. The water is heated and then the pot is turned upside down. This allows the hot water to drip through the grounds and the filter and fill the bottom section. What is now the bottom has a spout out of which the coffee is poured.

Another rather exotic way to brew coffee is the cold-water method. Course grounds are mixed with cold water, and the mixture soaks for up to 24 hours. The resulting coffee syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. To make a hot cup of coffee mix about 1/3 of a cup of the syrup and the hot water.

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