I'm reading a book by Neal Stephenson where he describes the emergence of coffee houses in England. He doesn't mention how do they prepare (steep?) their coffee though. And that is the question that bothers me a bit more than it should.
Any ideas? I tried feeding that to search engines. Got a few references to an old book but it's all that funny Old English, add being spectacularly non-specific.
The references I've seen suggest that ground coffee was boiled in a pot, then clarified using isinglass or egg white. This would tally with traditional techniques for brewing beer.
Percolators were an obscure novelty until the mid 19th century. The espresso machine, the french press and the coffee filter didn't arrive until the early 20th century.
On a more tangential note. I know some of you have this little thing. What about the coffee it produces? How well/different it tastes compared to coffee made in a cezve, espresso machine or via the old Polish [1] method?
[1] The gist of it is to put a teaspoon or two of ground coffee into the cup, pour boiling water on it, cover the cup with whatever cover available, let the coffee steep for 7-8 minutes. No idea if this recipe originated in Poland or in Israel but in the context of the question it is of no consequence anyway.
>>12072 What? Was that my awful spelling or the temperature? For the latter, it's what the recipe says. And aye, against all usual arguments that coffee doesn't like boiling water.
The coffee made that way is still noticeably better than any of instant variety sold here.
You are supposed to fill the bottom with water, and the middle bit with some coffee, then when the water boils it bubbles through the coffee and out not the kettle bit. Takes about 5 minutes.
It's not necessarily more bitter. A moka pot extracts more flavour from the coffee grounds than an espresso machine, so naturally bitter coffees will taste more bitter when prepared in a moka. IME you want a slightly lighter roast and a slightly coarser grind than you would use for espresso.
I think a moka is the best way to prepare coffee at home. It's not espresso, but it can produce excellent coffee with very little fuss.
>>12070 I actually bought myself one. I'm satisfied; the coffee it makes is flavourful in its own way. A decent addition to a cezve and a cafetiere I already possess.
Not all beans taste remarkably well in it though. Coffee made from the last batch of beans I'd milled tasted bland; brewing the grounds in a cezve produced a noticeably better result.
>>12070 This thingy - exactly like the one on the picture - turned out to be a bit more finicky than its steel counterpart. The latter is straightforward, the aluminium one has caused me some grief. I can't reliably catch the moment when enough is enough. Several times I've steamed my coffee into a way too bitter substance.
