How to brew delicious coffee - basic techniques and interesting recipes

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Author

Anastasia Grishchenko

Coffee is a drink without which many cannot imagine their morning. You don’t have to go to a coffee shop to drink a cup of invigorating drink. The “Simply There” correspondent found out from barista Alena Averyanova how you can make aromatic coffee in your kitchen.

Coffee beans

When purchasing coffee beans, you need to study information about single varieties. The taste largely depends on the brand of coffee. Each trading company has its own methods of processing coffee, so the same single variety may taste slightly different.

Single-origin coffee is coffee from one plantation. If a coffee is called "Ethiopia", it means it is from Ethiopia. Sometimes the name may contain the names of plantations or the port of departure: “Ethiopia Sidamo”, “Ethiopia Harrar”, etc. You should not buy flavored varieties (“Vanilla”, “Cherry”, “Amaretto” and others). First, these flavors are not always individual. Secondly, why spoil the taste of natural coffee with additives? Thirdly, it is unknown what taste the drink will have in the end.

There are several types of roasting coffee beans:

1. Light, or Scandinavian, roast: the beans have a light brown hue and a sour taste.
2. The medium degree of roasting, Viennese, has a darker color and a fuller development of aroma.
3. Strong roast, French, is perhaps the most popular in America and Europe. The grains are dark and oily, and the drink has a slight bitterness.
4. The strongest degree of roasting is Italian. The beans are roasted at very high temperatures until they are almost black.

To make coffee at home, it is better to choose medium roast beans. When coffee is dark roasted, the taste becomes bitter, it is not always possible to get a pleasant aftertaste, most of the beneficial substances and essential oils are burned. You will end up drinking a bitter drink. Often coffee is roasted heavily to hide some negative aspects. It is believed that high-quality grain will never be dark roasted.

An important aspect is the grinding of coffee. For each method of preparing coffee, the grind is selected based on the type of drink you want to get. Extraction depends on the fineness of grinding. Extraction is the interaction of coffee with water. The finer the grind, the more flavor substances will be released from the grain. But at the same time, fine grinding is only suitable for Turks. If you make finely ground coffee in a French press, it will simply clog and it will be difficult to get the drink itself.

There are several universal rules to remember when making coffee:

1. Coffee should be poured into heated cups. Before making coffee, pour hot water into the cups, let them warm up, and when you are ready to pour the coffee, pour the water out of the cups and wipe with a clean, dry cloth.
2. It is not recommended to use espresso blends, only pure single-origin varieties. Home methods are designed not to invent new tastes, but to reveal existing ones. But the choice of a specific monovarietal is purely a matter of your taste.
3. Any coffee you make at home doesn't like three things: wet dishes, cold dishes and boiled water.

Turkish coffee, how to prepare it correctly

Quite often I make coffee

houses in Turk on fire.
Previously, I did not attach importance to this process, I simply poured water, added coffee
, brought it to a boil and drank. But if you follow a few simple rules, the final drink will be much tastier and more aromatic. Now I’ll tell you everything in order.

So we will need:

• The pot is metal, it is better if it is copper, and the inside is covered with tin to prevent foreign copper particles from getting into your coffee. You can use a modern stainless steel one, but copper one tastes better, seriously!)) The handle is better made of wood, it has low thermal conductivity - you won’t get burned. By the way, a good Turk is a great gift for people who love coffee
  and when you don’t know
  what to give to the person who has everything ?
  “- there are such cases - so here it is: Turkish coffee + a couple of types of freshly roasted
  coffee
  - an excellent option for a gift. Verified.
• coffee
  beans. Choose your preference, medium or light roast. Arabica definitely. For example, this one, I wrote about it earlier.
• Sugar, preferably cane. Not because it is healthier or less harmful compared to white, it just has its own caramel taste, which will help reveal our coffee
  .
• Water, fresh, potable, preferably spring water, that is, soft.
• Salt, literally a pinch, is better than coarse grinding.

Turk

When preparing Turkish coffee, cold water is used. Initially, it was believed that Turkish coffee was prepared only on sand, but since we do not have the opportunity to cook in such conditions, we can use ordinary fire. There's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't change the taste. Take ordinary cold purified water, very finely ground coffee, 5-6 grams per serving. If you want the taste to be more intense – 8-9 grams per 100 ml of water. 100 ml is the average amount of coffee in your cup, prepared in a Turk. If you prepare coffee correctly, there will definitely be a thick sediment, similar to a viscous mass. The first thing you need to do when preparing coffee in a Turk is to first pour cold water over the Turk. Next, add a portion of coffee, sugar, and spices as desired into cold water. You should not let the coffee boil - as soon as a cap of foam begins to rise, you must immediately remove the Turk from the heat. If the coffee boils, the drink is spoiled and needs to be thrown out. It is served with foam. It is advisable to use small porcelain cups no larger than 100 ml. Approximate cooking time is 4-5 minutes, depending on the heat. The cost of Turks is on average from 400 to 3000 rubles. But if you wish, you can also find old, exclusive pieces for a higher price.

Express recipe: how to make instant coffee without Turks in a few minutes

Content:

“The favorite drink of the civilized world”, “black as night and sweet as sin”, “an invigorating elixir that brings you back to life in the early morning and helps you shake off the remnants of sleep” - all this is about coffee. Perhaps there is not a single country in the world whose inhabitants would not love this aromatic drink. You can cook it in different ways: in a special machine, in a Turk, in a saucepan, or simply in a ceramic or porcelain cup. If one morning you find that your coffee maker is broken, do not rush to despair: there are a lot of alternative cooking recipes. Read our article about how to brew espresso correctly, quickly and, most importantly, deliciously.

Guatemala DECAFF (decaf)

• 4.6

Brazil Mogiana

• 5

Brazil Santos

• 4.9

French press

It is considered the most popular and easiest method of brewing coffee at home. The French press is a glass flask installed in a glass holder. A piston is inserted into it, before cooking it is pulled out, the flask is heated with hot water, coarsely ground coffee is poured in (8-9 grams per 100 ml) and filled with hot water from 88 to 94 degrees. Coffee should be ground just before brewing, and the grind should be coarse to prevent particles from passing through the French press filter. Water must be filled to a level just below the fully raised piston. Stir the coffee quickly to improve the extraction process. Coffee releases carbon dioxide, which creates a fluffy cap on the surface. If this does not happen, then you got stale coffee. Now you need to cover the coffee pot with a lid with the piston raised up. After 4-5 minutes the piston needs to be lowered. The advantage of a French press is that the strength of the drink can be adjusted independently: the longer you brew, the stronger the coffee will be (the more contact of water with the coffee bean, the more caffeine there will be in the drink). The downside of this method is the presence of coffee particles in the cup, and also the fact that the drink tends to cool quickly in a French press if you leave it to brew longer. The cost of a French press depends on the quality of the material used and the volume - you can find a small teapot for 200 rubles and a large one for 2000.

Americano with honey

As the name of this drink suggests, it was very popular in North America. Today Americano is drunk all over the world. It is less strong and concentrated than espresso, but just as effective in invigorating.

Ingredients:

Coffee beans - 7-9 g Hot water - 15 ml Liquid honey - 1 tsp. Lemon - 1 slice Sugar - pinch Egg yolk - 1 pc.

Cooking method:

We brew Americano. To do this, prepare classic espresso (as in the first recipe). For 7-9 grams of coffee beans you will need 30 milliliters of water. Once the espresso is ready, add another 125 milliliters of hot water to the drink.

Grind the egg yolk with sugar until the mixture turns white. Add honey and grind thoroughly again.

Place 2 teaspoons of egg-honey cream in a cup. Pour in the Americano in a thin stream, stirring constantly.

Add a slice of lemon and serve.

Aeropress

One of the simplest methods of making coffee after the French press. It was invented relatively recently - in 2009. Very easy to use, small, you can even take it with you on a hike. Its operating principle is the piston method. This is a cylinder into which another cylinder, a paper filter and a perforated plug are inserted. Next, pour in 8-18 grams of finely ground coffee, add water at 88-94 degrees, and infuse the coffee. The advantage of the method: a pure drink without particles. It is important that the coffee is freshly ground and the dishes are hot. Preparing coffee in an AeroPress will take you about 3 minutes, its average cost is from 2,000 rubles.

Geyser coffee maker (Moka Express)

Moka is widely used in Europe, especially in its homeland, Italy, where it is a national symbol. The original Moka is made of aluminum with bakelite handles. The principle of operation is as follows: steam reaches high pressure and gradually displaces boiling water through a funnel and filter containing ground coffee. The water passes through the coffee powder and enters the upper reservoir, where the finished coffee is collected. The required amount of drinking water must be poured into the lower reservoir and covered with a metal filter. Then pour medium-ground coffee into the filter funnel at the rate of 9-12 grams per cup of coffee. Then screw on the top and put on low heat. After the water boils, the finished drink will begin to flow into the upper reservoir; after the end of the coffee flow, remove the coffee maker from the heat. Cooking time – 5-8 minutes. The price range of geyser coffee makers is from 700 to 5000 rubles.

Recipe "Sleepless"

All students and hard workers should take note of this unusual recipe for an invigorating delicacy.

• Ground coffee – 4 tsp;
• Cold water – 150 ml;
• Cane sugar/honey – optional.

Preparation:

• Place 1/2 of the grains on the bottom of the Turk and fill with water.
• Place the container on the quietest heat and wait until it boils.
• Immediately before this, the foam will rise, remove it and transfer it to a separate heated container.
• Stir the finished coffee and strain into a separate bowl.
• Do not rinse the Turku. Pour the cooled mixture back, add the remaining coffee and sugar.
• Put the cezve back on the fire and wait until it boils.
• Remove from heat and immediately pour the contents into a foamy cup.
• Add cold, or better yet, melt water. It's better not to put ice.

Coffee “Sleepless” is ready! This treat is best served on the table with kozinaki, sweet dried fruits or dark chocolate.

Drip coffee maker (filter coffee maker)

It is especially popular in offices. Cold water is poured into a special glass container; the average volume of the tank is about 1 liter. Medium ground coffee (8-9 grams per 100 ml) is poured into a cone filter. The lid closes, the coffee maker turns on - the water heats up, rises through a special tube, falls into the filter with coffee, and brews it. Then the finished drink drips into the coffee pot. When the water in the reservoir runs out, the coffee maker automatically switches to the drink heating mode. There is a heating pad under the coffee pot, which allows the coffee in the pot to cool down very slowly. The average price of a drip home (or office coffee maker) is from 1000 to 5000 rubles. Depending on the type of coffee maker and the volume of water, preparing coffee will take on average from 5 to 15 minutes.

Espresso with spices

Espresso is the strongest and most invigorating coffee that exists on the planet. Most other coffee drinks are prepared on its basis. Therefore, you should definitely master the technique of preparing classic espresso.

And if you want to make your espresso even more delicious, try adding spices. An interesting taste is guaranteed.

Ingredients:

Ground coffee - 7 g Water - 30 ml Ground nutmeg - pinch Ground anise - pinch Ground ginger - pinch Liquid transparent honey - to taste

Cooking method:

Espresso can be prepared either in a coffee machine (there is a special program for this) or independently. Pour small, freshly ground coffee beans into a pot and add 30 milliliters of cold water.

Cook over medium heat until foam appears, but under no circumstances boil.

If you decide to make coffee with spices, then some time before the foam starts to rise, add spices and honey and mix well.

Continue brewing the espresso until foam rises.

Pour into coffee cups and serve.

Chemex

This method of making coffee was invented in 1941 by the Americans. The Chemex was popular more because of its design: a chemical flask with a large funnel. Usually, at the narrowest point of the Chemex, either a wooden or rubber nozzle is made to make it convenient to grip. The Chemex must be made of thick heat-resistant glass so that nothing cracks upon contact with hot water. Before you start preparing the drink, you need to make sure that the water is between 88 and 94°C. This temperature is necessary to ensure that the coffee does not burn. A special paper filter is taken, placed in a heated flask, doused with hot water - it is necessary that the filter be moistened so that it can stick to the flask and air does not penetrate into it. Then the water is drained, since it has already cooled down, and coffee does not like cold water. Medium grind coffee is poured on top - an average of 25 grams of coffee is used per 360 ml. Next, water is poured in - it needs to be poured slowly from the edge to the center. You must first pour 30-60 ml of water and wait 30-60 seconds for the coffee to open and come into contact with oxygen, and then slowly pour in the rest of the water in a thin stream. If you pour coffee in a thick stream at once, the water will be distributed unevenly throughout the coffee and it will not brew properly. It is better not to use bitter varieties for Chemex; this is one of the methods where the drink turns out to be sweetish. You need to select grains based on your taste preferences. The coffee takes about 4 minutes to prepare. The issue price is from 2000 to 6000 rubles.

Coffee macchiato

Those who consider themselves coffee lovers are invited to prepare a wonderful coffee macchiato.

You will need:

• Sugarcane sand or syrup (at your discretion)
• Medium fat milk (56 ml.)
• Freshly brewed hot espresso (one cup).

How to cook:

1. First, beat the cooled milk with a mixer, then immediately pour it into a special wide glass, pour in hot, freshly brewed espresso, and this must be done very slowly so that the layers do not mix.

2. In the same way, slowly pour in the sweet syrup and serve the three-layer coffee drink to the table.

Calorie content 100 gr. – 29 kcal

Enjoy your meal!

Coffee with egg

Purover

A method similar to the Chemex brewing method. The difference is that when a filter is inserted into a Chemex, it must fit snugly into the flask, whereas a pour-over has small raised grooves in the funnel into which the filter is inserted. When the filter is inserted, you need to pour water on top and make sure that it fits only along the grooves and that there is oxygen access inside. A pourover is a regular funnel into which a filter is inserted. You can put it in a cup or a teapot at once - wherever is convenient for you. Add 8-9 grams of medium-ground coffee per 100 grams of water. Another difference between a pour-over and a Chemex is that it is smaller and more compact, so you can put it anywhere and take it with you. In 4-5 minutes your coffee is ready. The price of a pourover is up to 2000 rubles.

Viennese brandy coffee

Viennese coffee is a fairly popular drink. To make it even tastier, just add not only whipped cream, but also chocolate syrup and grated almonds.

Ingredients:

Dark chocolate - 120 g Cream - 1/4 cup Strong coffee - 3 cups Whipped cream - to taste Chocolate syrup - to taste Grated indal - to taste

Cooking method:

Mix dark chocolate and cream in a bowl. Place in a water bath. Melt, stirring, until smooth.

Add strong coffee (espresso or Americano). Mix well.

Pour into cups and garnish with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and grated almonds to taste.

Siphon

The most spectacular cooking method. The siphon is very similar to a chemist's apparatus for laboratory work. A tripod and flask are installed, a water container is placed on the flask, an alcohol lamp is placed underneath, water is poured into the flask from below, a paper filter is installed on top, and coffee is poured into it. The alcohol lamp is set on fire, and it begins to heat the flask. The water evaporates, penetrates the upper filter, the coffee begins to get wet and then gradually flows down into the same flask where the water was. The siphon was often installed in bars and cooked right at the guest’s table. Coffee is prepared in a siphon for about 5 minutes. Like the Chemex, 360 ml requires 25 grams of medium-ground coffee.

If you have certain equipment at home, you can prepare espresso. Nowadays you can buy home coffee machines; they even came up with manual and pocket espresso machines. They run on gas cartridges.

How about a cup of instant coffee?

Instant coffee contains no more than 15% coffee itself. The rest is flavoring additives, preservatives, dyes, oxidizing agents, etc. There is absolutely nothing healthy in this coffee, but rather the opposite. Instant coffee is often the cause of stomach ulcers, gastritis and cellulite. Instant coffee contains a very harmful substance – benzopyrene resin. This resin is an oxidizing agent and it has a strong effect on the body.

As for drinking natural coffee, in moderate quantities it does not harm, but benefits a healthy person. The only contraindication is high blood pressure. A harmless amount of coffee for the body is a cup or two a day.

Irish coffee with two types of chocolate

The ingredients in this recipe include whiskey. So Irish coffee is perfect for weekend get-togethers with friends.

Ingredients:

For white chocolate:

White chocolate - 90 g Cream 30% - 25 g Milk - 125 ml Whiskey - 10 ml

For dark chocolate:

Dark chocolate - 70 g Cream 20% - 25 ml Milk - 125 ml Whiskey - 10 ml

For foam:

Instant coffee - 5 g Cream 25-30% - 150 ml Coffee beans - for decoration Cocoa powder - a pinch

Cooking method:

Break white chocolate into pieces. Pour in milk and cream. Heat over low heat until the chocolate is completely dissolved. Let cool, add whiskey and mix well.

Prepare dark chocolate using the same procedure.

Whip the cream with coffee until thick foam forms.

Pour white chocolate into glasses first, then milk chocolate, and place a layer of foam on top.

Before serving, sprinkle with cocoa powder and garnish with coffee beans.