Proper cup of coffee
Mainly for cairmen, but other coffee fiends might be interested...
Some time ago, while gazing around a little shop in Spitalfields, I spotted an unusual and very shiny device. It looked like the offspring of a lever-arm corkscrew and a citrus press, it had lovely curves, and as I might have mentioned, it was shiny.
"What's that thing up there?" I asked the assistant.
"It's a manual espresso press. It's called a Presso. Shiny, isn't it?' he said.
The idea is that it's an unpowered coffee maker, so it doesn't heat the water up for you. Most espresso makers generate pressurised steam to force the water through the coffee, but if the water is too hot, you extract lots of bitter-tasting compounds as well as the coffee flavour that you want. The Presso uses water from the kettle, so it goes in at 100° and cools as you use it, so the coffee brews at about 90°C, which is supposed to be the ideal temperature. Also, it uses much less energy than an electric espresso maker, and it doesn't get limescaled.
Unfortunately, the shop stopped stocking them soon after, but burge was fab enough to hunt one down and buy it for my birthday.
And it's still shiny.
See? Shiny
But how does it make coffee? I hear you ask.
It's pretty easy, and pleasantly ritualistic. First, you warm up the filter cup with hot water, then you dry it with some kitchen paper and put the coffee grounds in. You tamp them down with the back of the scoop (there's a knack to this that I haven't got yet), then you put the filter into the machine - it slots in and twists to lock, just like any other espresso maker.
You pour freshly-boiled water from the kettle into the cup on top, and raise the arms. You leave them there for 15-20 sec (I'm still experimenting with the time) for the grounds to infuse. Then, having remembered to put a cup underneath, you press the arms down slowly and hold them at the bottom until the coffee has emerged. Raise and lower the arms again, and Roberto is your Italian uncle. Knock back your coffee, wait until your eyeballs stop vibrating, then chuck the grounds away and wash out the filter.
And what you get is a cup of strong but very smooth espresso. It does cool down a bit during the process, so it's a good idea to start with a warm cup and make sure the filter is well-warmed. I've also not managed to make an expresso with any crema yet - the manual says that you can overfill the cup to increase the pressure when you squeeze the water through, moving the cup away as soon as your espresso dose comes out. But it does have the strength and velvety texture of good espresso, and even with the dark roast I'm using (organic Robusta from Kerala, courtesy of the wonderfully-named Baby Mathew) you don't get any harshness. A bit more practice to get the crema right and I'll be sorted.
It does make brilliant cappuccino and latte, though. You get a frother with the package - it's a clear, open ended tube with a plunger that pulls two perforated discs up and down, and you can make a dense froth in a cup of warm milk in 20sec or so. It makes a very creamy, but deceptively powerful drink. Andrea was buzzing for a good half-hour after a nice gentle latte yesterday.
Some time ago, while gazing around a little shop in Spitalfields, I spotted an unusual and very shiny device. It looked like the offspring of a lever-arm corkscrew and a citrus press, it had lovely curves, and as I might have mentioned, it was shiny.
"What's that thing up there?" I asked the assistant.
"It's a manual espresso press. It's called a Presso. Shiny, isn't it?' he said.
The idea is that it's an unpowered coffee maker, so it doesn't heat the water up for you. Most espresso makers generate pressurised steam to force the water through the coffee, but if the water is too hot, you extract lots of bitter-tasting compounds as well as the coffee flavour that you want. The Presso uses water from the kettle, so it goes in at 100° and cools as you use it, so the coffee brews at about 90°C, which is supposed to be the ideal temperature. Also, it uses much less energy than an electric espresso maker, and it doesn't get limescaled.
Unfortunately, the shop stopped stocking them soon after, but burge was fab enough to hunt one down and buy it for my birthday.
And it's still shiny.
See? Shiny
But how does it make coffee? I hear you ask.
It's pretty easy, and pleasantly ritualistic. First, you warm up the filter cup with hot water, then you dry it with some kitchen paper and put the coffee grounds in. You tamp them down with the back of the scoop (there's a knack to this that I haven't got yet), then you put the filter into the machine - it slots in and twists to lock, just like any other espresso maker.
You pour freshly-boiled water from the kettle into the cup on top, and raise the arms. You leave them there for 15-20 sec (I'm still experimenting with the time) for the grounds to infuse. Then, having remembered to put a cup underneath, you press the arms down slowly and hold them at the bottom until the coffee has emerged. Raise and lower the arms again, and Roberto is your Italian uncle. Knock back your coffee, wait until your eyeballs stop vibrating, then chuck the grounds away and wash out the filter.
And what you get is a cup of strong but very smooth espresso. It does cool down a bit during the process, so it's a good idea to start with a warm cup and make sure the filter is well-warmed. I've also not managed to make an expresso with any crema yet - the manual says that you can overfill the cup to increase the pressure when you squeeze the water through, moving the cup away as soon as your espresso dose comes out. But it does have the strength and velvety texture of good espresso, and even with the dark roast I'm using (organic Robusta from Kerala, courtesy of the wonderfully-named Baby Mathew) you don't get any harshness. A bit more practice to get the crema right and I'll be sorted.
It does make brilliant cappuccino and latte, though. You get a frother with the package - it's a clear, open ended tube with a plunger that pulls two perforated discs up and down, and you can make a dense froth in a cup of warm milk in 20sec or so. It makes a very creamy, but deceptively powerful drink. Andrea was buzzing for a good half-hour after a nice gentle latte yesterday.