Another thing I love… coffee. Over the last half dozen years I have become sort of a coffee addict. And unfortunately, a bit of a coffee snob. Thankfully, there are enough good coffee shops around that know how to make a cup, and yes, for the haters, that includes Starbucks. I also have a wee espresso machine for making my own at home and gets abused daily.
There are quite a few places out there who supposedly sell “great coffee” and I find that only half of them truly do. I literally spit McDick’s coffee back into the cup. They are NOT a cafe or coffee shop. They don’t clean their machines and it tastes like crap.
I’ll probably get lynched, but I also detest Tim Hortons. It either tastes burnt, dirty, or their creations are just so full of sugar as to be undrinkable. There are a few coffee chains around here that I can’t stand either. Either improperly cleaned machines, where the coffee holder goes gets too hot, or the water is lingering too long in the beans. All are contributors to that “burnt” coffee bean flavour. I’ve learned where to stay away from.
And I’ve learned where to go! I don’t know what it is about the Greeks, but they know how to make a good shot of coffee. I’m talking about the tiny cups that steaming coffee is poured into. That you have to let sit so the coffee sludge settles to the bottom, leaving behind an amazing coffee above. Oh, just a note. I can usually drink coffee before bedtime with no issues, but a cup of Greek coffee? You have to have time to get it out of your system first. 😛
And yes, I do include Starbucks in the mix of the good places to go. Coffee is what they are, what they do, and you only very rarely get a bad cup. And I like the sugar free syrups options and the fact that I can get a coffee the way that I want it. Lots of milk, little milk, loaded with syrup, or just a drizzle. Mild, medium, dark, whatever intensity I like.
But one cafe here does THE cup of coffee. Its a cold, dew drip coffee. Basically cold water is dripped through a filter of beans into the container below. It takes 24 hours to make a batch. And its a concentration that is the end result. A super smooth, COFFEE tasting, dark extraction concentration.
I attempted my version of it last night. It was good, and made a concentrated solution as well, but it was a soaking method, rather than a drip method. Although it did have a wonderful strong coffee flavour, it still had a bit of the bitter taste thats missing from the drip style. The soaking method wasn’t a total turn off, and I will continue to use it until I get myself a small drip setup.
Basically take a 4 cup coffee press, put just over 2/3 cup of coarse coffee grinds in the bottom, fill with cold water, and set in your fridge overnight. Press the plunger, pour the solution into a jar and put in fridge.
Hot coffee, I take half a cup’s worth, just nuke for about 30 seconds, fill the rest of the cup with boiling water. Sugar and cream to taste.
Also tastes great cold!