The little black at the corner of the zinc is a very popular habit in France, but each French person has their own way of preparing coffee with or without a machine, with coffee beans or ground, with or without filter, for two cups or for ten … In fact, there are many, many ways to brew coffee and depending on the vintages you use, you won't get the same flavors. For some, the preparation of coffee is a real ritual.
Steps
Method 1 of 6: With a French press
Step 1. Put your ground coffee in the French press
Disassemble the coffee maker and at the bottom of the glass container, pour a spoon (7 g) of coffee (so-called “medium / coarse” grind) per cup.
- If you use a coffee with a coarse grind, you will block the holes in the plunger grid!
- If you use a coffee with a too fine grind, the grounds will pass through the grid and you will have a fake Turkish coffee!
Step 2. Pour hot water over the coffee
Boil some water, then pour in about 90 mL of water per cup, stir the mixture for a few seconds, then let it steep for 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 3. Insert the plunger into the container
Insert it delicately and straight with its cover. Check to see if the coffee does not run over the sides, which would be a sign that the coffee is grinded too fine.
Step 4. Press more or less to the bottom of the glass container
The pressure to be exerted is quite high, and must be slow and continuous. To avoid spilling everything, hold the glass container with your other hand… without getting burned!
Step 5. Fill your cups right away
You are free to add milk or sugar. The French press is perfect for fine wines. Clean the coffee maker with a little washing up liquid.
Dry all parts of the coffeemaker separately before reassembling and storing
Method 2 of 6: Using an electric coffee maker
Step 1. Pour your water into the tank
You will put filtered or bottled water. On the side of the tank you have a graduation which indicates the number of cups. Some coffee makers have two graduations for small (9 cL) and large cups (12.5 cL). Fill it out according to your needs.
- Prefer bottled or filtered water if the tap water is very hard or too chlorinated.
- If the reservoir is not graduated, which is now extremely rare, measure with a graduated glass 10 cL of water for a small cup and 15 cL for a large one.
Step 2. Place the coffee filter
The portafilter is at the top of the coffee maker a removable part that must be opened by rotation. There you will place your paper filter (browns are untreated), but on other machines there is a reusable plastic filter.
- Each coffee maker has its own filters. If you buy some that are too large, you will always have the option of resizing them. And if they're too small, you won't be able to brew that many coffees.
- If your coffee maker has a plastic filter, there is no need to line it with a paper filter.
Step 3. Pour in your ground coffee
The amount to pour depends on the number of cups and the desired intensity. There are generally 7 g of coffee per small cup… just like at the bar. If you have trouble waking up in the morning or have trouble digestion at midday, increase the dose!
- With this method, it doesn't matter if the grind is coarse, medium or fine.
- Either you buy your coffee already ground and vacuum-packed, or you buy it in beans and grind it as you go, the aromas will be more intense.
Step 4. Start the coffee maker
After closing the portafilter, you can start the coffee maker and wait for the coffee to pass slowly. Of course, the more water you add, the longer you will have to wait, but the preparation is still quick (4 to 5 minutes).
If you are in another room, you will know when your coffee is ready: after a noise of steam, you will not hear anything
Step 5. Stop the coffee maker
Some slightly sophisticated coffee makers stop on their own. Before or after tasting your coffee, don't forget to empty the portafilter by throwing the filter and the grounds it contains in the trash, you can also keep it for certain uses.
Pay attention to handling the coffee maker at the end of preparation. There's always steam here and there, and it wouldn't be about you getting burned
Step 6. Serve yourself and your guests
A coffee is personal drink, some add cream, milk, sugar, maple syrup, a little cocoa, others lengthen it… Drink immediately, a coffee is drunk hot.
- If you have other eating habits, you can add coconut, almond, soy or lactose-free milk.
- Some of these add-ons, like some scent creams, are sweet from the start. Taste your coffee before adding sugar.
- Don't wait to drink your coffee. Not only does it cool, but it is also less tasty!
Method 3 of 6: With an Italian coffee maker
Step 1. Fill the lower part of the coffee maker with hot water
To disassemble such a coffee maker, it is necessary to unscrew the upper half and remove the filter part. Boil some water, then pour it into the coffee maker. Do not exceed the level marked by a valve (bulge).
- The Italian coffee maker has other names, such as "macchinetta" (to all lord, all honor) or mocha coffee maker.
- Instead, use bottled or filtered water.
Step 2. Replace the filter
Fill it with ground coffee (a little coarse grind) up to the small mark calculated for the maximum amount of water, the basic dosage being 7 g for one cup. If you want a lighter coffee, use less coffee and for a stronger coffee, use less water.
Before replacing the top of the coffee maker, even out, then lightly tamp your coffee
Step 3. Screw the upper part back on
Hold the bottom of the coffee maker well, then replace the upper part by screwing it on completely, remembering to check that the filter is inside! As the stocking contains hot water, hold it by its collar.
Step 4. Put your coffee maker on the stove or the hob
The fire will be set to medium to high. The pressurized water will pass through the ground coffee and exit through the top of the central rod. During the entire preparation, the lid must be lowered.
On a gas burner, make sure that the handle of the coffeemaker is out of the reach of flames
Step 5. Remove the coffee maker from the heat
During the operation, the coffee (liquid) is first very dark, it has just passed through fresh coffee, then becomes increasingly clear. In fact, when you no longer hear any noise, your coffee is ready.
Preparation takes about 5 minutes for a medium-sized coffee maker, a little longer for larger ones
Step 6. Help yourself to coffee
Be careful when grasping the handle, take a tea towel or pot holder. In general and for safety, and for the ritual, you will hold the lowered lid with your other hand. Then, it's up to you to see if you sweeten it, add cream or a drop of milk… A coffee is drunk hot.
Be careful not to burn yourself by accidentally touching any part of the coffee maker
Method 4 of 6: With a portafilter
Step 1. Place a portafilter directly on your cup
A portafilter is a small plastic utensil (cone pierced at the bottom) sold for three times nothing and which troubleshoots well. Just place a paper filter in the cone and place it directly on your mug.
- The method which will be described here is also suitable if you have a Chemex glass coffee maker with its typical wooden collar.
- The filters that go into these portafilters are exactly the same type as those in electric coffee makers. Buy the correct size.
- If you find that your coffee tastes slightly like paper, it is possible. In this case, you will run a little hot water over the entire filter and discard the collected water.
Step 2. Fill the filter with coffee
The standard dose is 7 g (tablespoon) per small cup. For a stronger coffee, increase the dose and for a lighter coffee, add only 4 or 5 g. Use pre-ground coffee or beans that you can instantly grind.
Step 3. Pour the water over the ground coffee
You will have prepared boiling water separately. Turn off the heat as soon as it boils, wait about twenty seconds for the temperature to be between 90 and 95 ° C, then pour a little of this water evenly over the grind.
You do not have to fill the entire portafilter. The first pass is used to recover the power of the coffee. Cover the ground coffee with a layer of water of barely 1 cm and wait about 30 seconds
Step 4. Gradually add the rest of the water
The extract being done, all that remains is to pour the rest of the water in several times, no more than 2 to 3 cm at a time. Wait until the end of the passage before adding water.
If you add too much water at the same time, the coffee will be compacted and the filtration will be less well and more slowly: it needs air
Step 5. Remove the portafilter
Depending on whether you like your sweet or nutty coffee, you can add whatever you like (sugar, milk) and you have to drink it hot to feel all its subtlety. You will throw the filter with the grounds in the trash or reuse the latter as described above (mask, disinfection agent).
There is one last thing to do, once you have drunk the coffee: clean the portafilter so that it is operational the next time. Thoroughly clean both sides of the utensil and check that the holes are free
Method 5 of 6: Make coffee without a coffee maker
Step 1. Stick a tea towel in your mazagran
You can take any fabric as long as it is clean and if possible not too dyed: a tea towel is ideal, otherwise take a handkerchief (or any piece of fabric) in muslin or cotton. You must push it into your cup by hand to create a pocket that will accommodate the grind.
- To brew more coffee, you will place your napkin on a glass jar or glass container from an old coffee maker.
- If your towel has holes (openwork fabric), fold it to hide them and have a filtration surface.
Step 2. Secure the towel to the edge of the mazagran
You can do this with paper clips, bookbinding clips or clothespins. If two fasteners are a minimum, diametrically opposed, four are perfect.
If your fabric is large enough, you can secure it to the cup with a tight elastic band
Step 3. Drop in your coffee
Whether you grind your coffee yourself or buy it all ground, you will ensure that you have an average grind. The standard dose is 7 g per small cup. Of course, you can adjust this amount for a stronger or lighter coffee.
- If you use a very fine grind, the grounds will pass through the fibers and you will have Turkish coffee, but not as good!
- If you put a coarse ground coffee, very quickly the spaces in the fabric will be blocked and you will not be able to brew a satisfactory coffee.
Step 4. Boil some water
Turn off the heat at the boiling point, wait a minute for the temperature to drop to around 90 to 95 ° C, it is at this temperature that the filtration is ideal.
The water should not be boiling so as not to kill all the aromas
Step 5. Gradually add hot water
To make a good coffee, you have to pour the water in several times. To do this, make sure to add enough water to cover the grounds, wait about 30 seconds, then top up on the same principle, until the intended volume is used up.
If you add too much water at the same time, the coffee will be compacted and the filtration will be less well and more slowly: it needs air
Step 6. Enjoy your beverage
Once the water has passed, your coffee is ready. Carefully undo the fasteners, collect the corners of the napkin so as not to drop grounds in the coffee. After completing it (sugar, milk, cream), drink your hot coffee, it will only be better.
Be careful, dispose of the grounds in the trash can or in the sink. With this method, it is better to wash the towel quickly to have a chance of recovering it so that it does not get too stained
Method 6 of 6: Always brew great coffee
Step 1. Buy your coffee from a roaster
In addition to the advice, you will have top quality coffee. There are hundreds of cafes, there are bound to be one or two that will please. Almost all intertropical countries produce coffee, both in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Certainly, the Arabica variety is the most recommended, more aromas, less bitterness!
- The easy way out is to buy vacuum-packed ground coffee, but if you're a bit of a purist you'll buy it as beans from a roaster and grind it as you need it.
- With practice, you will know how much grain you need to grind. Of course, you can still use the remaining ground grain, but it will be less interesting.
Step 2. Store your coffee well
Your roaster will tell you how to store your coffee. If he sells it to you ground, the ideal is to consume it within a week. Coffee anyway can be stored at room temperature (not too hot though), in its original bag or in a glass jar protected from light. In the refrigerator, it will tend to absorb moisture and odors.
- Note that a whole bean coffee retains its aromas more than once it has been ground.
- Use the coffee all the way. The marc obtained after preparation can be used to predict the future (well, if you know how to do it!), It can also disinfect the pipes, and you can make a treatment of the body or the face.
Step 3. Use a good quality filter
If you must use a filter, buy raw, untreated filters, they are brown in color. Thus, they will not give any taste to your coffee and you will not swallow toxic products (bleach). Note that there are permanent filters, for example in golden titanium, that you just need to clean after each use. Whenever possible, avoid cheap filters, they change the taste of the coffee.
If you find that your coffee tastes slightly like paper, it is possible. In this case, you will run a little hot water over the entire filter and discard the collected water
Step 4. Use only bottled or filtered water
In many areas the water is too hard. However, if you live in an area with good water quality, use it. You will make it run a little to have very cold water.
If you want sock juice, take distilled or softener water. Never to do
Step 5. Use only water that is boiling or about to be boiling
Coffee only reveals its aromas and power with water initially at over 90 ° C. In fact, it would be necessary to succeed in putting water which is more than simmering and not yet boiling, as for tea!
Coffee makers normally deliver water at the right temperature. If you're the one boiling the water, bring it to a boil, then let it cool for a minute
Step 6. Serve the coffee immediately
The longer you wait, the more it cools and loses its aroma. Now, if you want to keep it in an insulated bottle, you hardly have to wait more than an hour.
The longer you wait to drink your coffee, the more it loses its primary qualities (aroma and potency)
Step 7. Thoroughly clean your coffee maker
Rinse the glass container and the filter holder with hot water. Wipe everything with a clean, dry cloth, then reassemble the assembly for next use. The purpose of cleaning is to get rid of any scale and a very bitter by-product that results from the breakdown of coffee oil (caffeol).
Descale your electric coffee maker once a month. Dilute white vinegar in the water and pass it through your machine as if you were making a coffee. At the end, rinse with clean water on the same principle
Advice
- The taste of a coffee is the result of a complex alchemy. It depends of course on the starting vintage, its drying, its roasting, the grinding, its dosage … and the way of preparing it.
- If one day you taste an exceptional coffee in a bar, do not hesitate to ask the waiter what this coffee is. Among the great vintages, Kitche from Guatemala, Blue Mountain from Jamaica, Tournon from Costa Rica …
- To obtain a subtly sweet coffee, do not hesitate to put a touch of sugar or small shavings of quality chocolate directly in the ground coffee.
- If you are lucky enough to have a roaster near you, buy your coffee from them. First, he will guide you according to your tastes, he will give you samples and he will sell you, admittedly more expensive, a coffee of exceptional quality.
- In theory, you should always rinse a paper filter before using it. Place it in the portafilter, run hot water over it, then discard the wash water. Then make your coffee normally.
- Coffee grounds don't age well, so they should be disposed of quickly, in the daily garbage bag or in the sink. If you must store it, store it in a container that closes tightly.
- Nothing prevents you from preparing a scented cream that seems most suitable for coffee, for example, with coffee extract or a little liquid chocolate.