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Different Ways to Brew Coffee

  • Yasmin Coles
  • February 22, 2011

Making coffee in an instant means simply adding hot water, but making coffee takes more than stirring the brew with a spoon.  As you hop from one continent to the next, you’ll find that brewing coffee is not similar to how you usually brew yours.  With the different gadgets and coffee brewers available in the market today, explore the many coffee brewing options to add an essential twist to your favorite cup of Joe.

You probably brew your coffee by dripping it.  Drip coffee uses the regular coffee maker.  The coffee grounds are placed inside a conical filter and the machine slowly pours the water through the filtering device.  The resulting coffee is smooth, clear and foam-less.

The Turkish process is another way to brew coffee; it is actually considered as the original coffee brewing process.  This method requires an ibrik or a cezve; this small pot made of metal, brass, copper or ceramic is specially used for brewing coffee.  To make Turkish coffee, mix the coffee powder with the water in the cezve; bring to a light boil three times.  Take note that as the foam starts to rise, immediately remove the coffee from the flame.  Serve when the coffee grounds start to settle.

There are of course coffee brewing process in different parts of the world that is similar to the Turkish way which basically brews the coffee in a pot on a stove top.  In Puerto Rican coffee and the Brazilian cafezhino are cooked in a pot as well although there are differences when you put the sugar.  You pour the coffee grounds after melting the sugar in the water whereas the Puerto Rican way requires brewing the coffee first before adding anything.  It might be a small difference but the difference in taste can be quite different.

The French press is an example of brewing coffee using a plunger.  The coffee is brewed by infusing the coffee with the water.  The growing popularity of the French press is because it is easy to use and it produces a richer and denser brew that many coffee enthusiasts love.

A percolator is another coffee brewing gadget you want to try.  The coffee is produced with the help of steam pressure.  When the percolator is heated and reaches boiling temperature, the pressure forces the water through the coffee thus producing an interesting brew.

The vacuum method is one of the more popular coffee brewing processes for coffee lovers.  The ground coffee and water are infused through a vacuum effect resulting from steam pressure.  The difference of this method from using a percolator is that the vacuum effectively separates the grounds from the coffee.  The vacuum also keeps the flavors intact and the coffee smooth.

The espresso method is another popular way to brew coffee.  Making espresso does not have to be difficult despite the fact that many households and coffee houses use modern espresso machines.  The traditional way to make an espresso is to use a stovetop espresso maker, a small pot made of aluminum or stainless steel.

Whether you like your coffee in espresso shots or brewed in a cezve, the success of any brew lies in the perfect partnership between coffee grounds and process.  Next time, have fun making your coffee by investing in these simple gadgets.  By adopting these different methods, you will open an interesting world of coffee available to you through your kitchen.

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