Posted on 11/02/2021 12:17:58 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
I recently left Ohio and spent a week in Europe, and what I immediately noticed was that apartment dwellers, at least where I was, in Belgium and The Netherlands, didn’t brew their own coffee.
I found this to be amazing, given that in Ohio, I have been grinding beans and using a Chemex to brew the most delicious coffee known to man.
If Portland has every grind and bean imaginable, then I would guess that the Europeans would have us topped; but Europe was Nescafe land.
An Italian-French woman living in Belgium joked that she could not believe anyone would buy pre-made mayonnaise or tomato sauce. “It is so easy to make,” she would rant. But she made instant coffee! How can this be possible?
I must say that her Nescafe gold instant coffee made in 45 seconds with those 220 volt electric kettles was very tasty–but it is not as good as my freshly ground pour over-style coffee.
A friend of Mexican descent and I were discussing this, and I remarked that I could not easily find a non-instant coffee in Mexico. He related to me that in Mexico, generally speaking, they don’t like “American coffee” and prefer Nescafe.
He later produced a special blend of Nescafe instant coffee that can only be purchased in Mexico. I have to say that it too was quite tasty, but nothing beats my freshly ground pour over. What is going on?
Is everyone in the world drinking Nescafe instant coffee?
After Europe, I traveled to the Middle East where I will be living for a year. These guys will be small-batch roasting and hand grinding Arabian beans, yes? No. Nescafe land once again.
Upon entering what would be my new apartment, I found the 220 volt kettle and a jar of Nescafe, purchased by my wife, a coffee aficionado, on the kitchen counter. I felt like I was in the last scene of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Nescafe had gotten to her?
This situation was going to get corrected…but not without some difficulties.
After a few days in Abu Dhabi, a very large and wonderful metropolitan city, I came across a dry goods area of a supermarket that had beautiful, oily coffee beans, as well as more spices, branches, dried fruits, leaves and things than I have ever seen in my life–barrels of things everywhere.
I requested about a half of a pound of the best looking coffee beans and asked the attendant if he could grind it.
“Grind it to a powder?” he asked.
I tried to reply with words and pinching hands that I only wanted it to be grinded a little bit, and then he turned to the machine and grinded it to a baby powder. He then bagged it and sealed the bag in another bag, all with the utmost delicacy.
When I got home, I clipped with clothespins, a generic coffee filter to the top of a glass pitcher, fired up the 220 volt kettle, and brewed my first batch of “American coffee.”
The filter broke immediately, and I had to double up. I had not anticipated the very strong flavor of cardamom, which was, no doubt, a result of the grinding machine (kind of like how Hazelnut creeps into one’s coffee back home, seemingly out of nowhere), and the coffee itself was chalky due to the extreme grinding process; but it was a start, and when one is living abroad, a start is all that one is looking for.
In my next article, I will show how to brew a delicious pour over coffee in any setting, regardless of one’s lack of equipment. I’ll show many ways to grind your own beans, roast them if necessary, and filter them using a variety of ways.
You don’t need a glass Chemex container or other store-bought solutions and, as I have discovered, you do not even need filters. You don’t necessarily need a stove or tea kettle either. If you have some of these things and not others, we’ll cover how to make it work with what’s available.
Assuming you can buy coffee beans, you’ll be making guerilla-style pour over coffee at the camp site, in the desert, in the bush, or in Brussels.
I cant say Ive seen that but my experiences were 30+ years ago. I dont think I ever saw instant coffee in a persons home. Nearly everyone had beans ground to a powder that they put in a press. The few that didnt used the individual cup pour over filters. Things must have really changed.
Many thx for the enjoyable coffee thread.......from a coffee lover.
You might have one of those unusual lifestyles that would justify carrying a bripe. No, I wouldnt use the goofy little torch for it either but would still carry it around for other uses.
Historically Ive done a lot of work in peoples homes. Often there was no coffee pot and I was going to be there 12-16 hours, maybe more. I just heat up water in any old cooking pot and put the grounds in to soak. Just dribble a bit of cold water over the top to knock the grounds down and pour it in a cup.
Ice cream (not always vanilla)...
My grandmother taught me to drink it that way as she did when I was a kid. She had a phrase she used that meant “mud in a ditch”. As Ive travelled around and would ask for it occasionally for dessert, people would think I was a nut and had never heard of such a thing thinking I was kidding.
LOL! my wife also ... she has a small jar of instant coffee that she keeps for some dessert recipes. When she gets up in the morning part of her routine is to grind coffee beans and then fresh brew 8 cups of pure Colombian coffee.
Cut off the nation’s coffee, and there’s no army on Earth that’ll keep the Demagogic Party a-holes alive.
I keep some instant on hand for emergencies, Tasters Choice.
On a normal morning I make my own cafe au lait. Bring water to almost a boil, pour it into a french press pot with 10.4 grams fine ground coffee, steep a minute or two and filter (press), then pour over a couple of tablespoons heavy whipping cream. No sugar. I’ve made it that way camping over a coleman stove, works fine. Water needs to be just below boiling, 207. (according to the Bodum french press instructions)
Never liked instant at all until Taster’s Choice freeze dried came around, still only use it in situations that make regular coffee difficult. I try to keep a few boxes of the individual packs on hand for my bug out stuff...not sure if I ever tried nescafe though.
I did try all the instant brands long ago, wanted something decent for camping. Maxwell house, folgers, generic but not sure if I ever even saw nescafe, some places it’s not available. Kinda like in n out burger, won’t find one for a thousand miles. 7/11 stores - not around here - couple of hours away, I think Port Arthur, maybe Houston, they pop up.
Finally got a Coleman french press made for camping, all stainless steel, works great. Yard sale 2 bucks...
Did the cowboy coffee thing a few times too camping, years ago. Let it sit a minute, the grounds sink...
There’s a lot to be said for that aspect.
Should TSHTF freeze dried coffee is better than none at all.
At the very least, having some as back up or for barter could be very useful.
Container I have right now says “Best by” July 2023. Freeze dried weighs nothing too. Only downside is no coffee grinds for the compost:) Though I’ve never tried it, I bet it would dissolve in cold water.
~~~
Ok, just tried it. Yup, dissolves in cold water.
This is the craziest story. Honest and truly, I didn’t know they even still made that shit.
Grounds are good, but for a coffeeholic, anything has got to be better than nothing.
I have also heard that BB date aside, freeze dried coffee is good for years.
Grounds are good, but for a coffeeholic, anything has got to be better than nothing.
I have also heard that BB date aside, freeze dried coffee is good for years.
I bought some recently and need to put it in canning jars and vacuum seal it and store it somewhere cool.
Not if you drink it black.
ML/NJ
Somewhere around here I still have part of a jar of Cafe Combate instant from when I worked in Mexico, many years ago. Wonder if it has any flavor remaining.
Lol. When we got camping with friends most of us are just happy with cowboy coffee in the morning. But there are always one or two people who have to futz with their special coffee needs and end up holding everyone else up as they manipulate their stupid espresso/drip/whatever apparatus because they have to have their coffee thus so. I’ve learned to hate those people. So rude.
I'm originally from Hawaii. So I'm biased in favor of Kona coffee. If you see any coffee from a tropical volcanic island, try it. I like Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee a lot. Costa Rican is also good.
But for a year or so, I've just been drinking Folgers. I usually keep some of the good stuff in the freezer.
And Nescafé was available in bigger bags, sometimes on sale. I still have half of a 60g bag that cost about $1.20 or about 4 cents a cup.
If you want fresh ground coffee, there’s the ubiquitous mobile kiosks for about 60 cents a cup.
At our house..fresh roasted beans from a small family owned coffee roaster in my South Dakota hometown. Coarse ground immediately before making it in a French Press and using purified water heated to 90 C.
Ooooh! Care to share your recipe?
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