Java, the language, is named after the Indonesian island where coffee is grown. Coffee is known as the addictive
drug of choice of computer programmers. Java product names typically play on both the Indonesian and coffee
themes. Here is the best way I have discovered to prepare coffee.
Coffee Makers
 |
| Melitta filter coffee maker |
 |
| Bodum aka French Press |
Paper filter coffee (Melitta
style) makes the best tasting coffee, though other techniques such as percolating create better room aroma.
Percolators fill the air with wonderful coffee smell, but leave little flavour in the coffee, and tend to be
bitter. A Bodum (aka French Press) tends to create a cloudy rich peasant coffee. The instructions that come with
a Bodom tell you to stir in with a long thin plastic spoon, not metal, to avoid scratching the glass. I have
scoured stores. I could not find one. Instead I used a wooden chopstick, then replaced it with a thin Trudeau
seamless silicone spatula.  |
| Trudeau silcone spatula |
Recipe
Add a pinch of salt to the dry coffee grounds. The trick is to make concentrated coffee then water it down,
rather than filtering all the water through the coffee grinds. This avoids leaching out the bitterer components
of the coffee. Of course, you must grind the beans freshly. The odour of the beans is far more intoxicating than
the final beverage.
I find the milder, cheaper beans such as Mocha Java, Brazilian, Guatemalan, Kenyan and Kona make a mellower
coffee. Add a little Dark French if you want to give it a Starbucks bite.
To make the perfect cup of coffee, make sure you wipe out the grinder with a Kleenex after use so you will
have no coffee grounds going stale to spoil the next batch.
Adding a subliminal pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove or ginger or a drop of organic vanilla or orange juice
can add a little interest. Be subtle. People should just barely be able to tell the coffee is different, not
how.
Wipe a touch of orange essence around the rim of the cup, and watch eyes pop with delight.
Of course you want to use fair trade coffee, both because you get the higher
quality beans that way, and to play fair with the people who grow the beans for you.
Preserving Flavour
 |
| Thermos carafe |
If you don’t serve the coffee right away, put it in a Thermos carafe. If you
leave the coffee exposed to the air it will rapidly oxidise and get that all-night diner taste. It will keep a
remarkably long time in a sealed Thermos. Coffee makers with warming trays under a glass pot turn out horrible
coffee by oxidising it.
Personal
When I was young, my rebellion into the drug world consisted of learning to recognise the various types of
coffee, much like a wine connosieur. I would buy 100 grams of beans at a time to try out all the possibilities. I
hid coffee making equipment in the back of my closet. I did manage to pull off a Wire Paladin/James Bond thing a
few times, surprising people by telling them what was in their personal blend. Age has taken away my unusually
keen sense of smell, so I doubt I could do it now.
Starbucks Coffee Sizes
| Starbucks Coffee Sizes |
|---|
| ml |
oz |
Size |
Notes |
|---|
| 237 |
8 |
short |
To get it you must ask for short, not small. |
| 355 |
12 |
tall |
What you get if you ask for a small or regular. |
| 473 |
16 |
grande |
pronounced grawnday, Italian for big. |
| 592 |
20 |
venti |
applies to hot drinks. Italian for twenty. |
| 710 |
24 |
venti |
applies to cold drinks. |
Cutting Back
If you claim you can’t afford fair trade coffee, just cut back on your consumption. The easiest way to do
that is to scale back on the size of your cup: venti ( 0.71 litres (1½ US pints)
) ⇒ grande ( 473 mls (2 US cups)
) ⇒ tall ( 355 mls (1½ US cups)
) ⇒ mug ( 250 mls (1.06 US cups)
) ⇒ short ( 237 mls (1 US cups)
) ⇒ small cup ( 150 mls (0.63 US cups)
) ⇒ demitasse ( 75 mls (0.32 US cups)
). You don’t know how big you cup is? Fill it with water and pour it into a kitchen measuring cup.
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