Coffee pot

“ A coffee-roaster is better than a pot to roast coffee in, as it preserves the fine aromatic flavor of the coffee, which in a great measure escapes with the steam of the coffee, when roasted in an open pot. To make good common coffee, allow a table-spoonful of it, when ground, to each pint of water. Turn on the water boiling hot, and boil the coffee in a tin pot, from twenty to twenty-five minutes—if boiled longer, it will not taste fresh and lively. ”

“ As to the form of coffee pot I have nothing to say. The varieties of coffee machines are very numerous and many of them are useless incumbrances. At the best, they can not be regarded as absolutely necessary. The Brazilians insist that coffee pots should on no account be made of metal, but that porcelain or earthenware is alone permissible. I have been in the habit of late of having my coffee made in a common jug provided with a strainer, and I believe there is nothing better. ”

“ Many prefer to roast and grind the coffee for themselves; but in coffee houses the arrangements for roasting are so complete, that it is better for small families to buy roasted coffee and to grind it as needed, or to buy it ground in a small quantity. It should be kept in air-tight tin cans or glass jars, that the fine flavor may be preserved.
Opinions vary as to the best kind of coffee-pot. Some prefer porcelain or granite ware, others prefer tin, but all good housekeepers agree that absolute cleanliness is of the utmost importance. ”

“ Coffee-pot.—When well made, coffee, perhaps, is the most delicious and refreshing of all the infusions that are made for household use, but the goodness of coffee very often depends on the construction of the vessel in which it is made, and it is most desirable to use one in which the aromatic oil of the berry developed in the process of roasting is not driven off by boiling, on the one hand, which invariably spoils coffee, and not made sufficiently perceptible by the endeavour to make it at too low a temperature, which is too often the case. ”

“ The water must be boiled in a tin or copper coffee-pot To supply, say, four or five persons with coffee in tiny cups, two or three teaspoonfuls of the powder should be put into the pot while the water is actually boiling therein. ”

“ The method by which the coffee is to be prepared for drinking will determine to a large extent the way in which the coffee beans must be ground. When coffee is to be made by a method in which the grounds are not left in the water for any length of time, the beans must be ground very fine, in fact, pulverized, for the flavor must be extracted quickly. For other purposes, such as when it is to be made in a percolator, the beans need not be ground quite so fine, and when it is to be made in an ordinary coffee pot they may be ground very coarse. ”

“ Have a well-cleaned French coffee-pot, put the coffee on the filter, with the small strainer over, then pour on a pint and a half of boiling water, little by little, recollecting, at the same time, that too much care cannot be taken to impress on those making the coffee, the necessity of having the water boiling thoroughly, otherwise it were as useless to attempt the feat as to try and raise musk-melons at the North Pole, notwithstanding that the coffee be of the very first quality. ”

“ Coffee to be absolutely perfect should never get cold betwixt the beginning of roasting and the end of drinking. Since that is out of the question save to Grand Turks and faddists, mere mortals must make shift with coffee freshly ground, put in a very clean pot, with the least suspicion of salt—about six fine grains to the cupful, fresh cold water, in the proportion of three cupfuls to two heaping spoonfuls of ground coffee, then the pot set where it will take twenty minutes to boil, and so carefully watched it can not possibly boil over. ”

“ The coffee-pot should be entirely clean, without a particle of old coffee grounds in it. The coffee should not be subjected to long boiling, as this will dissipate the aroma and produce a rather bitter drink. Coffee that is not boiled at all is very smooth and free of bitter flavor. All coffee should be served hot, and as soon as possible after being made. Always serve cream or hot milk with it. Heat the milk to the boiling point, but do not let it boil. ”

“ As the fire kindles, the sheykh reaches for his dellàl, coffee pots, which are carried in the fatya, coffee-gear basket; this people of a nomad life bestow each thing of theirs in a proper beyt; it would otherwise be lost in their daily removings. One rises to go to fill up the pots at the water-skins, or a bowl of water is handed over the curtain from the woman's side; the pot at the fire, Hirfa reaches over her little palm-ful of green coffee berries.... ”

“ Coffee à la minute, which appeared in France in the nineteenth century, was made by decoction or infusion through a funnel pierced with holes and covered inside with blotting paper, or a woolen strainer cloth. This system, says Jardin, suggested the economical coffee pot.
A popular German drip coffee maker of the late nineteenth century employs a plug in the spout which provides air pressure to hold back the infusion until the plug is removed. ”

“ If the beans have not been ground just before they are required for use, put the ground coffee into a plate or dish before the fire, and heat it thoroughly. Pour boiling water through the coffee-pot, put in the coffee—about 1⁄2 teacupful for each person—pour on to it perfectly boiling water, and let the pot stand by the fire for a few minutes. ”

“ The brew is complete when it drips from the grounds, and further cooking or "heating up" injures the quality. Therefore, since it is not necessary to put the brew over the fire, it is possible to make use of the hygienic advantages of a glassware, porcelain or earthenware serving pot.
Boiled (or Steeped) Coffee. For boiling (or steeping) use a medium grind. The recipe is a rounded tablespoonful for each cup of coffee desired or—as some cooks prefer to remember it—a tablespoonful for each cup and "one for the pot." Put the dry coffee in the pot and pour over it fresh water briskly boiling. ”

“ A Good Two-Man Outfit
Get for a two-man outfit two tin cups with the handles riveted, not soldered. They will drop into the aluminum coffee pot. Omit the soup bowls. Buy good steel knives and forks with blackwood or horn handles. Let the forks be four-tined, if possible. Omit the teaspoons. Do not make the mistake of tin dessert spoons. Purchase a half dozen of white metal. All these things will go inside the aluminum coffee pot, which will nest in the two aluminum kettles. Over the top you invert four aluminum plates and a small tin milk pan for bread mixing and dish washing. ”

“ Numerous methods of preparing coffee are mentioned in the volume, the best contrivance being stated as the following: It consists of a double coffee-pot, the inner one, containing the coffee and water, being completely surrounded by steam which is generated in a pan or receiver, over which is placed the coffee-pot. In this way all the rich, oily aromas are thoroughly extracted by the action of steam-heat surrounding all parts of the inner vessel. The coffee can never boil, and the result is a beverage more perfect than any percolating, boiling, or straining process has ever produced. ”

“ If coffee has been adulterated with roasted grain, when you pour boiling water upon it you will see rising against the sides of the cup portions of the ground grain, which you sometimes can separate in considerable quantities, by capillary attraction. If you pour such coffee from the coffee-pot, some of those grains will fall with the liquid in the cup, and they will climb up, as it were, the sides of the cup a quarter of an inch, or something of that kind, all round, and you can collect them very easily. ”

“ Use 2 tablespoons of finely ground coffee to each cup of water. If an ordinary coffee-pot is used instead of a percolator, mix a little beaten egg with the ground coffee before it is put into the pot. ”

“ Then About gives the recipe of his servant Petros, who is "the first man in Athens for coffee":
The grain is roasted without burning it; it is reduced to an impalpable powder, either in a mortar or in a very close-grained mill. Water is set on the fire till it boils up; it is taken off to throw in a spoonful of coffee, and a spoonful of pounded sugar for each cup it is intended to make; it is carefully mixed; the coffee pot is replaced on the fire until the contents seem ready to boil over ”

“ To have perfect coffee, use an earthen or china pot, and have the water boiling when turned onto the coffee. Like tea, the results will not be right if the water is allowed to fall below the boiling-point before it is used. Have the coffee ground to a fine powder in order to get its full flavor as well as strength. There is great waste in having coffee ground coarse. A pound will go three times as far in the former as in the latter case, therefore a good coffee-mill is an economy in a household. ”

“ BOILED COFFEE.--Without doubt, coffee is more often boiled in its preparation than treated in any other way. Usually, an ordinary coffee pot is all that is required in this method of preparation. The amount of ground coffee used may be varied to obtain the desired strength. ”

“ When Bernier visited Grand Cairo about the middle of the seventeenth century, in all the city's thousand-odd coffee houses he found but two persons who understood the art of roasting the bean.
About 1650, there was developed the individual cylinder coffee roaster made of metal, usually tin plate or tinned copper, suggested by the original Turkish pocket grinder. This was designed for use over open fires in braziers. There appeared about this time also a combined making-and-serving metal pot which was undoubtedly the original of the common type of pot that we know today. ”

“ For general home use, a device that employs filter paper or filter cloth is best; for the epicure an improved porcelain French percolator (drip pot) or an improved cloth filter will yield the utmost of coffee's delights. Drink it black, sweetened or unsweetened, with or without cream or hot milk, as your fancy dictates.
It should be remembered that to make good coffee no special pot or device is necessary. Good coffee can be made with any china vessel and a piece of muslin. But to make it in perfection pains must be taken with every step in the process from roaster to cup. ”

“ The advantages of boiled coffee are that when the egg is used the yolk gives a very rich flavor, and when the milk or cream is added the coffee has a rich, yellow look, which is pleasing. It has also a peculiar flavor, which many people prefer to the flavor gained by any other process. The disadvantages are that the egg coats the dry coffee, and when the hot water is added the coating becomes hard, and a great deal of the best of the coffee remains in the grounds after boiling. Also, in boiling, much of the fine flavor is lost in the steam that escapes from the pot. ”

“ The weight of the water helps the flow downward through the grounds. Care should be taken to keep up the temperature of the water. Set the kettle back on the stove when not pouring. If the water is measured, use a small heated vessel, which fill and empty quickly without allowing the water to cool.
In 1917, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal made a comparative coffee-brewing test with a regulation coffee pot for boiling, a pumping percolator, a double glass filtration device, a cloth-filter device, and a paper filter device. ”

“ Those who drink coffee half milk may like it stronger—a cupful of water to the heaping spoonful of coffee. I do not thus abuse one of the crowning mercies, so make my coffee the strength I like to drink it. Reducing with boiling water spoils the taste for me. So does pouring into another pot—my silver pot is used only upon occasions when ceremony must outweigh hospitality. In very cold weather hot water may well warm cups both for tea and coffee. Standing on the grounds does not spoil the flavor of coffee as it does tea. ”

“ The simplest way to make good coffee is to put into the pot two tablespoonfuls of the ground and browned berry to each cupful of the beverage. Pour on cold water to the required amount, remove it from the fire when it first boils up, let it stand a few moments in a warm place, and then pour into the pot half a cup of cold water to settle it. ”

“ Do not be led astray into buying a made-up outfit. The two-man set consists of a coffee pot, two kettles, a fry pan, two each of plates, cups, soup bowls, knives, forks, teaspoons, and dessert spoons—everything of aluminum. All fit into the largest kettle, plates and fry pan on top, and weigh but five pounds. ”