Tea-man Seeks Perfect Coffee Maker

Published by Duncan in the blog Duncan's Blog. Views: 151

I generally serve up a cup of coffee in the morning that I will follow with two cups of tea. The coffee is a pre-ground variety that originates somewhere in Latin America (the Carbbean side, volcano grown, or from a tropical island that has welcoming mountains). Since I don't drink a lot of it and I seldom share what I have, I treat myself to the better quality.
My tea drinking preferences are somewhat self-restrictive. I go for black tea that is usually Assam (Indian) or Yunnan (Chinese). As a rule, I don't include ones that are flavored with fruit or flowers; I do sometimes purchase very small amounts of Earl Grey or apricot infusion, but they are not part of the daily consumption.
Tea preparation is rather simple. Pick a pot. Clean it. Heat it up with boiling water. Dry it. Measure out the tea leaves and toss them into the pot. Pour boiling water on the leaves. Cover the teapot with its lid. Cover the teapot and lid with a cozy or tea towel. Set the timer for 5 minutes. Decant.
Coffee, however, is a bit trickier. What is best for a single cup? I have been using the French press, but discovered that it had developed a crack. I have a "single-cup porcelain slow brewing accessory for home use" which is better known as a pour over. I'm not TOTALLY fond of this method because of the waste created by the paper filters. I also have a Costa Rican chorreador with reusable coladores (cloth strainers). I'm never quite satisfied with coffee that has only received a single pour over of hot water to fully extract the oils and flavors from the coffee beans, so I wind up doing the pour over two extra times.
Electric Mr Coffee makers take up too much space and it too has the paper filter that sometimes collapses. I don't love the product enough to buy an expensive espresso machine (especially since I don't drink espresso).
From my childhood, there were percolators. [​IMG] They have become demonized over the years. Apparently, the coffee experts claim that the repeated movement of hot water over the coffee grinds for 3-5 minutes creates a brew that it bitter.
Of course, aluminum has also been disparaged over the years as a potential toxin to human consumption. Most of the evidence-based literature that I have read indicates that our cookware doesn't have significant leaching to cause problems or concerns.
Guess I'll be looking at variety for a while.
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