Making Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Use one pot and a heaping teaspoon of ground coffee for each person, the usual allowance.
Mix well, either with a part or the whole of an egg and enough cold water to thoroughly moisten it.
Place in a well-scalded coffee boiler.
Pour in half the quantity of boiling water needed, allowing one pint less of water than there are tablespoons of coffee.
Brew and serve
Roll a cloth tightly and stop up the nose or spout, thus keeping all the coffee flavor.
Boil fast for five minutes, stirring down from the top and sides as it boils up.
Place on the back part of stove or range where it will only simmer for ten or fifteen minutes longer.
When ready to serve, add the remainder of the boiling water.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Ground coffee
- Provides the main flavor, which is extracted into the hot water during boiling.
- Egg (in the method)
- Helps bind the coffee grounds with cold water so they settle clearly during brewing.
The step that matters
Boil fast for five minutes, stirring down from the top and sides. Grounds that stick to the sides or float on top extract unevenly, so stirring them back under the liquid gives a more consistent brew.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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