Coffee memories...

[senoritafish]

The coffee in the breakroom (which is not free, btw, all of us partakers donate about $4-5 a month to the coffee/utensil fund) has been so disgustingly weak lately, I thought this morning I would try just making my own cowboy coffee - there's one of those hot water taps that's fine for making tea or ramen, so should be hot enough.

I have fond memories of when I was a fisheries observer on a Polish trawler for two months - they made the best coffee, but it was always a cup at a time. They would grind the beans to a powder, spoon a couple of tablespoons into one of those Russian-type coffee/tea glasses - a thin glass tumbler in a decorative metal holder with a handle. Then they would pour boiling water over the ground coffee (there were pitchers of filtered water and electric ceramic kettles in every cabin, because the water produced by the watermaker wasn't quite fit to drink), stir it up, and let it sit for a couple of minutes to brew. After the grounds had settled to the bottom, they would add milk, stir it up and let it settle again. Then it was ready to drink. You had to leave the last sip or two in the glass to avoid the grounds in the bottom, but it was some of the best coffee I've ever had, on that boat.

It always seemed a bit incongrous to see fishermen drinking out of these delicate looking glasses on the bridge of working fishing boat, although I mostly only saw the officers, and they rarely ventured onto the fishing deck or into the factory where the rest of the crew worked. This "boat" was also probably big enough to be classed as a ship; it was over 200 feet long and had a crew of hmm, 50? 75? I'm shocked to think this was 20 years ago(!), and the details are a bit fuzzy.

*Sip* - well, my version is not nearly as good, especially coming from coffee out of a can. The grounds don't settle as nicely to the bottom and some inevitiably get stuck in my teeth, but it's better than what's in the pot.

Comments

Coffee

[laughdavid614.livejournal.com]

So are you saying you would like a coffee press and grinder for Christmas? At least that is the closist thing that I can think of to what your discribing.

David

Re: Coffee

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Dave! You made an LJ account!

Actually I have a single serving coffee press; I just keep forgetting to take it in to work.

We haven't bought beans at home in ages; just couldn't afford it. But then, having fair to middling stuff most of the time makes you appreciate when you get something really good.

I know you're probably not planning to use this except for comments, but seriously, you need some icons.