September 2009

Making Coffee: French Press

There have been times in my life where

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I've had to travel on business, quite a lot. One of the things I'm less than fond about in terms of business travel is mediocre coffee. The hotel room drip pots are fine for a day or two, but the coffee is pretty awful, and most of the time, part of the problem is the pot itself, since it brews at the wrong temperature, it makes two scant cups at a time of weak coffee, and then there's the problem in some cities of exceedingly chlorinated tap water.

Making Coffee: Greek Coffee

Greek coffee is intensely flavored, rich, dark coffee made in small batches, and served immediately in

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demitasse cups. The coffee is best sipped while it's almost too hot to bear (there's a reason Greek coffee is traditionally accompanied by a glass of cold water and a small plate of sweet cookies). In Greece, you will often see men, especially early in the morning, gathered in small groups by the local coffee shop, where they sip two or three cups of this amazing brew while discussing politics or soccer, before heading off to the boats or other work. Coffee and something to nibble is also often served after the mid-day break as well.