After the coffee is brewed the true coffee flavor, now extracted from the bean, should be guarded carefully. When the brewed liquid is left on the fire or overheated this flavor is cooked away and the whole character of the beverage is changed. It is just as fatal to let the brew grow cold. If possible, coffee should be served as soon as it is made. If service is delayed, it should be kept hot but not overheated. For this purpose careful cooks prefer a double boiler over a slow flre. The cups should be warmed beforehand, and the same is true of a serving pot, if one is used. Brewed coffee, once injured by cooling, cannot be restored by reheating.
Unsatisfactory results in coffee brewing frequently can be traced to a lack of care in keeping utensils clean. The fact that the coffee pot is used only for coffee making is no excuse for setting it away with a hasty rinse. Coffee making utensils should be cleansed after each using with scrupulous care. If a percolator is used pay special attention to the small tube through which the hot water rises to spray over the grounds. This should be scrubbed with the wire-handled brush that comes for the purpose.
In cleansing drip or filter bags use cool water. Hot water "cooks in" the coffee stains. After the bag is rinsed keep it submerged in cool water until time to use it again. Never let it dry. This treatment protects the cloth from the germs in the air which cause souring. New filter bags should be washed before using to remove the starch or sizing.
Drip (or Filter) Coffee. The principle behind this method is the quick contact of water at full boiling point with coffee ground as fine as it is practical to use it. The filtering medium may be of cloth or paper, or perforated chinaware or metal. The fineness of the grind should be regulated by the nature of the filtering medium, the grains being large enough not to slip through the perforations.
The amount of ground coffee to use may vary from a heaping teaspoonful to a rounded tablespoonful for each cup of coffee desired, depending upon the granulation, the kind of apparatus used and individual taste. A general rule is the finer the grind the smaller the amount of dry coffee required.
The most satisfactory grind for a cloth drip bag has the consistency of powdered sugar and shows a slight grit when rubbed between thumb and finger. Unbleached muslin makes the best bag for this granulation. For dripping coffee reduced to a powder, as fine as flour or confectioner's sugar, use a bag of canton flannel with the fuzzy side in. Powdered coffee, however, requires careful manipulation and cannot be recommended for everyday household use.
Put the ground coffee in the bag or sieve. Bring fresh water to a full boil and pour it through the coffee at a steady, gradual rate of flow. If a cloth drip bag is used, with a very finely ground coffee, one pouring should be enough. No special pot or device is necessary. The liquid coffee may be dripped into any handy vessel or directly into the cups. Dripping into the coffee cups, however, is not to be recommended unless the dripper is moved from cup to cup so that no one cup will get more than its share of the first flow, which is the strongest and best.
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. Steep for five minutes or longer, according to taste, over a low fire. Settle with a dash of cold water or strain through muslin or cheesecloth and serve at once.
Percolated Coffee. Use a rounded tablespoonful of medium fine ground coffee to each cupful of water. The water may be poured into the percolator cold or at the boiling point. In the latter case, percolation begins at once. Let the water percolate over the grounds for five or ten minutes depending upon the intensity of the heat and the flavor desired.