So after all the chat what is the definative best powdered coffee for use in either a stove top cafetierre or through a percolator? As bil said can't be arsed to grind beans so looking for a decent decaff and normal. Tried packets that said Mezcla on but it seems a bit weak and lacking taste.

By the way, the Civet eats the coffee beans whole, they pass through its digestive tract where the enzymes react with the acutal bean and they pass out in its faeces.

Why on Gods planet someone would then pick the beans out of the poo and decide to use them is beyone me. But Stephen Fry once gave a packet to Prince Charles as a gift. Its the most expensive coffee you can purchase, go figure!

Love that special tang of cat crap!

How would you like the job of picking them out tho?

As for decaf, I believe the use super critical CO2, ie in liquid form to dissolve out the caffeine. Has to be done under high pressure as liquid CO2 is impossible otherwise.

[QUOTE=Bri and Katee;9143413]So after all the chat what is the definative best powdered coffee for use in either a stove top cafetierre or through a percolator? As bil said can't be arsed to grind beans so looking for a decent decaff and normal. Tried packets that said Mezcla on but it seems a bit weak and lacking taste.
QUOTE]

Weak?

You cant put mezcla molido through a perculator. I cant imagine the coffee turning out weak if you made it via a cafetera (as long as you are talking about a Spanish/Italian style metal cafetera).

Spanish coffee may be unrefined to some people's tastes but it certainly isnt weak and tasteless!

I have tried a number of appliances for making coffee. Filter, percolator, a machine I can't remember the name of, and cafeteria.

The first is too much trouble and prone to burning if left too long, the second was a pain to clean, the third unbelieveably complex. The cafeteria to me just wins hands down. Mine happens to be glass. I love the cheap plastic plungers as they are easy to clean. The posh, metal ones are a bit of a pain as grounds can get trapped between the mesh and its support.

I was round a friend's the other day, his machine had broken and had had to replace it. I nearly fainted when he mentioned the price. The coffee was good, but not that good.

In Spain people dont use glass cafeteras with plungers, maybe that is the issue?

The best thing is to get a coffee machine with a "bomba" (pressure pump). These start at about 70 euros and go up to 2000 euros for a top of the range one, but for 130 euros or so you can get a pretty decent one. The Nespresso machines are examples of these, though you have to pay for the expensive capsules. The more pressure the pump gives, the better the coffee will taste (generally).

Failing that, you can make good coffee using a metal cafetera that cost between 10-50 euros. I've attached pictures of the two examples. Everyone I know uses one of these two methods to make coffee in Spain. I wouldnt trust any other way.

I can confirm that most, if not all Italian households have one of these. Many people have more than one size as well. The one cup size is very dinky.

Whatever anyone else says...Try to put aside your preconceptions about Nescaff & try Bonka in the red decaff packs. If you don't like it you've wasted 2 euros. If you do, you'll be happy for the rest of your coffee drinking lives!
:-)

If buying a metal cafetera make sure it`s stainless steel (acero inoxidable)
not aluminium like most are unless of course you enjoy aluminium oxide

Isn't the appliance on the left a percolator? I'm sure it is. A cafeteria is simply a jug. You chuck the coffee in, pour hot water onto it and put the lid on that has the strainer attached. In short, it's identical in function to a teapot. You just need better filtration.

Well I dont know what things are called in English I'm afraid, but the item on the left is called a "cafetera" in Spanish.

You put water in the bottom, ground coffee in the middle and then put it on the hob. The water in the bottom heats up and passes through the coffee in the middle leaving liquid coffee in the top part of the apparatus.

Very simple and makes good coffee very cheaply

I think someone is making this coffee making lark a tad more complicated than it really is! Looks like a precolator to me as well. Percolators have been around since the 19th century, even in UK, CM would have us believe the Spanish have some secret weapon.

That's a perc then for sure.

That is how a perculator works
As Bil says, a cafeteria works by putting coffee in the jug, almost filling with water, putting the plunger lid on, waiting a while then pushing the plunger with the strainer on it down to force the coffee grounds to the bottom of the jug before pouring out.

all this palaver over a cup of coffee.here is the best way to dink it.one ltr of brandy.one small glass of coffe any make instant or ground.mjx the two together.find a buxom blonde pour the mixture over her whats its and let rundown to her you know what then drink and enjoy

Does the composition of the water make a difference? I've always had excellent coffee in Madrid, but it's not always been the case in say, Valencia. Must be down to the water (in defence of Valencia they do say their water gives an extra taste to their paella)