Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The coffee cat

Nothing beats a South Indian 'degree filter coffee' early in the morning for salvation.

The aroma of the coffee powder, usually the peaberry variety, roasted and ground with a dash of powdered chicory root for increasing the brew strength kicks off the ritual of coffee drinking. [My fave brand is Cothas Coffee, with 85% coffee and 15% chicory. I love that taste of coffee powder in my mouth :-)] A slow drip gives the best potent brew for which the coffee powder needs to pressed to the filter to be packed dense and hot water poured in slowly and the filter capped. The decoction should look dark and viscous to knock you off. :-)

Image courtesy: Wikipedia
I love my coffee slightly dark, a tad bitter and not very hot. Señora drinks it piping hot and I get the stick, if her coffee isn't so. I sit with my coffee tumbler and dabarah after the mixing for froth and sipping it slowly for the taste to linger. I even like the taste of it when it goes cold. No black coffee for me, however.

I have nothing against tea drinkers, but I have been conditioned to drink tea in the evenings, if I do, rather than the mornings.

Cappuccino, Caffè Latte, Caffè Espresso, Caffè Macchiato, Mocha or any other coffee drink may be there, but the South Indian degree coffee rules!

My toast to all the coffee drinkers out there...

16 comments:

chennaigirl said...

Only after marriage, i started preparing and drinking filter coffee. Know wat- aathukarar(it was he who taught me in the first place) ,all relatives and friends are literally slaves for my coffee ;) - i use either LEO or Coffee day - PB.

gils said...

//all relatives and friends are literally slaves for my coffee//

wow :D round one goes to chennai girl then :D rammmmmmmmmmmmm....ditto on coffee vs tea..but after coming to mumbai and looking at rates they charge for coffee...i switched to tea!! the price is 250% more than tea

Swaram said...

Cud nt agree more .. its the best! Nthg cn beat that does of hot n strong coffee for me :)
And they joy of drinking it having the tumbler and the dabarah ... aahaha :)

Ramesh said...

RamMmm saar - this is a perfect description of one of the unbelievable joys of life. 99.99% agree with you and share exactly the same sentiments. Only the 15% chicory is a bit tough to swallow. But the minute difference in taste embellishes the whole reading experience !! I am just getting up to make a cuppa - ooops sorry tumbler :)

sri said...

haha I am sure every south Indian would empathise with ur neat description of coffee :) I am not big fan of coffee, its only few occausion that I enjoy them, I like more of boost, horlicks or hey ragimalt - just had it :) such a warm feeling i shd say.

RamNarayanS said...

@chennaigirl-:-) naan enna solla. coffeegirlnnu backup paer vechchukunga :-)

@gils-I've no clue why it is like that as you go further north. Maybe the weather there is not conducive for coffee. Chikmagalur, Coorg are famous for their coffees here in Karnataka, TN is almost all tea-land, except for a few places. Kerala is all tea-land.

@Swaram-Welcome to the Java club. :-) Nimmadhu yaavu brand?

@Ramesh-:-D There are coffees sold here that are 50% coffee and 50% chicory. :-( There are 100% ground coffees here (no chicory), but somehow, they don't taste well. Used to go to shops where they grind fresh coffee, but laziness put an end to it. Chicory technically isn't bad though (courtesy Wikipedia). :-)

@Srivats - Do they have Ragimalt still? :) That is a one of a kind taste. Boost and Horlicks are for kids. Ha Ha Ha Ha :-) :-)

Sathish Mayil said...

So back in India from California. I never drank much coffee while in India, bachelor life la Tea is the best companion.

But after coming to US, only good thing available in my office is Coffee. Now slowly adicted to Starbucks, believe when I return to India I will be favoring coffee over tea. Like you I also like it a bit bitter

TheUncanny said...

Its not coffee....its kappppiiiiiiiii......My all time favorite is Ratna Cafe's filter kapppi. Its something god sent!!!

RamNarayanS said...

@Sathish Mayil-Back early this week. There is a coffee chain called Peet's Coffee and Tea in the Bay Area with coffee better than Starbucks. Unfortunately in the East Coast it is only in MA. I am against anything that is very sweet, hence automatically I like it bitter with just a hint of sugar. As a vegetable, I love 'paagarkkaai'. And how is Starbucks Tazo Chai? Tried it?

@TheUncanny-Kaapppiiii, it is. <Slurp> <Slurp> :-)

lakshmi said...

hey first time on ur blog via uncanny :D :D...
yummy post!!! After seeing this i ran madly towards my office coffee mc(unfortunately i dunno to prepare one) to have one.. But asusual it read "mc out of service"...

ithathaan "kalla kanda naya kanum.. naya kanda kalla kanum" nu solluvanga..

RamNarayanS said...

@lakshmi-Welcome in. Thanks. Notice you on TheUncanny's, chennaigirl's and gils's blogs and having a special affection for "TheUncanny". :-D

Right-o-right. Oru siladhellaam eppo vaenumo, appo kedaikkaadhu. It will be right before you when you are not interested. :-)

Sathish Mayil said...

Haven't tried Tzao Chai, will try it out next time. Chai Tea Latte is my favorite at Starbucks. Unfortunately in my office they have coffee alone from Starbucks :(

Aarti said...

Coffee in my house is a RELIGION on its own..granpa has the rights to it and is the one who WILL make the morning filter... he is also the Dicoction guard..heheh.. avaru kitchen pakkam irunda, naanga yaarum poga matom, bayam!! :D

Coffee that is hot, well made with just a teeny tiny drop of sugar is how i like it.. aana i wont drink it hot, will let it sit for some time and drink, that will drive granpa mad..hehehe... enna panradu, pazhagi pochchu...

Nice post and thanks for dropping by.. dint know u were in blore till now!! have seen u around on Gils n Sri's blogs!! :D

Aarti said...

Oh btw.. here too we are religious followers of the Lord Cothas coffee only... i did pick up some coffee near talacauvery- Ganesh coffee..very nice..but takes a while to brew... :)

RamNarayanS said...

@Aaarti-For your grandpa, coffee must be God. :-) it is actually good he is keeping himself busy on that score.

Señora overrules other brands of coffee, hence Cothas. But Cothas is good, hence sticking on.

I usually look for raw peppercorn when I go to hilly places. Can be made into a pickle which is amazing to go with curd rice.

Aarti said...

Oh yes, here too gramma loves that fresh pepper pickle.. we bring back some everytime we go to Blore..from athimber's coffee estate...has a sharp bite but yummy indeed.. :)

here, they tried all kindsa coffee powders.. alive, Leo,cothas, some other crazy unheard of brands.. but finally Cothas won the fight..