How to Make A Costa Rica Coffee Maker

About twenty years ago almost every home, restaurant and office kitchen in Costa Rica was equipped with a coffee making device called Chorreador de café. It consisted of an unvarnished wooden frame about 33 cms. tall, with a round hole at the top where a wire rimmed cloth filter or strainer was placed. Fine ground coffee was placed in the filter and boiling water was poured in filtering down to the coffeepot below. This humble device is losing ground fast to modern percolators, coffee makers and Mr. Coffee machines. The reason usually given is that the new devices are said to be faster and more convenient. In our home the Chorreador de café lives on. Why? The coffee simply tastes better.

You don't need gourmet coffee to brew a gourmet coffee. Coffee making is an art where every step should be followed closely. Some advice given below may seem superfluous but should be rigorously adhered to.

The coffee

This information applies to those who live in or will be visiting Costa Rica. The coffee we will be using is not export or gourmet coffee. We will be using two off-the-shelf pure coffees that you can buy in supermarkets anywhere in Costa Rica. I will call them brand A and B. I will not publish brand names here because I am not endorsing or publicizing brand names. If you want these brand names, E-mail: Supportrequesting them and I will send you this information. The coffee should be fine ground, brand A and B mixed 50 - 50%, then stored in an airtight glass container. The two brands seem to complement one another creating a special blend.

Preparation

Bring the water to a boil. The water should be fresh tap water and not reheated from water left in the coffeepot. Place two tablespoons of fine ground coffee into the filter, then mount the filter on the wooden stand. Two tablespoons of coffee produce four cups of coffee. Place a glass or stainless steel receptor under the filter and begin to slowly pour the boiling water into the filter. You may have to stop occasionally so that the level of water drops. Continue pouring as needed until you have the four cups. Do not introduce metal spoons into the filter to agitate the mixture.

In the future you can experiment by adding a touch of cinnamon or vanilla or chocolate or cloves to the mixture.Top the coffeepot and serve.You must always use a perfectly dry filter. If you prepare coffee two or more times a day, you will probably need two filters. The reason for this is that if you use only one, it is likely that it will not be totally dry the next time you brew coffee. By using alternating filters you will always have a dry one on hand. Filters are best dried in the sunlight.

Washing the filter

For daily use you should carefully rinse the filters in running tap water to remove all residue. It is natural that it will stain. You should now worry about this as it is normal.You should wash the filter weekly. Never wash the filter in soap or detergent, wash it only with salt to remove the accumulated grease. This can be done by generously salting the damp bag and virgorously rubbing it. Afterwords you should thoroughly rinse the filter to remove all traces of salt.

If you are in a hurry, go ahead use instant coffee or your Mr. Coffee maker, but if you want a REAL cup of coffee, you are going to have to put some effort into preparation. I hope that this article inspires those Costa Ricans who have forgotten this charming way of brewing coffee.

How to build the coffee stand

A what you say? A Costa Rican coffee maker. It's funny how some of these projects are developed but this one came to us in a round about way from one of our readers, Michael O'Reilly. We were exchanging emails about Costa Rica, since we own a little piece of property down there, and he sent me a web site to check out. While surfing around that web site I stumbled onto an interesting site about Costa Rican coffee. We are coffee drinkers, roast our own beans and often buy coffee beans from Costa Rica. Any how we took the picture they showed and made our own coffee maker.

Here's what you'll need:
 5" X 18" X 1/2" Maple or your choice of wood.
 6" X 8" X 3/4" Maple or your choice of wood.
 Finish nails
 Glue

Cut the base out of 3/4" maple, 7 1/2" X 6".

Chamfer a 45 degree cut 1" in from each corner.

Cut the two short sections, one on each end, 15 degrees.

Cut two supports from 1/2" pieces 9" long at 5 degrees on each end. Make sure the angles go the same direction on each end.

Cut the top out of 1/2" maple, 6" X 4 1/2".

Chamfer a 45 degree cut 1" from each corner.

Cut a notch on each end of the top and base to fit the 1 1/2" supports using a dado blade. Set up the miter with a small piece of wood at the base to give the notch a 5 degree angle.

Use a piece of backing on your parts to keep them from breaking out.Mark the center of the top and draw a 4" circle. Cut out the circle with a scroll saw or saber saw.

Glue and nail the pieces together and you are almost ready to start making coffee.

The Basket

Make the basket from a stiff wire like a clothes hanger and a piece of cotton.
Bend the wire to make a handle and a 4 1/4" circle.
Sew the two halves together and the top folded over for the wire to go through