How To Make Coffee: Costa Rican Style

This post written by Darla Antoine from her great blog about her life in Costa Rica.

This is just one of the many ways to make great coffee in the Coffee Sock!

---

The Costa Rican method for brewing coffee is a bit different. It involves a sock, for one. One of the advantages of this method is that you can do it just about anywhere, provided you have hot water. Camping, at a desk, in the kitchen, no big coffee pot or fragile french press needed-- and the end result is something pretty tasty.

1. Boil the water

2. Add coffee

Remove the water from the heat and add the coffee grounds. I like to add two heaping tablespoons for every serving.

3. Give it a stir

This is where Andy and I have a difference of opinion about making coffee. At this stage he is ready to immediately start straining the coffee. I prefer to let the coffee and the water get to know one another a little longer. If we were using a French press, I'd let the coffee sit in the water for 4 minutes before pressing. But because the coffee is going to be sitting in the sock for a bit as it strains, I've found 2-3 minutes is a good amount of time.

4. Grab your coffee sock holder

You could easily fashion one of these buggers or hang the sock from a fork, a Y-shaped stick, etc. But be careful, once the sock is filled with hot coffee it will become wiley and prone to dropping/spilling. It's an art. Truly.

5. Hang the coffee sock

You can hang it over a carafe or a mug. The spoon inserted in this carafe helps the hot air to escape, helping the coffee transition smoothly between the sock and the carafe.

6. Pour the coffee

7. Heat the milk

While the coffee is straining through the sock, heat the milk. This is a must in Costa Rica-- and Europe too . . . actually, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world thinks America is crazy for only putting a couple of tablespoons of cold milk in their coffee when we could be adding half a cup of hot milk.

8. Serve!

Fill a mug 1/2 to 3/4 full of coffee and top it off with the warm milk. Sweeten as desired.

...
This post if from Darla Antoine's blog about her life in Costa Rica.