10 Weird Ways to Brew Coffee - Part 2

Posted by Mark Bentham, The Coffee Man on 17th Jun 2019

We have received many interesting ideas from our Coffee Lovers Collective on new ways they have seen coffee brewed - keep the fun ideas coming - email us with anything you hear of! 

So, we have covered Sand Brewing, Egg Coffee, Kopi Tobruk, Brazillian Coffee Shots and Malaysian Coffee in a Sock.  Here is Part 2! 


An Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony part 2

Coffee Style : sweet, strong, full flavoured. Usually an Arabica bean is used

Coffee’s origin story is set in Ethiopia, where a goat herder notices his flock of goats have a high level of energy is full of beans after eating a certain berry. He tells the local monks, who decide to make a drink out of them and try it . The increased alertness aids in prayer, the news spreads, and the rest, as they say, is a multibillion dollar industry.

Our beautiful Ethiopian single origin beans are some of our best sellers – check them out here .

Today, Ethiopia retains a unique coffee culture—one in which the famed and elaborate coffee ceremony, conducted by women, remains part of daily life. While many sub-cultures do things differently, for instance in Southern Egypt, spices like cloves, ginger, and cardamom are ground up along with the coffee beans.

The basis of the daily coffee ritual in Ethiopia is this;

1.  Burn incense, preferably frankincense.

2.  Roast green coffee beans over a brazier. Once roasted, grind the beans using a mortar and pestle (you can use an actual grinder!)

3.  Add the ground beans and water to a round-bottomed, long-necked clay pot called a jebena

4.  Bring to a boil

5.  When ready to serve, stuff a makeshift filter (horse hair, cloth, or similar) into the neck of the jug, before pouring the coffee into small cups.

6.  Add sugar (sometimes salt and butter) to taste. Traditionally, three cups are drunk.

Milk Pour Over

Coffee Style : creamy, not too-strong, milky

This is a pretty simple way to make a delicious coffee at home that will warm even the coldest of mornings, plus boost your protein count for the day if that’s your thing. Also known as the Milky Macy, someone in America (obviously) started this as a brew method. Here in The Kimberley, we would be more likely to call it the Mylkie Moni, or the Ellicit Elicia. Again, I digress.

You can replace Moo Juice with Cashew, Almond or Soy of course.

This is basically a pour over method where you use warmed milk instead of water, making it creamy and a delightful night time drink if you can handle caffeine at night, or if you have some of our awesome decaf (LINK) then you can have the beautiful taste without the night time buzz.

How to Make Your Milky Brew :

1.  Warm your milk or mylk to almost boiling. Don’t boil.

2.  Do your pour over using milk instead of water very slowly through coffee grounds and filter.

3.  No need to add more milk, but go nuts with the honey or sugar if you like.

Bulletproof Coffee : Throw some butter in it

You wouldn't think coffee and butter would go well together, but the result is some kind of magic. Known as Bulletproof coffee, this sensational method of preparation stems from the Tibetan tradition of adding Yak butter to tea. The CLA and linoleic acid in yak butter is said to be able to reduce hunger, help shed body fat, and eliminate usual post-coffee crashes.

Read up on the health benefits of Bulletproof here . Look, we love it, some people argue it, it’s a personal thing.

Bulletproof Coffee is made by mixing unsalted butter (or ghee) with MCT oil. Some like to just use coconut oil. Prepare this high-energy beverage in a blender if you're a texture person, and enjoy hours of heightened awareness. Great for a pre-workout boost and I can personally attest to the limiting of hunger and increase of energy.

If you want to try this at home and don’t have time or access to use a blender, just stir in 20ml of coconut oil. A lot of cafes in Australia know how to make this blended coffee – just ask, and if they don’t know, show them this e-book!

How to do it Bulletproof :

1.  Make an espresso shot, or the traditional coffee brew you most prefer. Put in a blender.

2.  Warm some milk, add to blender. Almond mylk taste works great with this style of coffee.

3.  Add 20 ml or coconut oil and a teaspoon of unsalted butter. Fr our vegan friends, just add 30ml coconut oil.

4.  Blend, it will be lovely and foamy. If you prefer an iced coffee, use cold milk and blend with ice. Add protein powder and some dates for something pretty special!

South Indian Filter Coffee

While India is more famous for its spiced chai than its coffee, connoisseurs claim the kapi made in the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala is some of the best in the world. The secret is patience, boiled milk, and the right equipment. Ins’t it always!

A South Indian coffee filter is basically two stacked metal chambers. The top one is where you put the coffee grounds and water. It’s perforated, and comes with a plunger and a lid. The bottom one is where you collect the coffee decoction, which will be thick and extremely concentrated. If you can get your hands on one, then give this brewing method a go.

The better-known Vietnamese coffee is made with similar equipment. But rather than boiled milk, condensed milk is used. The Indians tend to make a more theatrical production out of the coffee making here with long pours from jug to jug to blend and froth.

How to Brew South Indian Filter :

1.  Add three or four tablespoons of finely ground coffee to the top chamber. Flavour it with chicory.

2.  Cover the coffee with the plunger mechanism, but don’t push down. Add boiling water. Put the lid on.

3.  Wait for the concentrated coffee to drip down into the lower chamber. It can take an hour. People often set their filters up overnight. This is not a cold brew as we use boiling water, but time is still a big factor.

4.  Boil a pan of milk—around two-thirds a glass per person. Don’t overboil!

5.  Milk is getting hot, pour coffee into your coffee vessel.

6.  Once the milk is boiled, and while still hot, add a couple tablespoons into the coffee brew of the coffee decoction per person, and sugar to taste.

7.*Optional: Pour the coffee and milk mix back and forth between pans to create a froth, and to cool the coffee.

Reindeer Cheese Coffee

Coffee Style : Look, un-like all the other methods here, we haven’t tried it so couldn’t say. But imagine it to be sweet, creamy and strong. If anyone can get their hands on some reindeer cheese, we would love to try it.

Kaffeost, or ‘coffee cheese’ in Swedish, is akin in texture to the cheese curds they like to eat in Nordic countries, and is made from reindeer milk which is packed full of nutrients. When the reindeer cheese is added to coffee, the results are oddly enjoyable. They say. The Nordic cultures use reindeer milk to make cheese, and eat reindeer meat. The coffee brew we describe here is part of a Nordic culture, the Sami, coffee ceremony.

At its most fundamental, it is a quiet affair with immersion brewed, or steeped, coffee, reindeer cheese, and dried reindeer meat. Brewed over an open fire. It is primarily a social ritual. To better understand what goes on, it is helpful to imagine a Japanese tea ceremony. It is important that the proper amount of time is taken while drinking coffee, to better create a contemplative and relational mood.

This is the polar opposite of a short, two-sip espresso or a takeaway coffee.

The taste is very mild, very creamy, and the cheese melts very easily in the mouth, with the fine aroma of the reindeer milk. Reindeer milk is among the most rich and nutritious of milks, at 22% butterfat and 10% protein; however a reindeer can only be milked for about 1.5 cups per day.

The consistency of the cheese is like haloumi, and is meant to keep its shape even in hot coffee — though it will become softer.

How to Make Reindeer Coffee

1.  Brew your coffee (strong) over an open fire.

2.  Add a cube of reindeer cheese and let it sit for a while so it becomes soft.

3.  Stir and enjoy, take a photo!