You do not need a coffee machine to make proper coffee at home. You do not even need a French press. If you have ground coffee, hot water and something to strain it with, you can make a good cup with what is already in your kitchen. That also makes these methods useful during load-shedding, when anything electric is out of the picture.
What you need for all of these
- Ground coffee
- A way to heat water: a kettle, a pan, or a stove
- Something to strain with: a fine tea strainer, a paper towel, or a clean cotton cloth
The grind matters. Each method below says which grind to use. If you are buying ground coffee, ordering the right grind for your method will make a bigger difference than anything else. Our post on choosing the right grind explains why.
Method 1: the pan method
This is closest to how chai is made, so it will feel familiar.
- Put a mug's worth of water in a pan and bring it to the boil.
- Take it off the heat and let it sit for thirty seconds.
- Stir in about two tablespoons of coarse ground coffee.
- Cover and leave it for four minutes.
- Pour it slowly through a fine tea strainer into your mug.
Do not keep the coffee boiling on the flame the way you might with chai. Boiling coffee pulls out bitterness quickly. Heat the water, then add the coffee off the heat.
Method 2: the cowboy method
No strainer at all. This works when you have nothing else.
- Boil water in a pan and take it off the heat.
- Stir in coarse coffee and leave it for four minutes.
- Sprinkle a few drops of cold water over the surface. This helps the grounds sink.
- Wait one more minute, then pour slowly and carefully, leaving the grounds at the bottom.
The last centimetre will be gritty, so leave it in the pan.
Method 3: the mug and strainer
The simplest of all, and good for one cup.
- Put two tablespoons of medium or coarse coffee in a mug or a jug.
- Pour in hot water, just off the boil, and stir.
- Leave it for four minutes.
- Pour it through a tea strainer into a second mug.
A jug with a lip makes this much easier than a mug.
Method 4: the homemade pour-over
This gives the cleanest cup, closest to a drip machine.
- Line a strainer or funnel with a paper towel or clean cotton cloth.
- Set it over your mug and add two tablespoons of medium coffee.
- Pour a little hot water to wet the grounds and wait thirty seconds.
- Pour the rest slowly, a bit at a time.
Plain, unscented paper towels work. Avoid printed or perfumed ones. Rinse the towel with hot water first to cut the papery taste.
Off the heat, then add the coffee - boiling coffee is the fastest way to make it bitter.
Making it during load-shedding
All four methods work on a gas stove, so a power cut does not have to mean no coffee. A few things help:
- Keep a flask. Boil extra water while you have gas or power and keep it hot for later.
- Grind ahead. If you use an electric grinder, do not get caught without ground coffee. Better still, order coffee already ground for the method you use most.
- Keep the bag sealed. Ground coffee goes stale faster in humid air. Press the air out and keep it in a cupboard. More on this in keeping coffee fresh in Pakistani heat.
Which coffee suits these methods
Steeping methods like the pan or the mug give a fuller, heavier cup, a lot like a French press. Coffees with body and sweetness suit them best.
Brazil Rio Minas is a good place to start. It is nutty and milk chocolate, low in acid, and good black or with milk. That makes it forgiving when your method is not precise.
If you prefer something stronger, Vietnam is a Robusta coffee: earthy, roasted and heavy, and it takes milk well. For the homemade pour-over, a brighter coffee like Colombia (orange and plum) shows off the cleaner cup.
Adding milk
If you are used to doodh patti, heat milk separately in a pan until steaming and add it to the strained coffee. Whisking the milk adds a little froth. Do not boil the coffee in the milk, as it turns bitter and the milk can catch.
Your first cup
Pick the method that matches what is in your kitchen and try it tomorrow morning. If you need coffee that suits it, order Brazil Rio Minas, coarse ground, delivered across Pakistan with cash on delivery.