Even in dreams, a coffee fanatic won’t want to experience the taste of instant coffee. Because to them, the taste of a perfectly brewed coffee can be beaten by nothing, far away from that instant thing.
However, when you wake up one fine morning feeling not-so-fine due to a rough night spent on office work or anything that deprived you of good sleep, the last thing you’d want to happen is finding out your brewer or drip coffee maker not working.
The usual cup of coffee you have each morning has an importance in your day to kickstart it in the right way. And anything that holds you back from having it, will not be any more in your good books.
However, the situation can very well happen. Or perhaps, you are already living this bad nightmare and need a way out. So, today let’s talk about some cool ways on how to brew coffee without a coffee maker.
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Here’s How to Brew Coffee Without a Coffee Maker in 4 Different Ways
Don’t bite your nails in nerviness thinking what if the method isn’t something you can try because of not having substituting stuff and all.
Well, there’s going to be good four methods. So at least one will be able to save you from your coffee brewing misery, hopefully. Keep on Reading…
But First Make Sure of These Things!
You need to use freshly grounded coffee beans for this process.
Almost every coffee lover would mind if they don’t have the proper grind size and flavor. You will find an expensive or budget burr grinder available at their place to ensure consistency, uniformness, and quality.
Make sure you use the fresh beans within 15 to 20 minutes. After that, it starts losing goodness as well as taste.
The beans you are using should also be freshly roasted. Make sure they are not roasted more than 2 weeks ago. Anything before that will taste a bit too off.
When using hot water, boiling it to a certain temperature is also important. Under-extraction will take place if the water is not properly hot. While too hot water will cause the beans to scald. Somewhere between 195 to 205 degrees should be your ideal spot.
Make Yourself a Coffee Bag
The teabags are a common thing in every household. Why not use the same formula for coffee grounds and try it for making a cup?
Well, that’s what the 18th century French used to do for their cups of coffee. You will need some bare basic things here that should be present at your home.
Get some hot water, coffee grounds of your choice, a filter, no wax coating type of string, and your favorite coffee mug. You want to start by measuring a single-serve coffee ground.
Now pour it inside the filter. You want to make the filter like a tiny pouch by tightly tying it down. The string next and leave its other end hanging outside your coffee mug.
Bring some hot water, pour it down into the mug slowly. You want to pour it over the coffee bag that you’ve just made. Never overfill your mug.
Now have some patience since your coffee needs at least four minutes to steep nicely. You can decrease or increase that timing depending on your brewing preferences.
Longer if you like too strong or shorter for weak brews. Get rid of the filter and throw it in the trash. You are allowed to enjoy the coffee now!
Using a Strainer or Ladder with Kettle or Saucepan
Now you might not have coffee filters and so, the trip to a grocery store is what you’ll need to do next. But wait a minute, a strainer will also work here. It may not come up with the most perfect result but quite okay, to be honest.
But then again, you can’t use any random strainer. You’ll need the ones that come with very tiny holes. The double-layer mesh strainer is a perfect example of this. It can easily avoid grounds from entering your coffee mug.
You require coffee grounds, some water, a kettle, your mug, and the mesh strainer with tiny holes. Depending on how many cups you want to make, measure the proper water amount.
And then pour that much into your kettle. If you don’t have a kettle, a saucepan will also do.
Now add the proper amount of coffee grounds into the water. Stir it next. The water needs to boil for at least 2 minutes. Now remove the kettle or saucepan from the stove.
Place the strainer right above your mug. And then slowly pour the coffee into the strainer. Any ground will get stuck in the strainer this way.
If you don’t have a strainer, use a ladle instead. Simply scoop the brewed coffee and pour it into the mug. Make sure you don’t take any ground. A tiny ladle will work just fine here. And you’ll have a ground texture-free smooth coffee to enjoy.
Your Regular Handkerchief Can Help
For just a single cup of coffee, using the handkerchief method should be no problem. It’s going to be pretty less expensive and at the same time, quite environmentally friendly. Just make sure you are a person who doesn’t mind bearing a bit of patience.
You need coffee grounds, a clean handkerchief, or any cloth made of cotton or liner, some hot water, binder paper clips or clothespins, and a mug or mason jar.
Start by putting the hanky right on top of your mug. Next, you want to press it gently on the center so that a pouch bag shape gets created for holding grounds of coffee inside.
Use the binder clips or clothespins for holding the cloth in its place. At least three pins are necessary.
Now inside the pouch, you want to pour about a single-cup portion of coffee. Let this sit for half a minute to allow soaking nicely.
Gradually start pouring the remaining hot water. Don’t forget to have an eye on those clips. If they seem to slip, readjust them. Finally, get rid of the hanky and you can have your cup of coffee.
Here’s What Swedes Do That Might Help You Too
If you are someone who believes Americans are the best at this coffee brewing game, think again. Knowing what the swedes do for their coffee brewing needs will make you question a lot of things.
They don’t use a coffee maker, but something unimaginable. An Egg! How they brew using an egg is what you can try too in your situation.
You will need a fresh egg, some coarse ground coffee, ice-cold water, and room temperature water, a filter or cheesecloth or hanky, a saucepan, and finally a tiny bowl or your coffee mug.
Use a saucepan or small pot for boiling the room-temp water. While the water boils, you can work on eggs. Crack it into a bowl or cup.
For several servings, you’ll need more eggs and a larger size bowl. You want to keep both egg and shell inside the bowl. Crush it and stir properly. Now add your coffee grounds and give it another good stir.
You want to add this slurry mixture inside the boiling water. Let this mixture boil for another 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, you need to keep an eye on avoiding any overflow.
Once the slurry seems to clump up into a huge chunk, it will start floating. This is when you need to splash a cup of ice-cold water. Let this sit for a minute at least. Now you will notice the chunk and grounds are sinking to the bottom.
Now place a filter, hanky, or cheesecloth on top of your mug slowly pour the coffee through this. You should end up with a velvety smooth texture of coffee without any acidity. Even if this method is somewhat bizarre, the results are just awesome.
How to Make Coffee Without a Coffee Pot
Wrap Up
This by no means was an encouragement for you to give up on your coffee maker. It’s simply some useful resources and methods that you need to know about for your peace of mind.
That even if someday you end up having a broken situation where brewing is questionable to make a cup of coffee, there are still some other tactics in your mind applicable.
By knowing how to brew coffee without a coffee maker, you are not switching to any of these methods but simply being aware of all possible routes.
These are also going to help in outdoor adventures and traveling cases. It’s pretty hard to carry a coffee maker around with you when hitting the road with friends or going on a camping trip.
But you will stay rest assured that your memories of that certain camp trip or the long drive will also include some caffein time in it.
Read more: Make Coffee With Coffee Powder
