Café de Olla

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On Sundays, we occasionally indulge by making Tartine’s French toast recipe using our homemade sourdough bread. Despite the clash in cultural origin, nothing goes better with a slice of French toast than a cup of Cafe de Olla, in our opinion. We first tried this sweet coffee drink when we dined at Pujol on our trip to Mexico City. We consumed many cups of coffee but the uniqueness of this traditional drink really stands out to me. The bitterness of coffee and the spiciness of cinnamon marries well with the sweetness of piloncillo. Piloncillo is an un-refined brown sugar that is usually shaped in a cone form. When we don’t have it lying around, we substitute brown sugar, but cut the amount to reduce the sweet factor. This coffee is very easy to make, and is the perfect activity while the French toast souffles in the oven.

It is a very easy recipe and the richness of the drink is lovingly understated. In order to make the drink, we use the following kitchen items:

• Scale – I own this one, because it weighs heavy-enough things for bread-making as well. I also like this because I can toggle between grams and ounces. Mike has this one that he uses for coffee exclusively, which is what we mostly use when measuring coffee bean and water weight. It is especially useful since it has that timer, essential to latte pulls and drip-coffee!
• Grinder – The grinder plays a huge role in the quality of your brew (or espresso, or latte, or what-have-you). We used to just live with the results of a sub-par grinder, until last Christmas, when our gift to each other was a high quality grinder that has been spewing out delicious cups of Joe ever since.
• Chemex – You can use any drip-coffee vessel, but we love our Chemex. We like the style with the glass handle, but there are ones with a wooden middle, if aesthetics are more of a concern.
• Gooseneck Kettle – Precision is key when making a pour-over cup of coffee. We own the Fellow’s stovetop Stagg Kettle and love its slender gooseneck. It allows us to pour water slowly and with control. Plus there is a thermometer lid which ensures the correct water temperature each time (a must!). I would recommend this brand to anyone who wants to make a good pour-over. If you would like, they have an electric version too!
• Filter – We used to buy disposable paper filters for our Chemex. Over the holidays, Mike’s sister gifted us a pair of reusable hemp filter, and we have never thrown a filter out since then. Surprisingly, it is such an easy clean up process. You simply wash it like you would a towel and hang to dry.
  A similar one, here.

Ingredients:

• 1L water
• 50 g piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar)
• 1 cinnamon sticks
• 25 g coarsely ground coffee

Instructions:

1. Add the water, cinnamon, and piloncillo in a saucepan.
2. Bring the water to a boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add ground coffee and stir.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and allow to steep for five minutes.
5. Filter the liquid using a Chemex.
6. Pour into a mug and enjoy.

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