My favourite way to make coffee

We drink coffee every day. Usually, two cups, first thing in the morning.

My husband Jeff makes it, not me, for good reason: When he and I first met, I showed him my favourite method of making coffee while camping. His eyes bugged out, he shrieked, and then he made me promise to never, ever, EVER make coffee that way again.

Seriously though. Coffee can be made in many ways, and we have explored many of them over the years.

French Press is one way, and is great for making a limited number of cups at once. When we make it this way, the result is strong but smooth, and it is one of our favourites. We have a glass French press, and a stainless steel one that is perfect for camping.

However, there is a bit of extra cleanup. With no filters, the grounds do stick in the press screen, and getting them out takes some fiddling. Not awesome with our limited water supply and small space, like we have in our trailer.

For Mother’s Day, our son Lane gave me a Chemex and a pack of filters for it. This is currently our favourite camping method.

At home, we loved a variety of methods. We had an espresso machine that used pressure to produce perfect shots for Americanos; we used a Kurig for one-cup-at-a-time magic, and we used the drip method when we wanted a full pot on a timer.

But my favourite method? The one Jeff forbids me to use? It involves science.

First, you add coffee grounds and water to a large pot (one with a handle). Then, you bring it to a boil and simmer it for as long as you would like, to produce coffee as strong as you like.

Then, you use centrifugal force. You know, like you did as a kid, with a pail of water – you attach a rope, and then whirl it vertically, like around-the-world with a yo-yo (watch Tommy Smothers do the around-the-world trick at 1:30 into this video).

The coffee grounds sink, and you are left with pure coffee, ready to pour off, leaving all the grounds concentrated at the bottom of the pot. Easy peasy, right? Yes! (Except for the part where you have to talk your husband down after he loses his shit while you are mid-swing.)

But really. If you are interested, here’s an explanation of why this works, demonstrated with a pail of water:

Seriously, it works! And it’s a great way to explore science. But the biggest benefit of all is how it resulted in my husband always making the coffee, from that day forward.

Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home – at least, not with hot coffee. (But if you do, don’t tell Jeff.)