Unique Asian coffee brewing methods
Everyone knows about pourovers and espresso machines, but you might be shocked that there are a whole host of unique Asian coffee brewing methods too.
From socks, sand and filter coffee, here are 5 unique and regional styles of coffee making to look out for on your next trip, or even to try at home for a DIY brew.
1. Coffee sock filter
A typical sight at a Southeast Asian Kopitiam, the coffee sock is in fact rather common in a few other regions in South America and the Caribbean. The “sock” refers to the long cotton bag on a handle, which filters coffee grounds while brewing.
The Southeast Asian region has a prominent crop of robusta coffee beans, which replaced failed the arabica monoculture previously. The bold, robust flavour of this species stands up to this specific brewing method, which can sometimes harbour residual flavours from past brews.
2. Vietnamese Phin/South Indian filter coffee
The Vietnamese Phin might be one of the first Asian coffee brewing methods that come to mind, and rightly so. Simple, cheap, yet rich and delicious, phin-brewed coffee is often drunk with condensed milk, or over ice as cà phê sữa đá.
This small metal gadget is largely similar to a South Indian filter, with the grounds lightly compressed with a small metal plate. The small holes drilled on the underside then filter the coffee.
3. Cold brew
Most of us wouldn’t suspect that this trendy beverage, popular especially in the summer and in humid, sweltering Singapore, originated in Japan.
A traditional brewing method with a history spanning centuries, cold brew coffee is superbly easy to make. Infusing cold water and coffee grounds for around up to 24 hours, the cold environment tends to reduce sourness and astringency for an overall more pleasant flavour.
4. Turkish coffee
Popular before the 1930s, the coffee brewing method of decoction involves directly boiling coffee grounds in water.
One of the most famous decoction methods is Turkish coffee. Using a cezve (known as an ibrik elsewhere), a small copper pot with an insulated handle, the mixture of grounds and water is quickly heated in a hot bed of sand. The drink is then carefully drunk to allow grounds to settle, although some is consumed with the coffee.
5. Kopi Tubruk
Just like Turkish coffee, Kopi Tubruk is a type of decoction brew with water and coffee grounds too. Brewed by pouring boiling water into grounds, you can find kopi tubruk most often on the Indonesian island of Bali.
It’s often called “mud coffee”, and careful drinking is required to avoid the sludge of wet grounds at the base.
Bonus: Kopi Tarik
While not exactly a brewing method, this Southeast Asian coffee preparation ritual is equal parts awesome and tasty. Kopi tarik, which roughly translates into pulled coffee, involves pouring coffee with milk and sugar between two metal cups at great height.
Coffee contains plenty of surfactants, so this violent pouring creates a light fluffy foam atop the drink.
Unique Asian coffee brewing methods
Coffee culture extends far out from our Eurocentric, media-influenced idea of Chemexes and Moka pots.
With these unique Asian coffee brewing methods at the back of your mind, you’ll definitely appreciate our local coffee scene so much better as you grab your next cuppa.
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