French press, drip brewer, Chemex, and... the chorreador? Yes, if you live in Costa Rica.
Last week we talked about the most popular methods for coffee brewing at home. We received several more recommendations from readers, including this one from reader Erin of Gringuitica. Erin lives in Costa Rica, and she told us that the chorreador is a simple coffee maker that is in daily use in most Costa Rican homes. She sent us a photo of her own chorreador, the beautiful rosewood model above.
It's a traditional way of preparing coffee. Very finely ground coffee goes into the cloth filter and then hot water is dripped through. The filter is washed and dried between each use, and a lot of care goes into making coffee with this traditional tool.
You can see more instructions for making chorreador coffee here.
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Comments (5)
For a split second I was pretty sure this was NSFW, but it does seem like a nice low-fuss way to make coffee.
Represent! :) Honestly, the chorreador makes fantastic coffee. I wish you could all experience the rich, beautiful taste of volcano-grown Costa Rican coffee freshly ground and dripped through this... it's divine.
I made myself one of these on accident. Too funny! Actually, I just wanted to try coffee made another way without spending any $$. I had some muslin laying around and made a 'filter', slipped that through a cut up water bottle for a holder and made me some joe. Who knew grocery store coffee actually has flavor? Now I've got to decide what type of wood I'll use to make myself a permanent type chorreador! Then figure out where to get beans locally for some 'good' coffee. Thanks Erin for sharing your info here.
That's really fascinating and I'd like to try that. I do have to admit that at first glance, I thought this was a photo of an old sock being used to make coffee!
Actually, the wood is not Rosewood but Cocobolo, a somewhat rare tropical hardwood found in Central America. Though the reddish parts of the heartwood do indeed appear very similar to Rosewood, you can tell Cocobolo at a glance due to the distintively sharp boundary with the honey-colored sapwood within the same piece. It's this bi-coloring and sharp contrast especially that give
Cocobolo its unique and widely sought-after appeal for decorative pieces.
This particular chorreador though, is completely gorgeous in both form and hue. Color me jealous. :) I have a much plainer one at home. It makes the same great coffee, but not the same artistic statement.