[Dragaera] Klava

[skzb]

Wow!  Cool!  That sounds exactly right.  I'm going to have to try it.  
Regards to your brother.

Eugene Zaretskiy wrote:
> Now, I think I remember klava has been discussed here in the past
> (even if I didn't remember it, it would be a reasonable assumption...)
> but I can't find any mention of anyone ever trying to actually make
> the stuff. Well, my brother and I were just insane enough to try it.
>
> First, he collected eggshells from many breakfasts, washed them in
> water, and stored them. We purchased a "sampler" kit of cooking wood
> from four different trees, including hickory and cherry. They were
> designed for cooking so we figured they'd be the least likely to
> poison us (spoiler: we lived). My brother also bought some vanilla
> powder from Starbucks. Yeah, nothing fancy there, but we figured that
> the vanilla bean was designed to do little but add a vanilla flavor,
> and powder should do that just fine.
>
> Somehow we ended up without a copy of Issola when we made the stuff
> but by that point I'm pretty sure we memorized the recipe. First, my
> brother made regular coffee using a french press. It was some light
> roast from Peru, if I recall. Then it was time to set up the filter.
> Now, I don't know if any of you know what an AeroPress is, but
> basically it's a really, really cool, cheap device to make
> high-quality espresso by using manual air pressure to force water
> through coffee grounds and a filter. This was perfect for klava
> because unlike a regular coffee machine or espresso machine, we can
> put whatever we wanted into the filter. In this case, we put a mix of
> hickory wood chips and lots of semi-crushed eggshells. And vanilla
> powder. Then we used the press to squeeze the already-made-coffee
> through the filter. From there it went straight into a kettle and
> brought almost to a boil, then passed through a regular coffee filter
> instead of cloth (since we had no clean cloth, nothing that wouldn't
> absorb all the coffee, anyway).
>
> We weren't expecting much, to be honest, but as posters to this list
> mentioned in the past, there is some sound reasoning behind each step.
> My mother, who was raised in Belarus, for example, tells me that
> passing coffee through a thin cloth was not unheard of when she was
> growing up. I remember reading (here?) that eggshells would help to
> counter the acidity in the coffee, and the woodchips and vanilla would
> accent the taste. Well, my brother and I (as well as one or two
> independent observers) can confirm that it does seem to work. We
> tested the klava plain first and with milk/honey afterwards (as per
> Vlad's preferences). When plain, the coffee lost it's bitterness and,
> er, body. All that remained was the taste of the bean itself, the
> unique signature taste, and a hickory overtone. At that point it was
> very drinkable but not as good as regular black coffee because the
> bitterness and acidity adds to the body of coffee and makes it
> interesting. The plain klava was boring. Once we added the milk and
> honey, we actually got a klava worth drinking. My problem with regular
> coffee that has cream/sugar added is that they end up overwpowering
> both the bitterness as well as the coffee taste. With klava, you end
> up with a milky, sweet drink that still has a very strong bond to the
> bean's taste.
>
> We were as surprised as anyone that this actually worked, though its
> so complicated and time-consuming to make that it wouldn't be worth it
> for common consumption. Also, large drink manufacturers already
> mass-manufacture coffee-like drinks with the same idea, like
> Starbuck's bottled frappacinos (that are delicious). The way those
> drinks are made is by combining a sugary syrup with coffee flavor
> added, mixed with milk and water, which creates the same effect (no
> oily body, no bitterness). The difference is that honey is simply
> better than corn syrup as a sweetener, as well as the ability to
> choose your coffee flavor by selecting the bean (and selecting the
> honey, for that matter).
>
> Anyway, sorry for the long rant but I figured that if anyone would be
> interested in this little experiment (everyone around here thought we
> were crazy), it'd be you fine folks.
>
> Anyone got any klava stories? It's hard for me to believe no one else
> has tried this.
>
> - Eugene (and Ben)
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>   

-- 
Steven Brust
skzb at dreamcafe.com
MENTES INDIGNORVM FRANGERE