My not so Clever Dripper

As the old saying goes, "Necessity is the Mother of all invention."

I started using this not so clever dripper after I found myself alone on a Saturday without wife or child and my glass carafe broke from a bad fall onto granite. Now I had been in the process of making my press and had already ground the coffee. So I remembered that a Clever Dripper was essentially a french press with a filter, you let the grounds of coffee steep fully immersed in water. So I took out the biggest mug I had, about 16 oz and made my coffee this way....

/files/u13866/100_1991.jpg" width="300" height="225" align="left" /> It's a rather simple albeit messing way to make coffee.

1.In this case I use your standard number 4 drip coffee filter and place it inside the mug fitting in there well.

2. Next I boil water with a kettle and pour it into the mug without my ground coffee in it yet to rinse the filter of any residue and heat my mug so hopefully not much heat is lost in brewing. Then I discard the water.

3. I use about twenty grams of medium ground coffee, use more or less depending on your tastes. At this time I will put the coffee into preheated filter/mug and bring the water back up to a boil.

4. Once the water has started to boil again I wait about 30 seconds for it to cool down so the water does not scorch the coffee. At this time I pour the water over the coffee, but just to wet the coffee and let a lot of the gas escape the beans, waiting another 30 seconds or so for it to calm down.

5. Now after that I fill the mug up with the remaining water.and wait an additional 2 minutes, So a total brew time of about 3 minutes including the first period.

/files/u13866/100_1995.jpg" width="300" height="225" align="left" />6. Now from the image with brewed coffee on the left you can see this is where the not so clever part comes in. You have still fairly hot coffee yet you need to remove the grounds. You grab the filter edged and pull up slowly to let the water escape the filter. If you do so in one quick motion about half your cup of coffee is going to come out with the filter. You are bound to get some grounds in your coffee but nothing like a traditional press.

7. Enjoy your coffee and perhaps put your hands in some cold water to sooth the pain of your blisters!

Do this one at your own risk as you are dealing with hot water and no real device to remove the filter easily. However, it does produce a more full bodied cup than your pour over methods and is cleaner than a press. So if you feel like letting your IQ slip below 80 for a few minutes give this one a brew or just pony up the money for Clever Dripper!