Coffee and Chemistry

MYSTERY OF THE WEEK: WHICH ONE OF THESE MAKES DRINKABLE COFFEE?

Starting tomorrow, we have our first U.S. visitor, Scott's Mom, to be followed by Laura's sister and her husband a week later. We know that at least two of these people drink coffee. Scott abandoned coffee as soon as we arrived, and Laura drinks--well we all know what Laura drinks. In the interests of hospitality, however, we decided that we ought to be able to offer our guests coffee. That is easier said than done. First we had to navigate the dizzying array of choices--Peru, Kenya, Colombia, Arabia and everywhere else that used to fly the Union Jack. Next, we scoured the kitchen for something to cook in. We found three pots: one that looks to be a coffee pot, one hourglass=shaped thing with a coffee basket in the center and a glass pot with plunger labeled "Lacafeterie." We ruled out the coffee pot-looking thing immediately. It is our water kettle and has no basketry or stems associated with coffee making. Next we looked at the hourglass thing. It turns out to be a vacuum pot. You put the hot water from the teakettle in the bottom and it is magically sucked up through the grounds from the bottom and deposited in a little removable pot on top. Not only does it make coffee that tastes like a cross between tar and espresso, the metal handle is untouchable until the coffee cools to a point where you wouldn't want to drink it. Lastly, we tried the french press, depositing increasing amounts of coffee and depressing the plunger through boiling water. This produced, variously, brown flavored water, stagnant water and an undrinkable cross between tar and espresso. Finally, we gave up in disgust and decided our guests can either switch to tea for a week or travel one block to the Starbucks each morning. Olivia, meanwhile, was very into learning more about our chemistry experiments, so we made the most of the opportunity to play with baking soda and vinegar in the sink and learn about molecules, solids, liquids, gasses and best of all, explosive, all-over-the- kitchen, reactions!