Like the title says I was gifted some pre-ground coffee by relatives that visited Brazil. This coffee is pre-ground and is finer than anything I’ve seen. Seriously, it looks like powered sugar!
My usual brewing method is a pour over, but it is so fine the water doesn’t filter through.
My backup method has been a french press and it works, but not ideal as it tends to over extract.
Any suggestion from the community (that don’t involve buying an espresso machine, that plan was already veto’d by my spouse…)?
Coffee, ground extremely fine, is brewed in cezve.
Thanks for all the great comments! Guess I’m going to look into brewing some Turkish coffee!
It might be a Turkish grind if it looks finer than espresso. You would need to get an ibrik to brew it but luckily those are way cheaper than espresso machines.
Turkish coffee needs very fine grounds because you don’t filter it, you just drink it grounds and all.
An Aeropress, Moka Pot or a Vietnamese Phin Filter are other cheap alternatives to try. But if you’re overextracting in a French Press you might be doing something wrong with the brew time and/or the temperature.
It’d also help to know how darkly roasted it is and what type of beans they are.
If it’s anything like Kopi Bubuk from Indonesia (fine as literal flour), then it’s meant to be brewed in the cup. Simply put a heaped tablespoon into a mug, fill with boiling water, stir it for a second, let rest for a bit, stir it again, let rest until all grounds sink to the bottom, and then drink it carefully. You’ll still drink some grounds, but they are so fine it hardly matters.
Indonesians drink this type of coffee with a bucket of sugar and often condensed milk, but that’s optional. I enjoy it pure, and keep buying it whenever I’m in Indo, as it’s hard to find elsewhere in the world.
You could just do large batches of cold brew in a big container, basically with the powder loose in the liquid. Filtration would be a pain in the ass and may take a couple of rounds, but it would be just a “once in a while” pain in the ass vs every day.
The espresso machine won’t solve your problem. Get a cezve, something sweet, and enter the wonderful world of Turkish coffee. Make sure to look up recipes. Try not to overdose, these shots are strong!
P.s. you can also do it in a stovetop pot like this, they might be more widely available or check your local Turkish/eastern shop for the cezve. They aren’t expensive usually.
If it’s over extracting in a French press, couldn’t you compensate by reducing the amount you use or brewing time?
If it isn’t an Espresso bean, it’d probably wouldn’t taste great if you put it into a porta filter anyways.
If you have an Aeropress handy, try using a steel-mesh filter paired with a paper filter or stack up two paper filters to make sure the fine coffee doesn’t go through.
I would recommend looking into Turkish coffee methods.
