The Simple Joy of Madras Coffee
How that one cup of coffee changed my life and how you can do it too
I remember my first cup of ‘madras kaapi’ like it was yesterday. It was the first time I was going to be away from my family for an extended amount of time. I was all grown up and moving away to the company training facility in Trivandrum. My friends and I had selected the nighttime train as our mode of transportation. I was a ball of nerves and excited at the same time. My future lied ahead of me and I couldn’t sleep a wink that night. At a routine stop, a coffee vendor started making rounds in the train selling coffee. I was awake, might as well enjoy a cup of coffee while at it.
I will forever associate that cup of coffee with freedom. The coffee smelled and tasted like adulthood. I didn’t realize what was different but when I tried to recreate it in my home kitchen, I failed. I failed at making the South Indian filter coffee for years after that. The fact that the name filter coffee would have anything to do with the apparatus including a filter had escaped me.
That was 12 years ago and I have navigated the world of coffee since then. I gravitate towards this type of coffee because of my personal connection to it, yes, but also because it’s creamy, full bodied and has natural sweetness to it.
It is the perfect cup of coffee!
The Selection
That really good start to your day, that little pick me up in the afternoons, and that cup you treat yourself to, it all starts with being able to pick the correct coffee bean. For an authentic South Indian filter coffee, you must choose the Robusta coffee beans instead of the Arabica coffee beans as it provides more body to your brew. Usually, the beans are medium or dak roasted.
Pro Tip: Select a coffee which has a blend of 60% coffee and 40% chicory.
In my opinion, that ratio provides the best bitterness from the coffee which is cut perfectly by chicory. For those in the unknown, chicory is a woody and herbaceous plant whose roots when baked can be used as coffee substitutes.
Another thing to note about ground coffee is that it’s susceptible to oxidization. In other words, coffee tastes sour and bitter when exposed to the oxygen in the air. This is also the reason why you see fancy coffee canisters to save loose, ground coffee. When selecting your coffee try to ensure that you are getting the freshest roast and the freshest ground date possible. That might be difficult when you are not buying the coffee locally but try to get it as close to fresh as possible. This will ensure you get the best tasting coffee.
Now you know how to select your coffee:
- 100% Robusta coffee beans
- Medium to dark roast
- Blend of 60% coffee and 40% chicory
- Freshly roasted, ground, and packed
The Apparatus
We talked about filter coffee needing a filter mechanism. The traditional South Indian coffee filters are similar to the French press in the sense that both are immersion brewers. Simply put, the coffee is ‘immersed’ in water for some amount of time before filtering it out. In the French press, you literally press the filter down so that you can pour out the coffee. In the traditional South Indian coffee filter, you let gravity do the work for you.
There are two chambers in this apparatus — the upper one has the coffee grounds and hot water and the lower one collects the concentrated brew which is also known as the decoction. There is a pressing apparatus which is basically used as a tamper to level and compact the grounds to get even coffee bed.
If you don’t have South Indian filter, you can opt for a French press, though the amount of water you’ll need is drastically lower than what you’d normally use for a French press coffee. If you don’t have that either, you can simply add your coffee grounds to hot water in a pot and use a sieve to filter out your coffee.
It’s not that complicated!
The Process
You start off with boiling some water to 100 C (200 F). The reason I say ‘some’ is because we are going to eyeball the amount of water needed. Welcome to Asian cooking. While our water is boiling, we are going to add around 3 or 3 1/2 heaping scoops of coffee ground to the upper chamber of the filter.
Next, we will be using the ‘tamper’ to level the coffee bed. Attach the lower and the upper chambers together. Once the water is boiled, add it to the upper chamber till it’s almost full. Close the lid and let it sit aside for about 20–30 mins depending on the size of your filter. The decoction then be collected from the lower chamber. This decoction can be made up to a day in advance and stored for later use.
While the coffee is brewing on the side, we can start with boiling a cup of full fat milk. Add about 1/2–1 tablespoons of sugar, if you please. Once the milk is hot enough, then begins the process of making the South Indian filter coffee in a special apparatus called a ‘dabra’ which is a combination of a cup and a glass (as seen in the picture at the top). The decoction is then poured into the glass which is topped with the hot milk that also has sugar in it. Because the milk is boiling hot, the combination of a cup and a glass allows the drinker to transfer the liquid from the cup to the glass and vice versa, thereby cooling your coffee in the process.
Pro tip: Save a little bit of decoction to add to the dabra at the end to get a layered coffee and milk experience.
And that’s it — there you have it! A perfect cup of South Indian filter coffee.
You know I have called it ‘madras coffee’ and Madras isn’t even a place anymore. But it’s an emotion. For me, that first cup of filter coffee represented a new beginning and for countless others, it represents a day that started off well.
It’s the little joys in life that we associate with inanimate objects. So what if I derive joy in something so simple? While there are days when I can appreciate life’s complexities, today I will enjoy a perfect cup of filter coffee and create a new beginning for myself.
Cheers!
If you like my work, do consider subscribing to me by clicking on this link. You can also connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter. Follow my travel journey on Empower Me To
If you liked my writing, you should also check out this amazing writer — Kayla Tackett
I never wanted to become a writer but writing came naturally to me. As if these unspoken words were somehow my most authentic thoughts. I didn’t start off thinking that anyone could relate to me being my vulnerable self, let alone thinking that they could then seek out my advice. Me? Never. I really didn’t think much of it when I asked to be a writer at Coffee Times. I was only looking for my voice to be heard. And it was — all thanks to Winston and his team. I have loved reading stories from around the globe and have found people being themselves — the best kind. A true thank you to the team to have featured me time and again! Kudos to you!
