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A Clever Morning Ritual

Clever Dripper, Boiling Water, Hario Mini Mill, Good Beans

There is something magical in moving an everyday act from a rushed job into a ritual. Coffee is the kind of thing most people want to get to as quickly as possible. Pop in a pod. Push a button. Or, better yet, pull up to a drive-through and have them hand over the completed cup. While I’m no aficionado, but I do prefer something slightly more labor intensive, not to mention cost effective. At home, I’ve been using either a French press or a semi-automatic espresso machine with pretty good, but definitely not optimal, results. But I knew it was time for a change. Time to ramp up the ritual in my coffee making.

Variations on the pourover/drip/Chemex cup of coffee are popping up at a lot of the more progressive coffee shops here in Atlanta and in other cities, which is kinda funny since it is a bit of a step back to more simpler methods. Of course, everything comes down to attention to detail – what type of filter, how fine a grind, how hot the water, grams of coffee to ounces of water, etc. – but it’s nice to see the focus on the ingredients and method rather than technology per se. The Clever Coffee Dripper ($20 on Amazon) manages to be fairly innovative and very basic all at once. It’s a conical drip cup that requires a filter, but it also has a mechanism that holds the water in the cone until you’re ready to let it drip on through. So it’s basically a combo drip/French press.  I recently bought one and have been enjoying playing it with – it makes a great cup of coffee, one cup at a time. The combination of steeping in the cone and dripping through the filter manages to produce a cup that’s both deep and “clean” at once. It’s definitely not as “muddy” as a French press cup, and definitely more nuanced than a basic drip. I personally find that it works best with brighter coffees that have a nice acidic edge rather than deep, dark roasts. But to each his own. I’ve posted some basic instructions below, but the fun in this is playing around with the different steps and variables until you find what suits you best.

Also, when I ordered the Clever, I knew I had to step up to a better grinder. My espresso machine has a built-in burr grinder, but I can’t really use that outside the machine. I knew I wanted quality, but wasn’t ready to drop a couple hundred bucks. My solution? The generally lauded Hario Mini Mill ($30 on Amazon) burr grinder from Japan. It’s compact. It’s manual. The instructions are only in Japanese, which makes for an intriguing challenge. And, yes, you actually are hand grinding your beans each morning, which is a nice little workout and a good reminder of the work that goes into a great cup of coffee. Check out a comparison of the same beans ground in the Hario (on the left) and in a Cuisinart blade coffee grinder (on the right). The Hario produces a more consistent grind. The color is even substantially different – I’m guessing because the Cuisinart just hacks away from the outside rather than actually crushing the bean through a grinder. Pros say it makes a world of difference, and I definitely prefer the Hario grind to the Cuisinart. In any case, the Clever + Hario + good freshly roasted beans combo is a great way to get started on your own morning coffee ritual. Some basic instructions below the photo…

(Thanks to Bold Bean Coffee Roasters for posting the basis for these instructions, which I have plagiarized heavily since I liked them so much!) 

What you’ll need:

Scale, grinder (preferably burr grinder), coffee, filtered water, timer or watch, water kettle or other heating method, Clever coffee dripper, stirring spoon, coffee cup.

Preheat and rinse filter – Get your water boiling, insert a filter into the Clever, then fill Clever within one inch of the top with water just off the boil. Let sit for five or so seconds and then place the Clever on top of your coffee mug and let the water drain into the mug. Keep the hot water in the mug until you are ready to let the coffee drip on in.

Grind – Grind your coffee as close to brewing time as possible. The Hario, if you’re using that, will take a minute or so for once cup’s worth. I like to do this after the rinse. Start with 2 grams of coffee for every ounce of water. I tend to go with a 10 oz cup, so that means 20 grams or about two and a half rounded tablespoons of beans. I’ve heard some folks say to use up to 30 grams for that amount, but I don’t see a need to use that much. The coffee needs to be ground to a medium grind, about the same as for an automatic drip coffee machine. You can play both with the amount of coffee and the fineness of the grind, so these are just starting points.

Water – To ensure great results you need to use filtered water heated to about 200 degrees. Get it boiling and then let it set for a 20 seconds or so off the stove, that should be pretty close. If you’re a real fanatic, you can play with water between 195 and 205 degrees or so and see what works for you. I mainly just get the kettle to a good boil, then let it sit for a bit before pouring in.  Make sure you put your ground coffee into the filter just before your water is ready to go.

Pre-infusion and begin to brew – Once the water is at the correct temperature, measure it out the desired number of ounces and begin brewing immediately. Once you’ve done this a few times, you’ll probably be able to do it without measuring since you’ll know it by sight. Set timer for four minutes and hit start just as you pour the first water on your grounds. The first step in brewing is the pre-infusion step. You want to pour just enough water on the grounds to soak them all evenly and completely. This will cause your coffee grounds to bloom. Once the bloom has settled some, 30 seconds or so, pour the remainder of your water on to the grounds taking care to saturate all grounds evenly.

Continue brewing and draw down – Place the lid on the Clever as soon as all water has been added to the brewing chamber to keep heat in and help regulate the brewing temperature. Once the timer is down to about a minute, remove the lid and give the coffee a few gentle stirs so all of the grounds will be evenly extracted during the draw down. After you stir, replace the lid, pour any water that may still be in your mug from preheating out, then go ahead and put the Clever onto your mug (yes, we know the timer is not up yet). Placeing the Clever on top of your coffee mug automatically starts the drip going, so just let it run its course. This should take less than a minute, and if the grind is set right and everything has been timed correctly, the last of your coffee should leave the brew chamber just as your four minute timer expires.

Enjoy your coffee!!!

Clean up – Clean up is very easy with the Clever. Simply remove and dispose of the filter. Rinse the brewer with hot water, drain and repeat

We would love to hear all of your suggestions for brewing a better cup of coffee in the comments section below, as well as any Clever-specific methods you use at home.

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The Eater Atlanta Cocktail HEAT MAP

Be sure to check out the hot-off-the-virtual-presses Eater Atlanta Cocktail Heat Map, penned by yours truly. It’s a selection of ten great places to grab a cocktail RIGHT NOW, this very instant, pronto, before they lose their impressive heads of steam. Alright, you can wait until next week, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

And, by they way, Eater Atlanta is a great place to stay on top of all that’s going on in the world of Atlanta dining, including the ever important topic of Sh!t People Steal. We kid you not.

 

 

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The State of the Atlanta Sipping Scene

Thirsty South has been covering the Atlanta drinking scene for a year now, and we must say that the state of the Atlanta sipping scene is STRONG. Whether you care about coffee, beer, wine, or cocktails, the past year has seen many good things. Here’s our take on the latest and greatest, with as many bad puns as we can fit in.

Coffee Is Roasting Hot, Percolating Wildly, Brewing Beautifully

If you need proof of how good, serious coffee is taking hold of this city, just consider that this past week Octane opened up the latest addition to its expanding empire: a new shop in Grant Park (check out their awesome espresso machine), joining the flagship Octane on the Westside and the mini-Octane “Pocket Bar” at the Bank of America Plaza as beacons of light in the haze of not-receding-fast-enough Starbucks-induced coffee coma. Meanwhile, Steady Hand Pour House is rocking and rolling and settling in nicely over in Emory Village. Empire State South is kicking what has to be the best coffee-bar-inside-an-award-winning-restaurant this side of the Mississippi. And Jason Dominy over at Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters is emerging as one of craft coffee’s leading evangelists, with “coffee ambushes” all over town converting unsuspecting onlookers into Clever Coffee Dripping devotees. All praise the bean. On the downside? Why can’t there be at least one great coffee bar in Buckhead? (Octane, here’s your neighborhood for store number four)

Beer Is Hoppin’ and Growling Ferociously

The beer scene, even more than coffee, has truly gone insane (in a good way) over the past year. No one would have guessed a year ago that fresh growler fills would be available all over Atlanta, from Whole Foods to Hop City to Ale Yeah! to The Beer Growler and what seems like another new place every other week or so. The Beer Growler got growlers going in Athens last December and Hop City led the charge here in Atlanta, and there’s no stopping the trend now. It seems inconceivable that Ale Yeah! wasn’t even around this time last year, but now Atlanta has multiple world class beer shops (Ale Yeah! and Hop City in particular) to join its world class beer bars (The Brickstore and The Porter in particular).  And places like Tower and Green’s have continued to step up with great selections of their own. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s bars and restaurants are putting more effort into their beer lists and supporting our local brewers more than ever. Speaking of… Jailhouse, Red Hare, O’Dempsey’s, Wild Heaven, Monday Night Brewing all hopped heavily onto the scene in the past year. Are you serious?!? This is crazy growth, and thankfully a lot of great beer is being churned out by these local upstarts who are standing proud next to stalwarts like Terrapin and SweetWater. Wild Heaven probably made the biggest splash, and their Avondale Estates brewery will be a welcome addition once they get it up and running, but Jailhouse is showing that they can also play with the big boys and make some of Georgia’s most adventurous beers.

GA Wine Is Winning, Atlanta Wine Shops (& Lists) Are Bubbly & Sparkling

The past year has seen some of Georgia’s wineries continue to impress in competitions and tastings, gaining broader awareness for their quality. Yonah Mountain got some great press for kicking Napa butt in a blind tasting. Wolf Mountain and Frogtown picked up a bunch of gold medals in Los Angeles and from the Tasters Guild International competitions, among many others. Closer to home, on the retail front, exciting boutique wine shops seem to be sprouting up all over town. Perrine’s, Le Caveau and H&F Bottle Shop all opened up in the past year, and all offer passionate perspectives and impeccable selections. They are everything that Total Wine is not, thank goodness. On the wine list side of things, Empire State South (again!?) introduced one of Atlanta’s most exciting lists, full of impressive Burgundy, Riesling and grower Champagne. Who could ask for anything more?

Cocktail Culture Is Strong, the Competition Is Stiff & Spirited

Getting a well made drink around town is easier than ever. Again, restaurants have shown that a bit of attention to their bar program can really pay off. And a spirited community of barkeeps (AKA mixologists) is stoking the collective talent and enthusiasm all around town.  H. Harper Station is our pick for the most noteworthy newcomer on the cocktail front, thanks to Jerry Slater and crew’s purposeful punch bowls and bourbon bravado. Barrel-aged cocktails hit the scene at Iberian Pig and Double Zero. And while Greg Best and team continue to set Holeman & Finch apart from the rest, Miller Union, Cakes & Ale, Abattoir, Leon’s, 4th & Swift, The Sound Table and Pura Vida all continue to churn out serious stuff from behind the bar. It’s a great list, but we could probably name ten more right behind them. Oh, and best use of shochu in a cocktail? Miso Izakaya, hands down. The only regret? That Pappy Van Winkle is just too damn hard to keep in stock.

In summary, it’s easy to see that the sipping scene is sizzling in Atlanta. The public is thirsty for excellence in all its forms, and thankfully we have purveyors, brewers, baristas and more ready to quench that thirst. We’ll drink to that.

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What to pair with: Champagne

Random excellent pairing of the day. If/when you have a nice bottle of Champagne to drink, you can do a LOT worse than whipping up some Momofuku English Muffins with Benton’s bacon fat / bay leaf butter. Say what? The english muffin recipe is great on its own, but when you combine some good butter with some rendered Benton’s bacon fat and steep fresh bay leaves in it before whipping it up into a frenzy of porky, smoky, herbal goodness, you nearly reach muffin butter nirvana. Did you know there was such a place? All it takes to enter is a bottle of vintage Champagne. You’re welcome.

Momofuku English Muffins with Benton's Bacon Fat Bay Leaf Butter
Momofuku English Muffins with Benton's Bacon Fat Bay Leaf Butter
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A Taste of Home at Prichard’s Distillery, Kelso, Tennessee

Continuing our tour of Tennessee whiskey…

A visit to Prichard’s Distillery in little bitty Kelso, Tennessee, is like a visit to someone’s home. It’s a family affair. Phil Prichard, his wife Connie, his son, his friends, everyone seems to be pitching in. It’s decidedly un-corporate, and the fact that the distillery sits in the town’s old schoolhouse and community center just reinforces the feeling. The basketball goals are still up in the gym that now houses bottles and labels and empty boxes waiting to be filled with fine rum and whiskey. The disco ball still hovers in the air, calling to mind all the dances and good times that must have happened here in the heart of tiny Kelso. Prichard’s Distillery is certainly keeping the flame, as much a product of Kelso as all the kids who walked through the schoolhouse’s doors years ago.

Prichard’s has been turning out award winning rums for over ten years now, a bridge between the old stalwarts of Tennessee distilling and the new breed. While their image is not as edgy and progressive as Corsair Artisan up in Nashville, they are certainly not slackers when it comes to pushing the envelope and trying out new things. There’s a long line of rums (including a Key Lime version), an array of whiskeys (from a “single malt” to a “double barreled” to a “Lincoln County Lightning”), and experimental bottles of things like aquavit, cranberry liqueur, and chocolate-infused bourbon sit on the old school desks that sit in what is now Prichard’s office. There are even small custom barrels filled for progressive bars and liquor shops around the country (ever hear of The Violet Hour in Chicago? I happened to see a barrel with their name on it).  Prichard’s is a small batch craft distillery when it comes down to it, with two beautiful Vendome pot stills that do most of the heavy lifting, and that small batch mentality is a perfect precursor to trying new things.

While rum has been Prichard’s calling card for many years, the whiskey line-up is what seems to be gaining steam and is an increasing focus for the distillery. A new rye is on its way, and time in the barrel is the main thing that sits between some Prichard’s whiskey and a large number of thirsty fans. True to their roots, Prichard’s prefers to use a local white corn that has a particularly nice sugar content, ground at the historic Falls Mill down the road in Old Salem. That Lincoln County Lightning gets bottled fresh out of the still, and boasts a tremendous corn character that reflects the fine local ingredients. Phil Prichard is a storyteller at heart, and he shared a few cocktail names he has for his Lincoln County Lightning. A Bloody Mary becomes a Bloody Bubba, and his name for a white lightning-based spin on a Margarita is almost enough to make a bootlegger blush (I won’t share that one here, but would love to hear your guesses in the comment section below!).

Prichard’s is definitely worth the stop if you’re heading up to their much bigger neighbors up the road a bit. Jack Daniel’s is just a bucolic, fifteen mile jaunt, but Prichard’s is indeed a world away. Be sure to call ahead, though, if you’re interested in visiting. You wouldn’t want to make an unexpected house call, after all.

Prichard’s Distillery in images, continues below… 

And while you’re here, also check out all the stops on our Tennessee whiskey tour.

and out onto the roads of Lincoln County…