The coffee pot is a very old invention. It is a type of pot with a lid and a curved mouth that Bedouin nomads carry with them throughout the desert.
And it seems, what could be better than good old Turkish coffee pots? But in fact, choosing it is not so easy.
Why is copper the best?
The most traditional material used in making coffee pots is metal. In production, copper, steel and aluminum are most often used, less often brass and bronze. Coffee pots are usually made by masters working with ceramics.
Copper
Historically, coffee pots were made of copper, and even today copper pots are considered the most suitable option for making coffee. Our expert explains why:
The thermal conductivity of copper is high. This means that the heat from below is quickly dissipated along the walls and the coffee is heated evenly. This allows you to save on the flavor of the coffee. The copper coffee pot taken from the fire cools evenly and prevents the coffee from being drawn too much.
Coffee in a copper coffee pot can be brewed on sand, gas and electric stoves (but not induction).
Finally, it is beautiful. Even the simplest and cheapest copper coffee pot always looks authentic and adds flavor to the interior of any kitchen.
True, there are nuances. It was made by stamping light copper bars hung in clusters on the stalls of the Istanbul Grand Bazaar. They are very cheap, nice to look at but the coffee in them is not of very stable quality due to the very thin walls. It is better to choose coffee pots created by forging: their bottom and walls are much thicker.
Another important nuance: the inside of the coffee pot must be covered with food metal (stainless steel, tin or silver), which excludes the interaction of copper and the drink.
Aluminum
A familiar version from Soviet childhood, which was used not only for making coffee, but also for heating milk or cooking a piece of porridge. Aluminum coffee pots are incredibly light (which makes them suitable for transport), inexpensive and very unpretentious. True, it has significant drawbacks: despite the fact that aluminum is covered with an oxide film, it easily and pleasantly enters into chemical reactions with the acids contained in natural coffee and can "give" the drink a metallic taste.
Steel
They have many advantages: they are durable, inexpensive, do not undergo unpredictable reactions with a drink and do not require any adapters, to the delight of owners of induction cookers.
And the main disadvantage of such metals is that steel is an indomitable working material. From it it is difficult to create a classic shape with a narrow neck, ideal for coffee extraction. In addition, the thermal conductivity of steel is much worse than copper or aluminum.
Ceramic
Clay, like no other material, is suitable for experimentation. The master can easily adjust the thickness of the walls, the width of the neck and the bottom of the container. This allows you to create an ideal shape for making coffee.
Because of the clay's ability to retain heat for a long time, there is no need to make the coffee foamy with such a coffee pot. You can turn off the stove earlier and wait for the coffee to "reach" by itself. . This is also a minus in ceramics: the coffee pot cools for a long time, and the drink that is not poured into the glass immediately can be drawn too much and become bitter.
A significant disadvantage of any ceramic: its fragility. Even the most durable heat-resistant cordierite clay can crack from careless movement. Coffee pots made of cermet are more powerful.
size matters
Do you like your morning coffee alone or do you prefer to brew for two at a time or for a company? It is useful to start with this when choosing a coffee pot.
The classic volume for making coffee in an oriental way is 100-150 ml (1 teaspoon of coffee per 75 ml of water). If you prefer a large cup, you can focus on the volume of 170-250 ml. For two cups of coffee, respectively, you need a volume of 250-350 ml. For several servings - a coffee pot larger than 400 ml.
However, professionals still recommend buying a small coffee pot: the coffee in it heats up more evenly and turns out tastier, although you have to stand on the stove a little longer.
Important: It is not recommended to brew coffee for one person in a large coffee pot. Ideally, water is always poured “under the neck” so that the contact area of the drink with air is minimal.
Choose a form
The canonical form of the coffee pot: a cone with a wide bottom and a narrow neck. A narrow neck is necessary for a reason. Thanks to him, the narrowing of the contact surface between coffee and air. Thanks to the cap formed by the foam, the drink retains the essential oils responsible for the notorious coffee aroma.
Pay attention to the thickness of the walls and the material of the handle.
“The standard thickness of the walls and bottom of a metal (copper) coffee pot should not exceed 1.5 mm. In rare cases, the bottom may be thicker: As a rule, this is an option for making coffee on sand, ”explains.
The handle for coffee pots is made of metal, plastic and wood. The fact of life is that metal gets hot (wear oven mitts!) while cooking, while plastic can smell bad even though it heats up more slowly.