Coffee Recipes – Urban Bean Coffee

Raf Coffee

Urban Bean Coffee Team — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 02:26:11 +0000

Want to know what Raf coffee is?

We will tell you all about this drink that came from Russia.

You will learn not only how this Russian coffee was invented but also how you can prepare it at home without an espresso machine.

Let's take a look.

What Is Raf Coffee?

Raf coffee is made from 3 main ingredients: espresso, cream, and vanilla sugar.

All three ingredients are whipped together in an espresso steaming pitcher. The result is a warm, sweet, creamy drink with a porous, soft texture.

Many coffee shops serve variations of this drink.

Baristas sometimes use syrups to add flavors like citrus, lavender, crème brûlée, salted caramel, and more.

How Russian Coffee Appeared

There are several stories about how Raf coffee came to be. We'll tell you one story.

In the late 1990s, there was a coffee shop in Moscow called Coffee Bean.

A group of friends went there regularly.

One young man was very difficult to please. He didn't like the coffee they made there.

His name was Rafael, or Raf for short.

The coffee shop employees tried to come up with a drink Raf would like.

The tried blending drip coffee, cream, and vanilla sugar. At some point, they added espresso instead of drip coffee.

When cream is added to a large cup of hot drip coffee, the temperature doesn't change much. But when cream is added to espresso, it cools the drink down, so the creation had to be warmed back up.

The employees decided to warm it with the espresso machine's steam wand. They also realized they could use a mix of regular and vanilla sugar instead of just vanilla sugar.

When Raf came in one day, the baristas at the Coffee Bean were preparing this new drink for him.

He loved it, and so did his friends. They started asking for a coffee "like for Raf" every time they came in.

Eventually, one of the baristas added the drink to the menu and called it Raf coffee.

No one could have thought that in 20 years Raf coffee would be one of the most popular Russian coffee drinks.

What's the Difference between Raf Coffee, a Cappuccino, and a Latte?

Two things distinguish Raf coffee from classic lattes and cappuccinos.

Milk is used to make a latte or cappuccino, but cream is used to make Raf coffee. The fat content of the cream should not be over 15%.

Also, milk is steamed and frothed separately from espresso and is then added to espresso to make lattes and cappuccinos; all the ingredients are steamed and frothed at the same time to make Raf coffee.

Because cream has a higher fat content than milk, the calorie content of Raf coffee is much higher.

How to Make Raf Coffee

You will need:

One shot of espresso — 1 fl oz (30 ml)

Cream (10-11% fat) — 7.5 fl oz (220 ml)

Vanilla sugar — 1 teaspoon

Cane sugar — 1 teaspoon

If two teaspoons of sugar is too much for you, add just half a teaspoon of each of the two types of sugar.

Next, steam and froth all the ingredients in a pitcher until smooth. The mix should be similar in texture to melted ice cream.

Pour into a cup and enjoy!

You can even top the drink with a pinch of cocoa.

How to Make Raf Coffee without an Espresso Machine

If you don't have an espresso machine at hand, here's how you can prepare this Russian coffee:

Brew strong, concentrated coffee in a Turkish cezve, an AeroPress, or a Moka pot.

Mix cream and sugar in a pot or other container and heat to 140-150°F (60-65°C). It should be hot, but not too hot that you can't touch the container.

Combine the coffee and the cream-sugar mixture and whisk. It's great to do this in a French press because you can use the plunger.

How to Make Filter Coffee

Urban Bean Coffee Team — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 01:51:21 +0000

Want to know how to make South Indian filter coffee? You've come to the right place.

In this article, we will look at what South Indian filter coffee is and how to make it.

Let's get started.

What Is Filter Coffee?

Filter coffee is a strong, invigorating signature South Indian drink. It is prepared by mixing hot milk and coffee.

The coffee is brewed by pouring boiling water through a layer of pre-ground coffee beans.

There are other names for this drink: Mysore filter coffee, filter kaapi, degree coffee, and more.

It is believed that coffee first appeared in India in the early 17th century in the state of Karnataka.

Legend has it that Muslim saint Baba Budan of Chikmagalur quietly carried seven coffee beans in his beard and planted them on the Chandragiri hills in Karnataka.

By the 19th century, coffee culture had taken over most of South India. People began to add milk to their coffee and sweeten it with palm sugar and honey.

How to Make Filter Coffee

South Indian filter coffee is brewed in a metal pot made of two cylindrical cups. One cup has a hole in the bottom. It is placed on top of the second cup, into which the finished drink flows.

Let's take a closer look at the brewing process for this coffee.

What do you need to make a filter coffee?

To make filter coffee, you need a South Indian filter. These can be found in specialized Indian stores or can be easily ordered online.

You also need special coffee powder—finely ground coffee that's designed for making filter coffee.

If you use instant coffee, your filter coffee will fail.

You may also need milk, chicory, or sugar, depending on your personal preferences.

Basic Indian Filter Coffee Recipe

Here's how to make South Indian filter coffee:

Gather 3 tablespoons of coffee powder, 1 cup of hot water, 1 cup of milk, and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Pour the coffee powder into the top cup of the coffee maker. Spread it out with a disc and press down.
Then fill the top cup with hot water three-quarters of the way or almost completely.
Place the lid on top and wait for all the water to drain into the lower container. This will take about 10-12 minutes.
When the coffee is brewed, heat the milk.
If you use the dabara set for serving, add sugar to either the dabara or the serving cup. Then fill the dabara 1/3 full with the boiling milk.
Then pour the brewed coffee into the cups. Your coffee is ready to drink!

However, there are still a few more steps you can take if you're serving this coffee traditionally. We'll explore those below.

How to drink filter coffee

When serving filter coffee, you can add a little sugar or boiling milk, but this is a matter of taste.

Traditionally, South Indian filter coffee should be drunk straight from the bottom cup immediately after preparation.

It is often slightly pre-cooled before being drunk. For this, a dabara set, consisting of a deep metal saucer and a glass, is used. Dabara sets can be made of stainless steel or, for a more traditional look, copper or brass.

The finished coffee is poured back and forth between the coffee maker and the dabara several times, at a height of about one meter. Because of this method, the coffee is sometimes called meter-kaapi. The repeated pouring cools the coffee and ensures that the ingredients are mixed perfectly.

How to Achieve Great-Tasting Filter Coffee

If your South Indian filter coffee doesn't taste good enough, there are several ways to improve it.

Our recipe uses 3 teaspoons of coffee powder to make a medium-strength drink.

For stronger coffee, use 4 scoops of coffee powder.

If you like lighter coffee, then use 1.5 to 2 teaspoons.

You can also add ground chicory root to the coffee powder when preparing South Indian coffee. It retains water better than ground coffee, so the finished drink will have a stronger and more pronounced coffee aroma.

Turkish Coffee Recipes

Urban Bean Coffee Team — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 02:30:51 +0000

This is our list of 5 best Turkish coffee recipes.

But before we get down to recipes, let's talk about the basics.

The grind makes Turkish coffee so delicious. Thanks to extra-fine grinding, you will be able to extract more aromas than with any other brewing method.

Let's talk about cardamom and cinnamon in Turkish coffee. In general, these ingredients aren't used in the Balkans and Turkey. People here don't like to interfere with the aroma of their coffee. However, these spices are almost always used in Arab countries.

There are several recipes for preparing this drink: a traditional Turkish coffee recipe without spices and milk, and the Arabic version of Turkish coffee with yolk, ginger, cognac, cardamom, cloves, or cinnamon.

This video is a great place to start:

Best Turkish Coffee Recipes

And here are some delicious Turkish coffee recipes:

1. Oriental Coffee - Traditional Turkish Coffee Reccipe

Oriental coffee is simple to prepare:

Use dark roast coffee beans (however, nothing stops you from trying a medium or light roast)
Add 2-3 green cardamom pods and sugar to taste. It is advisable to use cane sugar. Don't grind the cardamom pods.
Brew over medium heat using the method described above.

You will get a wonderful strong traditional Turkish coffee with a spicy cardamom flavor. Caution: it has a very invigorating effect.

2. Istanbul Coffee

Use good, freshly roasted beans. You can use any roast and any variety; it's all up to preference.
Grind the beans finely (finer than espresso, but it doesn't need to be the consistency of dust).
Use 75-100 grams of grounds per liter of water: 50-60 mL for a single cup, 100 mL for a double.
Use an Ibrik/Cezve
Put the Cezve with the water on medium-high heat. When the water has tiny bubbles, add the coffee.
Stir well! About 15-20 times.
Let it rise a little bit, then take off the heat. Take it off the heat just as it starts to rise; don't let it too long or you'll lose the kaimak (the equivalent to crema).

3. Ethiopian Method

Use naturally processed Ethiopian beans with the addition of 1 lily flower and a pinch of grated galangal.
Use 0.6 oz (18 g) of coffee and 6 fl oz (170 ml) of warm water.
Brew for two-and-a-half minutes to two minutes and forty-five seconds.
The drink has notes of spicy apple strudel.

4. Turkish Coffee With Milk

To prepare this drink, you need a wide-mouth cezve, 150-200 ml of milk, 1 tsp. ground coffee, and sugar, cinnamon, cardamom to taste.
The volume of the cezve for making coffee with milk should be 1.5-2 times the volume of milk so the milk and foam don't boil over.
Pour the milk, spices, and sugar into the cezve Turkish coffee pot, in the desired amounts. Milk will give the drink a sweetish taste anyway, but if you want it sweeter, add sugar.
When the milk warms up a little, add the coffee, but do not stir; otherwise, it will settle to the bottom of the cezve and the full taste and aroma won't be extracted. Put the drink over low heat until the foam rises to the very edge. After that, take it off and let it rest a little.
Then put the cezve back on the stove and repeat the process of letting the foam rise to the edge.
Remove from heat. Pour into cups and enjoy.

5. A Bonus From a Turkish Champion Barista

The champion barista from the World Barista Championship has shared his signature recipe on Reddit. We tried this wonderful recipe and are sharing with you.