What constitutes the perfect cup of coffee to one person is rarely the same to the next. After working in Padre Coffee’s cafes for years and experiencing firsthand the diversity in coffee orders, believe me, I know!
The Nicaragua El Madroño, however, is universally delicious no matter how you serve it!
As a milk coffee, it is creamy and sweet, thanks to its dark cocoa, toffee, and almond butter notes. Alternately, a sip of espresso, long black, or filter coffee will have your mouth watering with juicy notes of orange citrus and dried peach.
So, whether you’re brewing a V60 or a half skim, half-full cream 7/8 size latte (no judgment here), you are sure to be serving up an incredible cup of coffee!
Now, if you’re a coffee geek like me or looking for some information to impress those guests you’re brewing for, keep on reading!
Padre Coffee sourced the Nicaragua El Madroño through Caravela Coffee whose focus is on sourcing Latin American coffee from small farmers and whose purpose is to make coffee better, for everyone involved, through a commitment to quality and transparency at every level.
Four producers contributed to the remarkable El Madroño, all of whom are from Jinotega, a region in Nicaragua renowned for its ideal coffee growing conditions. Interestingly, this coffee is named after Nicaragua’s national tree – the Madrono tree.
The Madroño tree blooms at the same time that coffee producers are in full harvest and is used in “La Purísima”, an annual religious celebration of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary and Nicaragua’s biggest holiday of the year. The Nicaragua El Madroño being named after the Madrono tree symbolises how important coffee has become to the country’s culture.
The naming of this coffee after such an important icon in Nicaragua’s culture has inspired me to share a filter recipe using a brew method that is iconic in coffee culture, the Chemex.
From featuring in “Sabrina” starring Audrey Hepburn to being favoured by James Bond and being a fixture in Monica’s kitchen in “Friends”, not to mention having a permanent place in The Museum of Modern Art, the Chemex is truly an icon in coffee culture and for good reason.
FILTER EQUIPMENT
FILTER RECIPE
PREPARATION
Preheat your kettle to 95 degrees
Open up your paper filter and place it in the Chemex so that three layers are against the spout. This is going to help the paper maintain its shape throughout the brewing process.
Next, wet the filter with the water from your kettle. This is going to serve two purposes, getting rid of the papery flavour of your filter paper and also pre-heating your Chemex.
Dispose of this water by pouring it out of the Chemex on the side opposite its spout. This is to help maintain the structure of your filter paper and prevent it from collapsing into the spout while you brew.
You can get rid of this water down the sink or, what I sometimes like to do is, pour the hot water into the mug I want to drink out of so that it preheats while I’m brewing.
Add your ground coffee into the centre of the filter paper and give it a gentle shake to level out the coffee bed. I like to lift the filter paper up at this point and place it back in to the Chemex to prevent it from creating a tight seal which can stop your brew.
Place your Chemex on the scale and tare to 0g. Now we’re ready to brew!
Now, you are ready to start brewing!
STEP BY STEP GUIDE
00:00
Start the timer and saturate the coffee grounds with water until the scale reads 90g. Use your stirrer to make sure that all the coffee is wet.
This step is called the “bloom”. We do this to help release any gas trapped in the coffee bed so that our coffee extracts more evenly.
00:45
Start to pour slowly in the centre of the coffee bed, working your way out in a circular motion. When you get near the edges of the filter paper, continue pouring in the same direction but start to head back towards the centre again.
This is how we will pour for the remainder of the brew.
Stop once your scale reads 300g and carefully lift agitate the coffee grounds with a stirrer. Wait until there is enough room in the filter to add more water and slowly pour in this same motion until the scale reads 500g.
05:30
Once all the water has filtered through your filter paper, your brew is finished! Dispose of your filter paper.
If you had water pre-heating your mug, tip it out now and replace it with your freshly brewed coffee.
The beauty of this recipe is that you should have plenty to share around (or drink it all yourself, wouldn’t blame you). Enjoy!
ESPRESSO RECIPE
Domestic espresso recipe (using a Breville Bambino)
On the Slayer LP we use 22g of coffee and aim for a yield of 36g, however your machine and set up will determine what dose (and therefore, yield) you should aim for. Some domestic machines have 20-22g baskets, however some will only be able to hold 16-18g. Use the ratio to adjust the espresso recipe.
Padre Coffee acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their continued connections to land, sea and community.
We pay our respect to Elders past, present and future, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
