 Filter kaapi served in a metal tumbler, inside thedabarah saucer in which it can be cooled |
Indian filter coffee is a coffee drink made by mixing hot milk and sugar with theinfusion obtained bypercolation brewing of finely ground coffee powder withchicory in a traditional Indian filter. It has been described as "hot, strong, sweet and topped with bubbly froth" and is known asfilter kaapi in India.[1]
Until the 17th century, coffee was grown only inArabia and exported in roasted or baked form. Taking rawcoffee beans out of the country was prohibited to protect the Arabian coffeemonopoly. According to a legend,IndianSufiBaba Budan discovered coffee on a pilgrimage toMecca. He smuggled seven raw coffee beans back to India and planted them in the hills ofChikmagalur in present-dayKarnataka.The favorable conditions enabled the coffee plants to thrive in the hills, which were later namedBaba Budangiri ('Baba Budan Hills'). TheBritish Indian government became very interested in the coffee, and established large plantations inCoorg (present-day Kodagu). Budan's original coffee plants are purported to be the ancestors of most of the world's coffee trees today.[2][3]
Traditionally, Indian filter coffee is made with Plantation A washedarabica[4] orPeaberry coffee beans. The beans are dark roasted, ground, and blended withchicory, with the coffee constituting 80-90% and the chicory 10-20% of the mixture. The chicory's slight bitterness contributes to the flavor of Indian filter coffee.[1]
Traditionally,jaggery or honey were used as sweeteners, but white sugar has been used since the mid-1900s.[1]
Indian filter coffee is prepared by first bringing water to a boil.[5] A special cylindrical filter is used in the preparation of the coffee. The filter has two metal cups that assemble one over the other.[6] The filter coffee powder is first added to the upper cup on top of the perforated chamber and then compressed with a pressing disc. The boiled water is then poured over the disc and filter.[6] The upper cup is then secured with the lid, and the coffee is allowed to brew.[5] This process allows the water to extract more flavor from the coffee, resulting in a more robust and stronger flavor compared to Western drip coffee.[6]
Once the collector containing the brew is detached, the brew can be combined with hot milk. Sugar may also be added to the filter coffee.[6]
It became a very popular drink but up to the 17th century coffee was a treat that could only be found in Arabia, and it was prohibited for coffee plants to be transported outside of any Muslim nation.
The keenly protected Arabian monopoly on coffee was well and truly broken by an enterprising Sufi pilgrim from India named Baba Budan around the year 1650...Then coffee was only exported in roasted or baked form so that no one could grow their own and everyone was obliged to buy from the Yemenis.
Arabica Coffee > Washed Arabica - 'Plantation' > Plantation A
