Super-finely ground Indonesian coffee

[t.susannah.chen]

My very kind Indonesian neighbor just got back from visiting Jakarta and brought back a pack of coffee for me directly from the source. However, I opened it to find it suuuuper finely ground (the consistency is like powder). I have irrational fear of making bad coffee. What would you do with this?!

[zin1953]

If its that finely ground, it should probably be used to make Turkish/Greek/Israeli/Arabic coffee . . .

However, as for your not-so-irrational fear, have you ever heard of "Babbe's Rule of Fifteens"? Simply put, it is that:

-- Green (unroasted) coffee beans should be roasted within 15 months, or they go stale.
-- Roasted coffee beans should be ground within 15 days, or they go stale.
-- Ground coffee should be used within 15 minutes, or it goes stale.

Cheers,
Jason

[grayelf]

No expert here, but I would pull out my Vietnamese drip coffee contraption ($5ish) and use that. It clamps tight and doesn't allow the powdery grounds to escape into your beverage. I'd be inclined to ensure you had a tin of your favourite condensed milk on hand, add some hot water, let it drip on top of the milk in a glass, add ice, stir and enjoy. The Vietnamese ground coffee I use has a similar consistency and lasts rather longer than 15 minutes.

[zin1953]

That's an excellent suggestion!

[jkling17]

For coffee that is ground ultra fine, you could use a vietnamese drip (they are about $5). Or - brew in a small covered pot with water at 195 degrees. Let it steep for a few minutes - then a very fine strainer to pour the wonderful coffee into your mug. Most asian food stores sell these ulltra fine strainers for $5-7. They're very useful.

[grayelf]

Yeah, that's the one I use per my post above. I don't bother to re-strain it though.

[jkling17]

Oh I dont restrain either. If I use my vietnamese maker that's all I use. But I find that I get really nice results from just brewing the coffee in a covered pot, then pouring it through the strainer to remove most of the bits. It's very similar to a french press effect, as the coffee is swirling around fully exposed to all the hot water, and you can steep for however many minutes as you like.