WAGS Wasps 26.05.2021:Cafficionados

 

This was first posted in the WAGS 2021 Blog of the same date, and John published a separate Part 2  for the walk itself. After some thought I decided to move this here as it has less relevance now we are walking again..

 First I have no idea of what John will come up with for this weeks Organic Blog Post, as the walk hasn't happened yet as I write. It is Tuesday morning and flushed with energy after a visit to my  Osteopath, I thought I would get a headstart on the week.

        On the blog for 12th May, I raised the question of siphons, particularly the one at Encherim, and our man in Silves  replied about his visit to both ends of the 'syphon' (sic). Indeed this raised another point- which is the correct or which is the most popular spelling of the word. I could enter into a long discussion of the point, but I didn't start off to delve into this, so I will content myself by giving a link to an explanation and you can take that as homework!! If you want to - not compulsory!

The link is HERE

The Science

The word siphon (from Ancient Greek: σίφων, "pipe, tube", also spelled syphon) is used to refer to a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, above the surface of a reservoir, with no pump, but powered by the fall of the liquid as it flows down the tube under the pull of gravity, then discharging at a level lower than the surface of the reservoir from which it came.

There are two leading theories about how siphons cause liquid to flow uphill, against gravity, without being pumped, and powered only by gravity. The traditional theory for centuries was that gravity pulling the liquid down on the exit side of the siphon resulted in reduced pressure at the top of the siphon. Then atmospheric pressure was able to push the liquid from the upper reservoir, up into the reduced pressure at the top of the siphon, like in a barometer or drinking straw, and then over. However, it has been demonstrated that siphons can operate in a vacuum and to heights exceeding the barometric height of the liquid. Consequently, the cohesion tension theory of siphon operation has been advocated, where the liquid is pulled over the siphon in a way similar to the chain model. It need not be one theory or the other that is correct, but rather both theories may be correct in different circumstances of ambient pressure. The atmospheric pressure with gravity theory obviously cannot explain siphons in vacuum, where there is no significant atmospheric pressure. But the cohesion tension with gravity theory cannot explain CO2 gas siphons, siphons working despite bubbles, and the flying droplet siphon, where gases do not exert significant pulling forces, and liquids not in contact cannot exert a cohesive tension force.

Enough of that!

Siphons:- the etymology of the word can be traced back to Steve Jobs as a shortcut word to represent a S(mart) IPhon(e)

No of course it can't - that was an aside to check if I still have your attention or are you scrolling madly to see if there are any pictures of yourself in the Walking or Sauntering segment!

     During my idle reading while researching siphons, I came across a linked subject close to my heart -  Coffee.

      I haven't walked with the WAGS for some time, but I have turned up for the pre and post coffee and scran, and even had my attendance mentioned.  Well the link between coffee and siphons dates from the early C19, a good 100 years after the word 'scran' entered the Scotch language! In 1830, the siphon coffee maker was invented by a man called Loeff of Berlin,

The earliest known patent for a siphon coffee brewer was filed by Loeff of Berlin in the 1830s, but it was a French woman, Marie Fanny Amelne Massot of Lyons, France – better known as Mme. Vassieux, the name she used on her patent applications – who designed and patented the first commercially successful vacuum brewer in 1840. Mme. Vassieux’ coffee brewer featured two glass “balloons” held by a frame. It was an ornate delight for the eyes, capped with a metal crown and featuring a spigot for serving from the bottom vessel.

The design makes it clear that the coffee maker was meant for display in a dining room or drawing room, not for making coffee in the kitchen. And for those who love little tidbits of history, there’s also a strong possibility that Mme. Vassieux was a courtesan who held court in one of the salons beloved by the French nobility and men of wealth. She had the leisure to develop her design, and the connections to have it manufactured in fairly large numbers .

Designs became ornate but all had a similar basic functionality.  Now we would call brewing coffee an 'immersive' experience akin to the Chinese and Japanese tea ceremonies. And to a certain extent, appreciating and drinking wine.  I cant do better than play this short video of an early automatic siphon brewing. It has a very relaxing background track which I believe is Satie's Gymnopedie No, 1.

Who says coffee doesn't make you sleepy?

A Diversion

   Most of my working life, I cared more for  the gratification of the moment rather than the preparation or analysis of  whatever I had received or benefitted from an action.

    Life was super busy, frenetic at times but as with most memories I try to remember the good stuff and exclude times that I may have been disappointed or hurt. 

   That was how my generation handled life: an ambitious and natural progression from a carefree 'Live now pay- later ' youth .

   Suddenly, on retirement from that world at the age of 48 years 11 months and a few days, I was in a different environment, a different country with (to me) different values and customs. I had, what I felt was unlimited time for self indulgence and an appreciation of the things that I had accumulated.  I never ever felt the need to get involved in a 3rd career, and the days were long and pleasant, and regrettably mostly unproductive. However as you all now things come along to fill the time you have for them and you rarely if ever find the true peace of sitting alone and contemplating your navel.

        Things like  recipes for good food, wine and the arts.  Sex,  Drugs and Rock'n'Roll was not how it might have been. I had the time and means to smell the roses. Explore, Indulge - and do things of my own volition without having to follow the beat of another Drum.

         To cut to the chase, I began a search for the Holy Grail. For example , until then I drank wine for the effect rather than the experience. Now I could join a Wine Society and be guided to those pleasures of the palate and the nose. I could revel in seeing the wine being made and the stages and detail that went into the ultimate  presentation to the oenophile. The ceremony surrounding wine became a strangely calming ritual.  I went to places where I could enjoy not only the wine but the staging and production of a special environment. The cork, the nose, the palate, the pairing with wonderful foods - all the senses yearned for gratification. This Wednesday I enquired of our greatest local wine lover and acknowledged expert, whether he had ever enjoyed unscrewing a bottle of wine. Strangely, I felt, he had no great objection to this crass Australian habit. I too had done that in my free-drinking youth, but as I matured, like a good wine, I appreciated the ceremony surrounding the opening of a good wine, possibly decanting, letting it breath and letting the flavours mix gently with oxygen to be savoured slowly.   I became a wine lover rather than a wine guzzler, and felt it suited me like a garment from Sam the Tailor in Hong Kong. I also liked the Chinese Tea ceremonies we went to in Macao and China for their history and procedures.

       But then, the misspent youth caught me up.  There is always a price to pay, and for me I decided to give up drinking in 2010. Both the pleasurable sipping, tasting, swirling and (sometimes) spitting AND the Quaffing, Gargling and liver bashing.

    Now nature abhors a vacuum, and being teetotal left a significant space  in my daily routine (and added a couple of hours to each day!) What was to fill that gap?   I toyed with pretending to enjoy non-alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine, and on occasion even went so far as to  shake up a non-alcoholic G & T, using Seedlips (then) £25 a bottle, alcohol-free aromatics.

Now there are even more available.

I had always enjoyed coffee. My first encounter must have been at my Grandmothers House in the early '50s with Camp Coffee. I  didn't know any better then! ]Yet now an updated bottle of 241cc will set you back the same as a bottle of Seedlip gin. And how has PC changed the labelling since the early days.

The Sikh has somehow morphed from being a manservant to the Gordon Highlander Officer, to being a companion soldier and coffee drinker!

   Anyway it was pretty foul then, and I certainly wouldn't lash out £30 for a 240cc bottle of chicory and coffee now.

The history was:-

Camp Coffee was created in 1885 by Campbell Paterson (1851-1927) of R. Paterson & Son in Glasgow. The company specialised in cordials, and their best-selling product was a raspberry cordial often added to whisky or brandy to create a drink known as "Cuddle-me-Dearie". The coffee essence was developed by Campbell Paterson for domestic use, to avoid the complex and then expensive equipment required for coffee drinking.

Legend has it (mainly due to the picture on the label) that Camp Coffee was originally developed as an instant coffee for military use. The label is classical in tone, drawing on the romance of the British Raj. It includes a drawing of a seated Gordon Highlander (supposedly Major General Sir Hector MacDonald) being served by a Sikh soldier holding a tray with a bottle of essence and jug of hot water. They are in front of a tent, at the apex of which flies a flag bearing the drink's slogan, "Ready Aye Ready". That was also the motto of the 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force) of the British Indian Army. In this context, the Scots word 'aye' has the meaning of 'always' rather than 'yes' and indicates, in the case of the drink, that it is 'always ready' to be made.

The original label, by William Victor Wrigglesworth, depicted a Sikh servant waiting on a seated Scottish soldier. A feature of this label was that the server carried a tray on which there was a bottle of Camp Coffee, which carried the same label showing a bottle of Camp Coffee and so on into infinity. A later version of the label, introduced in the mid-20th century, removed the tray from the picture, thus removing the infinite bottles element (the Droste effect), and was seen as an attempt to avoid the connotation that the Sikh was a servant, although he was still shown waiting while the kilted Scottish soldier sipped his coffee. The current version, introduced in 2006, depicts the Sikh as a soldier, now sitting beside the Scottish soldier, and with a cup and saucer of his own.

   Regarding the highlighted red text above, we have come full circle passing via Instant Nescafe powder, freeze dried coffee granules, drip coffee, percolated coffee, to grind your own beans huge coffee espresso makers with dials whistles and steam, and the commercial , modernising into Nespresso capsule coffee makers , and the ultimate easy quality coffee - the Vertuo, currently my favourite.

  

A small taste of what is available.   Minimalism plays a part too. Not too much above a mug with some coffee powder comes this minimalistic machine.

Onwards and upwards to the commercial machines.

You see these noisy leviathans in even the smallest coffee shops  . How many people notice them  mindfully?  The newest ones are coloured and well, just modern looking, but many long established cafe/restaurants have spectacular older, even vintage models. The top ones are very expensive,  built to last and have chrome, brass, and lacquer on their external organs. Take some time to admire them. Are they clean and hygienic looking or are there coffee grounds everywhere, and strange growling and grinding noises emanating along with the dark liquid that oozes into the espresso cups?

           

Some La Marzocca machines cost around €20,000

Baristas have to be drawn from the X-Box and GameBoy exponents.

Barista is now a respectable profession. I don't mean the holiday jobbers who press the button in Starbucks or McDonalds.

Check this vlog out:-

But beyond and above are the true Cafficionados. These concern themselves with the bean, the grind,  the weight per shot, the time to expose the grind to the pressured water or steam. In fact almost as many variables as a fine wine. Some of these are YouTube Vloggers by profession in the modern age, and they not only analyse the coffees, but also road test the machines, describe the chemical processes that take place in steaming milk and a myriad other delights that you have never come across.  

   My personal favourite is James Hoffman. an earnest professorial type who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things coffee related. A joy to watch his concentration and passion.

Crema explained!

 But all this is far from the water supply siphon, where we started. Siphon coffee is making a comeback. Last time I was in Sydney several years ago, I noticed a growing trend in the hip cafe scene where 'Drip coffee' was becoming widely available. I felt it was a retrograde step, as my new love, capsule coffee was in my opinion  a consistent cleaner and more tasty experience. The prices of 'Drip coffee' were of the same figure as 'cafe de maquina', and i think as a trend it was quite short lived. More recently, Siphon coffee cafes have been slowly arriving in both UK and North America.  Maybe someone will try in Portugal, but I think the majority will be hard to shift from their customary bicas   

      However at home I suspect that siphon coffee will be the next new thing in the 2020's.  It is all in the ceremony, something that we crave. If you are in a hurry and don't have the required palate ie. you just want the 'hit' then the instant coffee is there for you. A Nespresso type machine is as quick, cleaner and far more rewarding in terms of taste. Then to revert to the home Espresso machine, the time and procedure slow you down but you get a good feeling by executing the 'shot' more perfectly than before.  The siphon is similar with the added glow of using an old-fashioned natural device to produce something that itself is a pleasure to behold. But it needs time. It is not for the  rush and hustle of those with young families or demanding jobs. It is for those that yearn for the old and simple ways, without pressure and interruptions. It is for The Retired!

   Reach for your Holy Grail and be satisfied - for now!