Isra Coffee - An Israeli Coffee Blog

Coffee is back!

2008-11-18T01:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had time to roast my coffee again, and even enjoy it!
Life with the baby slowly takes on a more or less stable course, and I can think and even write a bit about coffee. I hope this continues.
Meanwhile, last roast was:
30% Columbia
30% Ethiopia Sidamo
30% Guatemala
10% PNG
Roasted a bit after first crack, not too dark.
Great in French Press or Moka! (My wife also says it's great with milk).

Update: Like always, a few days make the coffee better. Usually it peaks after 3-4 days. This batch was really good. Actually, I Liked it best in my Paper Filter, which made its body lighter, and made the better tastes come up.

Noam

A new baby has its advantages

2008-08-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

Hi all coffee fans! As you may have read in my last post, I am a fresh father.
This means I still (need to!) drink coffee, but have a bit less time to fuss with it.
I don't have the time to roast my own like I used to, which would have been bad because the coffee in the supermarkets is not very good, but VERY expensive (equivalent to 10$ to 250g or 1/2lb).
Good, roasted coffee can be found in gourmet coffee shops (expensive, but good coffee).
Luckily, I did not need to buy any coffee since my son was born! His grandparents now live in Jamaica, and of course they came to see him, and guess who got a whole pound (1lb, ~450g) of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee?
On top of that, which was a very nice experience, another relative came back from a honeymoon in Costa Rica and brought me 250g of quality Costa Rican coffee.

Life is good!

Coffee Break

2008-07-15T00:12:00.000-07:00

Hello to all my readers! This post is to explain the recess in posting:

I have a new son!

I barely have time to drink coffee, no to mention writing about it.

Please be patient, and check out for new postings soon.

Making Turkish Coffee - Illustrated Guide

2008-06-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all you coffee lovers!

Finally I have a new camera, so I can make a proper guide with nice, clear pictures.
And this time - How I brew Turkish Coffee.

First, the tools. I have this beautiful Ibrik (Locally we call it Finjan) you don't have to have exactly this. There is also this shape (more common), and any small, narrow pot may do.
It is traditionally made of copper, with tin inside.

Pour water inside for as much coffee as you want.

Now the coffee is Fine Ground Turkish or Greek coffee. The Greek usually make their coffee roasted lighter than the Turkish Coffee. I like both!
If you don't have it in local shops, you can easily find it for sale on the Internet. Grinding it yourself doubles the pleasure :-)

Now we place the Ibrik on the stove. The fire should be medium power, but should not exceed the limits of the Ibrik.

Wrong! This fire exceeds the limits of the Ibrik. It can burn the handle and the nice shape of the pot.

Now we watch the heating water. When small bubbles start to show, but well before boiling, it is time to add the coffee.

Coffee in the pot.
Now we wait for the coffee to rise. The coffee covers the water and creates isolation, preventing heat from leaving the water. This speeds up the boiling, which means we don't have to wait too long.

Coffee starts to rise!

Rising!
This is not a good photo... Because coffee rise really fast I got a bit nervous...

Turn off the fire immediately.
Now mix lightly with a teaspoon.
This allows the coffee particles to swim freely, and eventually sink.

Now wait about half a minute for the coffee particles to sink.

And pour!

A fine cup of Turkish Coffee!

I hope you enjoy this guide, and would appreciate your feedback. Did you find it useful?

Finally, I owe credit for the spirit of things to the great coffee guys at coffeegeek. They make great guides with awesome photos. You are the best!

My Coffee Habits

2008-06-02T02:37:00.000-07:00

I like good coffee (obviously, I am the owner of this blog :-) ), so you might think I drink it all day long.
But for me it's a bit like wine - I like and appreciate coffee, but if I drink too much it does not do me good...
Caffeine has a strong influence over me - a little makes me feel good, vital, clear and optimistic.
A lot of it makes me irritable and nervous.
So I drink only 2, sometimes 3, cups a day.
But I make sure it is good coffee that I will enjoy.
During the week it will generally be in the office: in the morning when I arrive and after lunch.
The office has supply of nice Brazilian Coffee, roasted and mixed to create good Turkish Coffee.
At the weekend I drink at home, sometimes my home roasted coffee, and sometimes what I buy at select coffee shops. I will tell about my home roasting in a future post.
I make it using either my Moka, Brikka, or French Press.

When I am at a coffee shop I will try to see if the Barista on shift knows what he is doing. If so, I will take espresso. If not, I will think again, and maybe get a cappuccino.

Thats for me.

What are your coffee habits?

Fresh Coffee in Cookies

2008-05-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we had my aunt coming over to coffee, so I decided to make my famous Chocolate Chip cookies. That wouldn't have been stuff for this blog, unless in the last 6 cookies, I decided to make an experiment.
I grounded some fresh coffee, and put it in the mixture, along with a little bit of cocoa.
The result? What can I say, I wish I could post the smell and aroma... the fresh coffee gave it a great aroma and punch!
I am really happy with it!

(Hey you guys at blogger! Maybe add "Smell Plugin" and "Taste Plugin" for us coffee lovers?)

I can only post photos however (not so HQ, I will buy a better camera soon):

Best of grind to you all!

Old Glass Stovetop Percolator

2008-05-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

Recently my Mother-In-Law moved to Jamaica(!). During the packing process, she found an old Stovetop Percolator, made of glass. She offered it to me, and of course I took it. It turns out that Stove top Percolators used to be popular in the 70s-80s in Israel. This particular one is very nice because it is made of high quality Pyrex glass, which, aside from being beautiful, allows to see the details of the coffee brewing process.
I tested it and videotaped the session with my Cellular Phone's camera (Not very high quality, I know, but still you can see the brewing details).

Here you can see the start of the action, when tiny bubbles start moving around:

Here the action intensifies:

And here the full brewing happens:

Here you can see the main feature (some call it disadvantage!) of the stovetop percolators:
The control of the brew intensity by allowing the water to cycle again through the coffee ground:

Enjoy!

p.s.
As for Jamaica: I will tell you about it another time.

Have an aromatic grind, and a fine day!

My Coffee Story

2008-05-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Coffee was always around - but somehow did not touch me until I was 22.
As a child, Coffee was something the grown ups drank, usually early in the morning. It was not for me, and I did not really like it, but the smell of Turkish Coffee always woke me up in the morning - and I guess this childhood imprint of fresh Coffee smell greatly influenced my later attraction to the aromatic drink.
When I was a teenager I started drinking some coffee, but only instant and only as Ice-Coffee. Even in the army I did not really like it, but consumed it to keep me warm and awake during the long cold nights.
It was when I was 22 that my friend, who worked as a barista in one of the newly emerging quality caffe's, bought me a holiday gift of a Bialetti Moka Express and a bag of fresh ground Coffee.
And this is when I found out that coffee can be REALLY tasty.
From then I learned more and drank more, and had a set of Mokas, for every occasion.
The next jump came when I started grinding my own coffee, in the beginning with a spice grinder, and later on with a high quality burr grinder.
When fresh ground coffee no longer a problem, I decided to educate myself with coffee and try different kinds. This required a taster's approach, so I got to know the French Press method for coffee making, which in my opinion enables more accurate appreciation of coffee than Mokas.
After that I started roasting my own coffee - with moderate success - I still have a lot to learn in this field).
When I started my self education process, I started writing my Hebrew blog to share my experiences.

Now I think I should not limit myself to Hebrew, and share my experiences with the world.

Have a great coffee day!

First Israeli Coffee

2008-05-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all new readers of my all new Israeli Coffee Blog!

Ever wondered what the state of the coffee culture in Israel is ?

I am an Israeli Coffee Aficionado and in this blog you will find my thoughts and impressions on coffee in Israel in particular and internationally.

I already have a Hebrew blog about coffee, but it seems not enough anymore.
I realized this as I had guests from Switzerland (Swiss-Italy) and they enjoyed the coffee I drink at home, which is an excellent Israeli blend.
This made me think that the world needs to know that Israel's coffee culture has made a great leap in the last 10 years, and that any serious coffee drinker can have a good cup in Israel.
Also, when a lot of the world's citizens are only aware of Israel in relation to the Middle East Security issues, it is time to know that good things happen here also. Drinking Coffee is common to all Middle Eastern countries. I strongly believe that Coffee brings people together, and therefor promotes healthy communication, understanding and finally, Peace.

So come with me to experience Israeli Coffee!

Good luck!

Noam