Eric's Beijing Diary

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Melissa gave me this coffee maker when I was in the States last. It's basically a funnel with a bunch of holes in it. But the inside (which you cannot see) is lined with a very tightly woven mesh. Basically, it's a coffee maker with a built-in filter. I have another one that Anne Marie gave me when she came through one time, a plastic funnel with a hole in the bottom. It is a simpler device, because it is designed to be used with a paper filter. But the problem in China is that Chinese people do not drink coffee at home, so you cannot buy coffee filters in the supermarket. I have never seen them for sale in any store I have been in. One of my students offered to help me with my problem and finally found some Japanese one-cup coffee filters online. So I had to have her order some for me whenever I ran out. This thing doesn't need filters--the filter is built in. So techically it is a little more work, because you have to rinse it out each time. But in only takes a minute.

I was worried at first that if I poured the water in too fast, the water would seep through the holes in the top and not touch the coffee, effectively diluting the solution. But that doesn't happen. It's really interesting. Something to do with capilary action, I guess--the mesh is so fine that the water doesn't seep through except where there are coffee grounds.

The next problem I had was how to make a stand for it. The one Anne Marie gave me sits on top of the cup, but this one has to be held in your hand. I didn't want to do that, so I took a plastic jug that had Australian oatmeal in it, and cut one side out. Happily, the mouth of the plastic jug exactly fits the funnel. You can see that when I cut the side out, I left a little lip on the bottom. This is so that if I pull the cup out a little early, the remaining coffee stays in the jug--it doesn't flow out all over the table.

I should caution you that this is not really designed for gourmet coffee. The other day I heated some milk to the boiling point and poured that in instead of water. I was trying to make a latte, but it didn't work that well. I got about half a cup, but the rest just stayed in the funnel. The inside mesh is so fine that milk doesn't really seep through it. So I can't recommend this for that sort of thing. Better to just make a cup of coffee and then pour some condensed milk in after it drips through. But for a basic cup of coffee, this thing is the cat's meow.