Chorreador - The Low-Tech Coffee Solution

Jeanne Leblanc | Coach Class

I'm a technophile, all about the iPod, the digital camera and the associated gadgetry. But when it comes to making coffee on the road - a very serious matter in my tribe - my solution is about as low-tech as you can get. It's a chorreador de cafe.

A chorreador is a small cloth bag hanging from a wire loop. You put the coffee in the bag, you pour boiling water through it into some sort of container, even directly into a cup. Voila. Coffee.

I first ran across the chorreador in Costa Rica, where it is still much used to make coffee. Many Costa Rican homes have a stand or a wall-mounted holder to put the chorreador in, which is easier and safer than holding it while pouring boiling water through it. (Here'a nice explanation.) I once had such a stand, which I used to make coffee at home. I've since gone over to an electric coffeemaker for convenience, but I have used a chorreador more than once when we had a power failure.

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