Honduran Morning Coffee
Over two decades ago, I spent two memorable years with the Peace Corps, bringing potable water to my community, high in the coffee-producing sector of Western Honduras. Prior to Honduras, I didn’t drink coffee, even with the many all-nighters in college. However, all that changed with my service. You see, whenever I made a visit to a household for work reasons, I was typically offered a cup of coffee as a sign of hospitality. Since it was culturally offensive to turn down an offering, I acquired a taste for the unique way Hondurans make coffee. With the lingering taste of Honduran coffee on my palate, I tried to recreate my own version of this staple from memory, some twenty-three years later. Thus, the following recipe is consistent with the coffee I grew to love in rural Honduras. Now that I sip on it, I’m transported back to all the adventures I had in this picturesque country.
Ingredients
- 4 T. high-quality French roast coffee, like Peet's Major Dickason
- 2 ¾ cup water (I fill the water receptacle on my machine to 4)
- 4 T. whole allspice, add more or less, adjusting to your taste
- 2 T. white granulated sugar
- Note: if you go through a lot of allspice, as I do, you may save money by buying allspice in bulk on the Internet. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for a source.
Directions
- Step 1 To begin, if you need to grind your beans, do so now. Then, place a liner in your pot’s filter, if using, and spoon 4 T. of ground coffee into the liner. Note: I use 1 T. of grounds per 1 water line on my pot. Add more or less for a stronger or weaker brew. And there’s no correlation, 4 lines on my pot equals 2 ¾ cup water. Still, pour 2 ¾ cups water into your pot for 2 cups of coffee. Then, add 4 T. allspice to your liner and grounds. Since 4 T. of allspice imbues a strong yet smoky flavor to your coffee, feel free to adjust to your palate. You may need to experiment to get the right balance of coffee to allspice, adding more or less.
- Step 2 Finally, brew your coffee on your pot’s strong setting if your machine has the luxury of one. After the coffee is brewed, pour a cup for one person or two cups for two persons, adding 1 T. of sugar per cup.
- Step 3 Note: the sugar is key to cutting the bitter edge of the coffee. I used to temper the bitterness of my coffee with the rich fatness of half-and-half cream, but I packed on the pounds drinking so much fat. So, I switched to coconut and oat creamers, sacrificing on the flavor. But now I have an alternative, which reminds me of my service in West Honduras.
Here, the traditional cup of Joe is given a twist, with the unexpected complement of allspice and sugar to coffee. This is the customary way coffee was served when I was a Peace Corp Volunteer two decades ago in the coffee-producing sector of West Honduras.
SOURCE:
Spicy World Allspice Whole Berries, 14 oz, on Amazon.
Nutritional Information: serving size: 1 1/3 cups, servings per recipe: 2, calories: 83, total fat: 0.3 g., saturated fat: 0 g., cholesterol: 0 g., sodium: 16 mg., total carbohydrate: 15 g., dietary fiber: 0 g., total sugars: 13 g., protein: 1.1 g., calcium: 86 mg., iron: 0.89 mg., potassium: 281 mg., magnesium: 26 mg., vitamin D: 0 IU, vitamin C: 4.7 mg., vitamin B-1: 0.1 mg., folate: 11 µg.