I agree with the points you make, and no, not all South Indian Coffee is chicory laden. However, most variations of South Indian coffee contain chicory. Chicory was introduced into South Indian Coffee because real coffee beans were very expensive, and chicory was an acceptable substitute. It's possible that as a result of the close proximity to the Baba Budan hills, and the ensuing coffee growing culture, Mysore coffee didn't need to adulterated.
My folks still prefer the chicory version, that's all they've had all their lives. I really wouldn't be able to convince them to try a darker, bitter coffee. To each his own. Cheeni On 8/28/07, shiv sastry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Tuesday 28 Aug 2007 12:40 am, Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: > > Chicory laden south Indian coffee > > Not all South Indian coffee is "chicory laden". > > The effect achieved by "one's just like another" chain outlets is to kill > variation in favor of promoting brand names that taste like mud. Like someone > said a lot of coffee does taste like mud - because it's ground. > > Apart from the quality of the beans, the actual coffee extract is highly > temperature dependent with the volatiles apparently being ideally extracted > at about 87 to 90 deg C. Lower or higher temperatures extract other volatiles > in greater proportions changing the taste. > > For me personally - I have found that the best coffees get made using certain > equipment. Standard filters (manual or electric) are the worst if you are > stingy in the amount of coffee you load into them, and there can be a lot of > variation unless you are careful. They work out more expensive in the long > run. > > Italian "Neapolitana" filters that require manual inversion after the water > boils are among the best. Probably in between are the "Expresso" coffee > makers - either the manual (twin truncated cone) type or the electric one > that I currently use. For Mysore coffee the steam outlet is best reserved for > simply letting out steam and depressurizing the boiler and nothing else. It's > an otherwise useless appendage. However, froth created by pouring the coffee > from one container to another has useful flavor enhancing properties. > > The quality of milk too is important for Mysooru coffee - and ideally it > should be boiled beforehand, and preheated milk added to hot coffee > decoction. Reheated coffee is a disaster. > > shiv > > > >
