"If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees. "
~Kahlil Gibran
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I can't live without my melior.
This is something I would take with me if I only had one trunk to put everything in.
I have used my melior pot for 6 years, and the one before that for over 18 years. A melior pot is a way to make coffee. Really good coffee. Without using up one of the scarce electrical outlets on my kitchen counter. My kitchen counter is premium real estate. Whatever is there has to really earn its priviledged place in my life. I use one made by Bodum, called the Chambord. There are other manufacturers that make this kind of coffee press, too. They are also called a French Press coffee maker. Mine makes 8 cups (34 oz) and you can get them in other sizes. The first one I got made about two cups (depending on how large your coffee mug is. These days one cup in a mug is the same size as three regular cups used to be!)
I think that this is the best way to make coffee, because you don't actually boil the coffee itself. You add boiling water to the press with coarse ground coffee, but then let it steep for about 4 minutes, instead of continuing to boil it like my Mother's and Grandmother's coffee makers used to do.
The Bodum people say they are Dishwasher safe, but I handwash mine, because I love it so much.
Here's the advantages to using a melior pot, from someone who loves coffee, and has used one for over 20 years:
They are quick and easy to use.
With the time I save, I have begun to grind my own coffee with a small spice/coffee grinder.
No filter needed.
You don't need to buy coffee filters, since the melior comes with its own permanent filter. So to save money and time, I often forgoe adding a paper filter. I also can taste the paper and got tired of that added paper taste.
Years ago, I switched to chlorine-free coffee filters when a family member died of cancer. So these were sometimes hard to find. But you can buy filters for meliors. You only need a small circle of filter paper the size of the diameter of the pot, and I can find these at my local grocery. This is if you want to remove certain oils that are in coffee that tend to make it bitter, and less healthy. Research has found that the paper coffee filter does make a difference. I can't seem to find the chlorine-free version of these, but I suppose if I was a fanatic, I could simply cut the circles out of the larger size chlorine-free filters.
No plastic.
I like that they are not made of plastic. They use some kind of temperature resistant resin to make the handles, but no plastic touches the water/coffee. I can taste the plastic when drinking coffee, (particularly the styrofoam cups) and when you pay a premium price for the coffee, you want to taste the coffee, and all the nuances of really good coffee. I also am very concerned about the additives in some plastics, particularly the very hard plastics like Nalgene, which have had a cancer-causing agent added to them that leaches into what is contained by them.
When I was working, I was remarking on how much garbage our lunchroom created, and began re-using my styrofoam cups a few times by rinsing them out. When a few months later I took it a step further (which at the time seemed radical,) and tried to reduce my impact on the environment by bringing my own ceramic mug, it seemed to change how I saw drinking coffee. As something with more to it than just gulping it down like a soda. This was before Starbucks.
No cord.
No plug, no electrical outlet needed.
I just use a tea kettle to boil water, but you can also use the microwave for heating the water.
You can take it camping.
Fewer working parts = fewer things to break and go wrong.
They last a VERY long time. My sister has replaced her coffee maker several times in the years since I have owned and loved my melior pot.
They look good in my kitchen.
They are made well, of pyrex-type glass and polished steel, and, I think, are beautiful. You can leave them on your counter and they look good. Better than the plastic electric kind. They look like an instrument or expensive tool, rather than a standard appliance.
Interestingly, the Bodum, which is the most popular brand of melior, is made by an old clarinet factory in Normandy. (I just read a review posting that says the quality has changed, since the original craftsmen might not still be there anymore, so it might pay to look for a used one or antique one. Mine is 6 years old now, and is still made very well.)
I have used my melior pot for 6 years, and the one before that for over 18 years. A melior pot is a way to make coffee. Really good coffee. Without using up one of the scarce electrical outlets on my kitchen counter. My kitchen counter is premium real estate. Whatever is there has to really earn its priviledged place in my life. I use one made by Bodum, called the Chambord. There are other manufacturers that make this kind of coffee press, too. They are also called a French Press coffee maker. Mine makes 8 cups (34 oz) and you can get them in other sizes. The first one I got made about two cups (depending on how large your coffee mug is. These days one cup in a mug is the same size as three regular cups used to be!)
I think that this is the best way to make coffee, because you don't actually boil the coffee itself. You add boiling water to the press with coarse ground coffee, but then let it steep for about 4 minutes, instead of continuing to boil it like my Mother's and Grandmother's coffee makers used to do.
The Bodum people say they are Dishwasher safe, but I handwash mine, because I love it so much.
Here's the advantages to using a melior pot, from someone who loves coffee, and has used one for over 20 years:
They are quick and easy to use.
With the time I save, I have begun to grind my own coffee with a small spice/coffee grinder.
No filter needed.
You don't need to buy coffee filters, since the melior comes with its own permanent filter. So to save money and time, I often forgoe adding a paper filter. I also can taste the paper and got tired of that added paper taste.
Years ago, I switched to chlorine-free coffee filters when a family member died of cancer. So these were sometimes hard to find. But you can buy filters for meliors. You only need a small circle of filter paper the size of the diameter of the pot, and I can find these at my local grocery. This is if you want to remove certain oils that are in coffee that tend to make it bitter, and less healthy. Research has found that the paper coffee filter does make a difference. I can't seem to find the chlorine-free version of these, but I suppose if I was a fanatic, I could simply cut the circles out of the larger size chlorine-free filters.
No plastic.
I like that they are not made of plastic. They use some kind of temperature resistant resin to make the handles, but no plastic touches the water/coffee. I can taste the plastic when drinking coffee, (particularly the styrofoam cups) and when you pay a premium price for the coffee, you want to taste the coffee, and all the nuances of really good coffee. I also am very concerned about the additives in some plastics, particularly the very hard plastics like Nalgene, which have had a cancer-causing agent added to them that leaches into what is contained by them.
When I was working, I was remarking on how much garbage our lunchroom created, and began re-using my styrofoam cups a few times by rinsing them out. When a few months later I took it a step further (which at the time seemed radical,) and tried to reduce my impact on the environment by bringing my own ceramic mug, it seemed to change how I saw drinking coffee. As something with more to it than just gulping it down like a soda. This was before Starbucks.
No cord.
No plug, no electrical outlet needed.
I just use a tea kettle to boil water, but you can also use the microwave for heating the water.
You can take it camping.
Fewer working parts = fewer things to break and go wrong.
They last a VERY long time. My sister has replaced her coffee maker several times in the years since I have owned and loved my melior pot.
They look good in my kitchen.
They are made well, of pyrex-type glass and polished steel, and, I think, are beautiful. You can leave them on your counter and they look good. Better than the plastic electric kind. They look like an instrument or expensive tool, rather than a standard appliance.
Interestingly, the Bodum, which is the most popular brand of melior, is made by an old clarinet factory in Normandy. (I just read a review posting that says the quality has changed, since the original craftsmen might not still be there anymore, so it might pay to look for a used one or antique one. Mine is 6 years old now, and is still made very well.)
The melior can be used to make tea from bulk.
Bulk tea is often cheaper than packaged tea, or in the case of organic teas, it is the only way to purchase it. Sometimes I even empty out the teabags into the melior because I want to avoid that "wet paper" taste.
I put a kitchen towel around my pot to keep the coffee warm, but there is a type of melior that is double-walled stainless steel that can keep coffee warm all morning like a thermos, and another type that is double-walled glass. The stainless steel one has a very graceful design.
I saw my first melior at the Coffee Trader on Milwaukee's East Side. Does anyone remember The Coffee Trader? The Coffee Trader was way ahead of its time. They served all their coffee this way, and each time the waiters had to explain how to use them (its very simple, wait a few minutes, then push the plunger with the filter on it down, then pour.) The Coffee Trader had absolutely adorable "cozys" that were quilted and "stood up" over the melior pot. They each were made of a different fabric. I have always wanted one, but somehow never got or made one.
I just looked around for one on the web, but none of them look like the ones the Coffee Trader used to have. The Coffee Trader one was larger than the melior, stood on its own (even without the melior in it) was made of four pieces of quilted fabric which were sewn together and had four finished edges, and curved at the top to a point which had some kind of fabric knob type finish on it. To pick it up, you just grabbed the top knot and lifted it up to pour some coffee. It would also work to store the melior, like a melior cover. Remember the quilted covers people used to use to cover their toasters? My Grandmother had one. If anyone wants to make one like this, I would buy it. I would line the inside with a heat-reflecting fabric, and use a kind of fiber felt inside the quilting that is like the water repellant fabrics mountain climbers wear. And I liked the floral prints they had, which reminded me of the antique floral prints my grandmother used to wear in the 40's.
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