Café de Olla-Mexican Spiced Coffee

   I went to a friend's house the other night. Her mother was visiting from Mexico.  When she heard I enjoyed coffee Senora insisted on making me Café de Olla.

Having never had Café de Olla before I was more than willing to try. My friend's mother got out a  pot and started boiling water. 

Senora apologized for not having her coffee pot. Not knowing any better, I said no problem.  Senora explained it was a problem but she would make do. She traditionally makes Café de Olla in an earthenware pot called an Olla.

 
While the water was heating Senora  got one of those cones of Mexican brown sugar called piloncillo, some dark roasted coffee beans, and a cinnamon stick. and a small container of anise seeds.

She quickly chopped the piloncillo into little bits. Piloncillo is a dark brown sugar and tastes almost heavy like molasses. It is much richer than the dark brown sugar I am used to having.

Ella was given the coffee beans to grind.  She ground the beans coarsely and set  them aside.

By now my nose was in heaven. The fragrances of fresh ground coffee mixed with the cinnamon.

Senora tossed the cinnamon and the piloncillo into the now boiling water. The water was allowed to boil  for about 15". Senora stirred it often to make sure the piloncillo dissolved. As the mixture boiled the volume decreased as well by about a quarter of the original liquid.

At that moment Senora added the coffee to the water stirring gently. The gentle stirring she explained let out the full flavor of the coffee without bruising its taste. The mixture was brought to a boil again and then the pot was taken off the burner. Senora covered the pot and explained the coffee now had to rest.

After about five minutes or so, the coffee was declared ready. Ella got some mugs and her mother strained the coffee through a coffee filter. After the coffee was filtered it was poured into our waiting mugs. She topped the coffee with a few anise seeds.

Senora watched me as I took my first sip.  It was delicious.

Piloncillo gave not only sweetness but a full bodied taste. Ella explained it was because piloncillo is not as refined as the brown sugar I usually see in the store. The café de Olla brewed, I would almost called it steeped, at the bottom of the pot. The result was a very smooth coffee with no bite.

Senora told me Café de Olla recipes vary by family. Some add cloves to the coffee instead of anise, others add orange zest. Overall the result is a very fragrant and sweet coffee meant to be savored.

Not the usual grind,

.