Mountain Coffee: Fuegian Coffee with Cognac and Orange
Mountain coffee is served in Ushuaia, in restaurants that have a round hearth in the center of the room: a kettle spends hours next to the fire, and around it, on the edge of the hearth, a round of cups is warmed. It contains sugar burnt over firewood, orange peel passed through the fire, cinnamon, and a splash of many spirits: cognac, whiskey, gin, crème de cacao, pisco, caña, and grappa. The list is more intimidating than the coffee itself: each drink is used in a small amount, and the total per cup is that of a calypso coffee. It ends up neither too sweet nor too strong. This is the homemade version, with the complete list and what to do if you are missing a bottle.
Ingredients
- 1 liter of water
- 60 g of coarsely ground coffee
- 80 g of sugar
- Peel of 1 orange, in wide strips and without the white part
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 30 ml of cognac
- 30 ml of whiskey
- 30 ml of crème de cacao
- 20 ml of gin
- 20 ml of pisco
- 20 ml of caña
- 20 ml of grappa
- Optional: 1 small ember of hardwood
Method
- 1
Heat the water until it boils and set it aside.
- 2
Burn the sugar: place it alone in a heavy-bottomed pot (saucepan) over medium heat and do not stir it. When it starts to melt, move the pot so it melts evenly, until it turns dark amber. It is a dry caramel (the technique, step by step). Taking it to a dark color is the key to the coffee: the caramel provides a toasted bitterness rather than sweetness, which is why it is not cloying.
- 3
Remove from the heat and pour in the hot water little by little and carefully, because it splashes and releases steam. The caramel hardens and immediately dissolves again. Add the cinnamon and return the pot to the heat.
- 4
Pass the orange peel through the fire: hold the strips with tongs over the flame for a few seconds, until the edges toast and release their perfume. The heat releases the oils from the peel, which is what is later perceived in the cup. Add them to the pot.
- 5
When it comes to a boil, turn off the heat, add the coffee, stir, and cover. Let it sit for 4 minutes.
- 6
Optional, if you have a wood fire: take a small, clean ember with tongs, dip it into the coffee for an instant, and remove it. It is a rustic method that gives it a smoky touch. In the Fuegian hearth, that smoke is also provided by the firewood: the kettle spends hours next to the fire.
- 7
Strain the coffee with a fine-mesh strainer or a cloth filter and transfer it to a kettle or a pitcher. Add all the spirits off the heat: alcohol begins to evaporate near 78 °C, and if the coffee boils with them inside, the alcohol and a good part of the aroma are lost.
- 8
If you are missing a bottle: what defines the flavor is the caramel, orange, cinnamon, cognac, whiskey, and crème de cacao, which adds sweetness and a chocolate background. Gin, pisco, caña, and grappa provide nuances; if you do not have them, replace them with more cognac to maintain the alcohol content.
- 9
Keep it hot without boiling, like the kettle on the side of the hearth and not on top (how to do it at home). Warm the cups beforehand with hot water, just like on the edge of the hearth: in a cold cup, the coffee loses temperature immediately.