A chorreador is a coffee making device

Coffee preparation

Coffee preparation is the process of turning coffee beans into a beverage. While the particular steps needed vary with the type of coffee desired and with the raw material being utilized, the process is composed of four basic steps; raw coffee beans must be roasted, the roasted coffee beans must...

 used in Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 in which hot water leaches slowly through coffee grounds held in a cloth filter mounted on a wooden stand, and drips into a container.

Design

The chorreador consists of a wooden stand which holds an elongated cotton bolsita (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, "little bag"), shaped rather like a pocket. The mouth of the bolsita is held open by a circular wire or wooden rim that is attached to a handle. The stand is used to hold a coffee cup

Coffee cup

A coffee cup may refer to a type of container from which coffee is consumed. Coffee cups are typically made of glazed ceramic, and have a single handle, allowing for portability while still hot...

 or coffee pot on its base and the bolsita is suspended from the top of the chorreador stand, hanging above the container.

The chorreador can be made at home simply and cheaply

Do it yourself

Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...

 with very basic carpentry

Carpentry

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

 and sewing

Sewing

Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era...

 skills, or crafted from beautiful, decorative, softwood

Softwood

The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....

s or hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

s by an artisan

Artisan

An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...

.

Use

The word chorreador is related to the Spanish verb, chorrear, meaning to drip or trickle, and refers to the action of hot water seeping through the coffee grounds, and dripping out. A coffee cup or pot is placed on the bottom of the stand, and fine to medium-fine ground coffee is spooned into a dry bolsita. This is then suspended from the top of the stand so it hangs over the container. Boiling water is poured slowly over the coffee grounds and the liquid seeps through, making coffee, which drips into the waiting container.

Care of the bolsita

The bolsita is always washed and dried between each use, as a dry bolsita produces the best results. It is advisable for anyone who likes to make coffee often to have more than one filter. When the coffee is made, the bolsita is rinsed afterwards with water to remove the coffee grains. Soap or detergent is never used for cleaning because they would leave an aftertaste in the coffee. In time, oils from the coffee grounds, such as caffeol, dye the cotton bolsita, however, the taste of the brewed coffee remains unaffected. These oils can be dissolved and removed by scrubbing the bolsita with salt about once a month, followed by a thorough rinse to remove all of the salt. A properly cared-for bolsita lasts many months.

External links

• Make your own chorreador