Michigan Snow Coffee

Well, since I have heard good things about Colorado Coffee I decided to take a stab at making some Michigan Snow Coffee. I set out a large stainless steel mixing bowl during the snow flurries that we had yesterday and today and then tonight I had better than a quart of raw, untreated, water from the Michigan sky.

I brought the water inside and poured into a glass Pyrex container. I inspected it for contaminates and found that the water was perfectly clear without anything that even whispered that it should be filtered. So, I poured it into my aluminum pot, added 5 tablespoons of Maxwell House grounds and boiled it for 5 minutes. I then poured the coffee through a filter to remove the grounds and viola - Michigan Snow Coffee was served!

The brew was the color of brown tar nicotine - which is a vulgar thought but a good descriptive tool. It was not a clear and clean brown but almost solid as it looked quite viscous however the body had no discernible functionality. The flavor reminded me that I should have filtered the water before using it to brew with. The dominating sensation was that of a metal in the nose. The metallic sensation reminded me of well-water that was straight from the ground - a tad bit rusty.

As I thought about how this Michigan Snow Coffee might be considered "good" (like the Colorado Coffee) I figure that I would have to create an experience much like hiking the trail by the Colorado River. I figure if I can get people to pay me $2000.00 to spend a week in my home (lodge) and make the last night a hike along the St. Clair river with a sleep in a tent during the Winter, my customers would find that my Michigan Snow Coffee would be the best thing that they had ever tasted. So if you are ever coming to the Anchor Bay area and have $2000.00 to spend, please call on me and I will give you the works - even Michigan Snow Coffee.

Colorado Coffee

I have heard people tell me that the best coffee that they have ever had was coffee that they had on hiking trips in Colorado along the Colorado River. I was thinking about that and decided to give my cousin a call who was the Trail Cook for one such excursion company. I asked her what she did to make the coffee along the trail. Here's what she told me.

"Get ICE-COLD water from the river and filter/purify it. Fill a big coffee pot with the water, through some grounds in it, and boil for 5 minutes. After boiling and just before serving, pour a cup of ice cold water on top (this causes the grounds to fall to the bottom of the pot). At this point serve Colorado Coffee."

I live on the St. Clair River and have been considering getting some water from it and making some "St. Clair Coffee" but my wife is aghast at the notion. She doesn't think I could filter or purify it enough to make it safe. I am leaning on her side of the discussion. I am thinking that I will just wait for a good snow fall and make some "Snow Coffee" instead. ;-)