August 11, 2013

Learning from Shukan Flavor, Part 4/週間フレーバーで学ぶ パート4

Shukan Flavor 4 is about nel (flannel) drip.
週間フレーバー4はネルドリップについてです。

Shukan Flavor 4: Playing with Nel Drip/週間フレーバー4・ネルドリップで遊ぶ

First of all, Nakagawa-san says that as for nel drip, there are a number of "schools" or "factions", which may be fastidious, and he himself has nothing to do with such matters at all. He simply intends to describe his way of nel drip. He has no intention to pick a fight with anyone. As a pacifist, he has to make this clear first.
最初に中川さんはネルドリップに関しては、うるさい派閥が多く、中川さん自身はそういうこととは全く縁がないそうです。中川さん自身のネルドリップの方法を説明するだけで、誰かにけんかを売る気はまったくないそうです。平和主義者としては、まずそこを明確にしたいそうです。

He says that a brand-new nel is no good. It has to be used 100 times to make coffee so that it gets stained with oil, letting oil pass through it. Once used, a nel should be washed with water alone. No detergent should be used. He introduces a clever way to stain a brand-new nel with oil instantly. At 13:05, he starts pouring espresso coffee in the nel, three cups in total. The brand-new nel is now ready for use.

新品のネルはダメだそうです。100回コーヒーを淹れるのに使って、オイルで汚し、油を通せるようにする必要があるそうです。一旦ネルを使い始めたら、ネルは水で洗うだけです。洗剤は使いません。新品のネルを即座にオイルで汚す、すごい方法を紹介してくれます。13:05、ネルにエスプレッソコーヒーを入れます(全部で3杯)。新品のネルがもう使えるようになります。

A nel is raised on one side. Brewing coffee with the raised side out is no different from brewing with the Matsuya method, he says. At 21:40, he starts brewing coffee with the raised side out. At 23:10, he starts brewing coffee with the Matsuya method.
ネルは片方が起毛しています。起毛した側を外側にしてコーヒーを淹れることは、松屋式で淹れるのと変わらないそうです。21:40、外起毛でコーヒーを淹れ始めます。23:10、松屋式でコーヒーを淹れ始めます。

At 33:52, Sae-chan (assistant) tastes both brews. Nakagawa-san says that the coffee made with the nel may be a little weak but it feels as if it went around in the mouth because of the oil.
33:52、さえちゃんが2つのコーヒーを試飲します。中川さんによれば、ネルで淹れたコーヒーはちょっと薄いかもしれないが、油があって、口の中で回るような感じになるそうです。

At 40:45, Nakagawa-san shows the coarse grind for use to make coffee with the raised side out, and at 40:54, he shows the fine grind for use to make coffee with the raised side in.
40:45、中川さんは外起毛でコーヒーを淹れるための粗挽きを見せ、40:54には、内起毛でコーヒーを淹れるための細挽きを見せます。

At 42:47, he starts pouring water. The coffee grounds bloom considerably. At 44:12, after the coffee grounds have sunk, he starts pouring water in a floral pattern. The resultant coffee is very strong.
42:47、お湯を入れ始めます。コーヒーの粉はすごく膨らみます。44:12、コーヒーの粉が沈んでから、お湯を花びらの形に入れ始めます。できたコーヒーはとても濃いです。

At 57:42, Nakagawa-san starts pouring water, with the raised side in, to demonstrate double filtering. He does not do murashi (steaming). At 1:01:03, Sae-chan tastes the coffee and says it tasts bad. He then does double filtering, that is, simply put the coffee back to the nel. With a paper filter, you couldn't do double filtering because the filter would clog. At 1:03:00, Sae-chan tastes the coffee and says that it is better. In response to a comment from a viewer, Nakagawa-san says that the coffee will taste even better if filtered another time. Coffee grounds have the ability to adsorb off-flavors.

57:42、中川さんは二度ごしを見せるため、内起毛で水を入れ始めます。「蒸らし」は行いません。1:01:03、さえちゃんがコーヒーを試飲して、美味しくないと言います。中川さんは二度ごしを行います。単にコーヒーをネルに戻すだけです。ペーパーフィルターでは、詰まってしまうので、二度ごしはできません。1:03:00、さえちゃんがコーヒーを試飲して、「ましになってる」と言います。視聴者からのコメントに答えて、中川さんは、もう一回こせば、もっと美味しくなると言います。コーヒーの粉には雑味を吸着する力があります。

Nels require meticulous management. According to Nakagawa-san, a nel has to be kept in water to prevent the oil in it from oxidation, and the water must be changed twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.
ネルは細心の管理を必要とします。中川さんによれば、ネルは水につけておき、ネルの中の油の酸化を防ぐ必要があり、その水も一日二回、朝晩に替える必要があります。

5 comments:

Dan said...

Thanks a ton Hiroyuki ...Awesome post as usual ...your site is soon going to be a coffee encyclopedia for all coffee lovers world over ! Appreciate your time and help very very much !

Hiroyuki said...

Dan: Thanks for your compliment. I guess every country/area has their own preferred ways of brewing coffee, but anyway, I think anyone will benefit from the concept of the Matsuya method.

Dan said...

Hiroyuki....I have a question ..Just looking at the flannel cloth dripper ..I see one side is soft and other side cloth material fabric is a little coarse ...so of these two ..which is the "raised side" as apparently there are 2 ways to brew with using fine and coarse ground coffee...
I checked hario's website and they recommend to use coarse side inside ...

http://www.hario.jp/faq.html

Can you please clarify when you get a chance between soft side and coarse side ?

Hiroyuki said...

Dan: I posted about a nel dripper here:
http://hiro-shio.blogspot.jp/2011/01/nel-drip-coffee.html
where the first photo shows a nel dripper with the raised side out.
Raised side = soft side
Un-raised side = coarse

As I said in the post, Nakagawa-san considers that brewing coffee (coarse grind) with the raised side out is quite similar to brewing with the Matsuya method, but differs because the former can let oil pass.
To brew coffee with the raised side in, he uses a fine grind, and does not do "murashi".

There are nel drippers with both sides raised. Someone comments that he uses such nel drippers, and Nakagawa-san replies that he doesn't like them because he can't enjoy the difference between brewing with the raised side in and brewing with the side out.

Anyway, nel dripping is for very serious coffee lovers because nels require meticulous care. Altough he admires nel dripping, Nakagawa-san is not a regular user of nels.

My nel dripper is now dried, and is stored in the cupboard.

Dan said...

Thanks a lot for clarifying Hiroyuki !