The Student's Coffee

Summer is coming, but before we can enjoy ourselves and relax on the beach, we have to get through the fateful exam period.

For us designers, and I don't think we are the only ones, the time is approaching when the nights are waaaaaay too short, and we students can usually be found tapping away at our computers into the small hours. There aren't any particular methods for staying awake - we've tried them all - but in the end the thing that works best is Student's Coffee or Red Bull.

Red Bull

It is a well-known fact that Red Bull contains a LOT of caffeine. But be careful not to abuse it as it can even cause dangerous heart palpitations. That being said, I have heard of people who have drunk seven in one night and are still here to tell the tale!

The Student's Coffee

Not many people know that there is another way to get the caffeine you need for a long night of studying without the large amounts of sugar! This is what I call The Student's Coffee. It is a doubly strong coffee and I would like to share with you how to make it!

Firstly you will need a moka, a metal Italian coffee pot which you heat on the hob.

Pour water into the bottom compartment of the moka. Place the filter into the base, checking that the water comes to within a millimetre of the bottom of the filter. Pour a little bit out if necessary, or top it up if you need to. The amount of water is directly related to the strength of the coffee.

Now take your ground coffee and using a spoon, scoop it into the moka filter. You have to make the so-called "montagnetta" or little mountain. Don't be tempted to flatten the coffee grounds either with the spoon or with your finger; instead leave the coffee to pile up, until it literally can't take any more, forming a little mountain of aromatic coffee.

When you have finished there will be a fair amount of coffee on the work surface. Clean it up and also pass a finger around the rim of the moka, as well as around the seal, to stop it burning.

Now screw the top compartment tightly onto the moka and put it over a low heat on the hob. Wait until you hear the classic sound of the water boiling and the coffee rising. Accompanying this sound will be the delicious aroma of coffee. The aroma will spread across the room (and even the house) in no time.

Leave the coffee to rise a little longer, lifting the lid of the moka from time to time to see how it's doing. When it has finished bubbling out, turn off the heat and you can now pour it into a coffee cup. This is the normal procedure to prepare a normal, concentrated coffee , a "ristretto".

If however you want a real Student's Coffee Bomb, then you're not quite done yet. Once the moka is cool enough to handle, unscrew the top and throw out the now wet and compact coffee grounds.

Instead of water, pour your already-made coffee into the bottom of the moka, replace the filter and make the little mountain of coffee with fresh coffee grounds, as before.

You are now ready to put it back on the heat. Wait until the coffee comes up again.

This second round of coffee will not be made with water, but with the coffee itself. This will give it a much thicker consistency and it will be much stronger. If you want sugar, now is the time to add it.

You are now ready to spend the entire night awake and studying!

Good luck in your exams!

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