Reinventing the Devil's Cup
Sufism, Coffee corps and the Aeropress
“Every sip carries with it the stories of pirates, priests and poets.”
— The Devil’s cup, Stewart Lee Allen.
Coffee has become as fundamental to the capitalist machine as McDonald’s and Coca Cola. Pumped out en masse, the sacred black liquid has become but a chemical artefact of its spiritual origins.
Those origins can be traced to present-day Ethiopia - where legend has it; a medieval goat herder tasted the suspicious fruit that made his herd run wild.
Coffee would later become a ritualised practice for the Sufi mystics. An Islamic spiritual order, the Sufis would use coffee as a pick-me-up prior to commencing repeated bouts of whirling and rhythmic recitations (Zhikr). The objective - to transcend the self and connect with the divine.
Opposed to Coffee’s spread were more conservative Islamic authorities - who viewed the black liquid as an intoxicant and its consumption as dangerous form of “innovation” that was haram (forbidden).
Following Coffee’s spread to the middle east and levant, Coffee houses would later be outlawed by Ottoman authorities, who far from being religious fundamentalists - viewed coffee as an avenue towards dissent and sedition.
Indeed, coffee built it’s name on free thought and spirituality and was opposed by authoritarians and tyrants alike.
What became of coffee, the sufis would not have seen. Removed from its mystical origins, Coffee has become as banal and sterilised as the machines from which it is ejected.
Absent of craftsmanship - at the press of a button the big coffee bosses want you to believe that this is what coffee is about. That the depth of coffee is defined only by an energy spike at an arbitrary time of the morning. That coffee is but a lubricant of the rat race.
At Uke Coffee (@ukecoffee on Instagram) my brother, Alex and I see things differently. Coffee is an art, a science, a way of life. An exploration of sights, smells and dare we say it - the inner landscape. A VIBE.
But not let’s get it twisted. Coffee is not and should not be a high brow affair. When faced with Starbucks and Costa, the alternative should not be the beanie-clad, intellectualising, moralising, gentrifying, “rah where’s my baccy” exclaiming brand of coffee that defines so-called “speciality coffee.”
Thus, we present an alternative - The Bolo Shot. A direct answer to the glorious and esteemed espresso shot that has been so co-opted and bastardised by the coffee corps.
A shot of coffee equal in volume to the Espresso, the bolo shot is made on the most versatile of vessels of coffee brewing - The Aeropress.
The Bolo Shot is our answer to the button pressers of the coffee world - Quick, convenient, stress free - yet f*cking flavoursome.
Enjoy!
☕️ BOLO SHOT BREW GUIDE 🥃
PRESENTING AN UKE SPECIAL - THE BOLO SHOT
Start by setting up your aeropress, this comes together quickly - so you’ll want everything ready:
- Invert aeropress.
- Place filter in the cap.
Weigh 20g of beans and grind them fine (much finer than a normal aeropress) - approximately the consistency of sand.
Tip your grounds into the inverted aeropress.
Boil water, you’re going to want it hot (approx 96 degrees - or about 30s off the boil).
At this point, you can wet your filter so it sticks to the cap.
Pour water onto grounds. For the bolo shot, we use a 3:1 ratio - so if you’ve used 20g of coffee, pour in 60g of water.
Stir grounds into the hot water until you get an even mixture.
Time 20s on the clock, whilst waiting you can screw the aeropress cap (with the filter) on.
Once 20s is up, cover the aeropress cap with a container and then flip the inverted aeropress.
Press the plunger down hard (APPLY PRESSURE) and enjoy your bolo shot 💪🏼☕️.