Sunday afternoon is when it happened.

I have tried for years to make Dominican coffee.

Each time I go to my friend Travis’s place, I secretly hope he’ll have some made.

And then I go home and try to replicate it.

But it never tastes right.

For a while, I tried it with drip coffee and experimental amounts of sugar.

I almost caught myself gagging once during that saga.

Then I tried it with an Americana.

This was closer, but still a far cry from the real deal.

And besides, it seemed I was gaining weight.

Lastly, I tried it with pour over as my base, but this was gibberish.

I tried different beans, but to no avail.

So, Sunday I was at Travis’s house.

And besides a super dinner of roast and ham, potatoes, lettuce salad and fresh buns of which I discreetly had three, I looked for the coffee when dessert rolled around.

But I was in for a disappointment.

Of course, the coffee they served was excellent; it just wasn’t Dominican.

I ventured to ask how they made it.

They brought out a special coffee pot they had from the Dominican and showed me how it was done.

I realized that although I didn’t have the coffee vessel they had, I had a Hario Technica Glass Syphon coffee maker that my family had given me for a special occasion that did the exact same thing as their thing.

I got myself home as soon as seemed politely possible.

I found all the equipment, including the dried-out filter that was still in the refrigerator where it was supposed to be in water so it would seal off decently. 

I got the Bunsen burner filled with alcohol, let the wick soak in it a bit and started heating my water in the electric pitcher we have.  (It would have taken too long to heat a cup and a half of water with that little burner and plus, I was anxious to see how things turned out, so I gave it a jump start in that pitcher.)

Next, I ground some Guatemala beans that my friend Emery had roasted to a fine perfection.  Even he admitted himself that they were good, and I’ll vouch for him.

I fired up the Bunsen burner and placed it under the bottom chamber.

I put a fourth cup of coffee grinds into the top of the rig and waited for the water in the bottom to come to a boil, whence it would be forced up the glass tube, through the grinds, and into the upper chamber.

After a minute, once all the water was on top and stirring it, I snuffed the fire.  In a few seconds all the water came back down through the grounds into the bottom chamber. 

I quickly found a glass pitcher, put a fourth cup of brown sugar (one of the missing details in all my earlier trials, and poured my brew on top and stirred it in. 

It was so good I told Travis’s boy Lane I could get drunk on it.

And the proof was the next morning. 

My coffee cup was stuck to the counter.

Who cares about gaining weight anyway when coffee is that good.