Guayoyo

Ingredients

Coffee

• 4 tablespoonscoffee, medium ground
• 1 litrewater

Equipment

• a cloth coffee filter
• a colador de tela
• or a fine sieve with muslin
• a jug

To serve

• sugar, to taste
• small cups
• or a large mug

Directions

1. Rinse the cloth thoroughly after every use. Use hot water and no soap at all. Or dry it completely between uses.
2. Rinse the cloth filter in hot water. Set it over the jug in its ring.
3. Bring the water up to a full boil. Take it off the heat entirely. Let it stand for thirty seconds. About ninety-five degrees is right.
4. Put the ground coffee in the cloth filter. Pour a little hot water over it first.
5. Let it bloom for thirty seconds. Pouring it takes a steady hand. Pour the rest of the water slowly. Pour in a circle from the centre outwards.
6. Keep the grounds submerged as you go. Do not pour it all in at once. Adjust it to suit your own taste. Serving it is done properly hot. Pour it into small cups or a mug.
7. Serve sugar alongside for those who want it. Many Venezuelans take it quite sweet. Make it fresh each time if you can.

Technique

• Venezuela has an unusually precise coffee vocabulary in which each name is a proportion: negrito is small and strong, guayoyo long and weak, marron has a good amount of milk, and tetero is mostly milk, its name referring to a baby’s bottle.
• Guayoyo is brewed weak from the start rather than being an espresso lengthened with water, and that weakness is the point, since it can be drunk all day.
• A cloth filter lets the coffee oils through while paper absorbs them, giving a rounder fuller cup that is still clear; rinse the cloth in hot water with no soap at all, since soap taste clings permanently.

Substitutions

• A fine sieve lined with muslin stands in for a cloth cone filter.
• A paper filter works, though it gives a thinner cup.

Variations

• Negrito is the small strong black version.
• Marron and tetero add increasing amounts of milk.
• Some people add a strip of orange peel or a clove to the grounds.

History

One name in Venezuela’s long coffee vocabulary alongside negrito, marrón and tetero.

Frequently asked questions

What is Guayoyo?

Guayoyo is a drink from Venezuela: weak filtered black coffee poured through a cloth, drunk all day. One name in Venezuela’s long coffee vocabulary alongside negrito, marrón and tetero.

How long does Guayoyo take to make?

Guayoyo takes 5 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Guayoyo?

Yes, within limits. A fine sieve lined with muslin stands in for a cloth cone filter. A paper filter works, though it gives a thinner cup.

What is the most important thing to get right in Guayoyo?

Keep the grounds submerged as you go. Do not pour it all in at once. Adjust it to suit your own taste. Serving it is done properly hot. Pour it into small cups or a mug.