South Indian filter coffee is brewed with this metal device that resembles two cylindrical cups, one of which has a pierced bottom that nests into the top of the "tumbler" cup, leaving ample room underneath to receive the brewed coffee. The upper cup has two removable parts: a pierced pressing disc with a central stem handle and a covering lid. The upper cup is loaded with ground coffee. The grounds are then compressed (i.e., tamped) with the stemmed disc into a uniform layer across the cup's pierced bottom. The coarser the coffee grinds, the more one has to tamp the coffee to retain the same extraction. With the press disc left in place, the upper cup is nested into the top of the tumbler and boiling water is poured inside. The lid is placed on top, and the device is left to slowly drip the brewed coffee into the bottom. The resulting brew is generally much stronger than Western drip/filter coffee, and often stronger than even espresso because of the longer brewing time.Traditionally, the coffee is consumed by adding 1–2 tablespoons of the brew to a cup of boiling milk with the preferred amount of sugar. The extraction process may be continued once or twice more with the same coffee powder but the brew will be much lighter Before initial use - soak the top portion of the coffee filter (which has the holes in the bottom) and the filter (the plate which has holes and a holder) in hot water for a few minutes and unclog the holes using a needle or a brush. Its good to do this procedure once in a while to clear any blocking and efficient use of the coffee filter.The process should take less than 15 minutes.
