Maachan's Coffee and Movies: Coffee and Temperature in "Before the Coffee Gets Cold"
My mother influenced my love for movies. This is Ma-chin, a staff member.
This is the fourth installment of a column focusing on coffee in movies!
This time, we're introducing the Japanese film, "Café Funiculi Funicula," released in 2018...
As the title suggests, a lot of coffee appears in this movie!
Let's take a look at how coffee appears in this work, where coffee can be said to be at the center of the story.
Click here for the column about the third installment of the series, "The Hateful Eight" → The Hateful Eight's Warm Coffee
The synopsis of "Café Funiculi Funicula" is...
The setting is a small coffee shop called "Funiculi Funicula" in a certain town.
There's an urban legend... that if you sit in "a certain seat" in the shop, you can go back to the past as you wish.
But there are rules...
"Even if you go back to the past, once something has happened, it cannot be changed no matter what."
"Even if you go back to the past, you cannot leave the coffee shop."
And,
"You can only go back to the past from the moment coffee is poured into the cup until it cools down. If you don't finish drinking it before it cools, you'll be trapped in the past and won't be able to return."
...these were the rules.
Everyone has experienced the "regret" of "if only I could go back to that time..."
A young woman who had a fight and broke up with her childhood friend, a husband who wants to know what his wife, who is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's, was trying to tell him, a regular customer who wants to see his deceased sister again...
Customers with various "regrets" visit the shop today and sit in "that seat."
...and so on.
It's a movie that you can watch slowly and feel warm inside. It might be good to watch it on a relaxing afternoon.
By the way, I cried my eyes out at the acting of Yutaka Matsushige and Hiroko Yakushimaru.
Kasumi Arimura's beautiful posture, standing straight and holding the kettle with one hand while supporting it with the other, is also impressive, and after watching the movie, you'll want to brew coffee with a sharp posture.
By the way, the dripper used at Funiculi Funicula is called a Wave Dripper, which has a flat bottom and a slightly different shape from traditional drippers that don't have ribs. Instead of ribs, the wavy filter creates an air passage, allowing coffee to be extracted in a short amount of time.
Freshly brewed coffee may have a rather strong impression, but as the temperature drops, it may change to a slightly cleaner impression or feel sweeter because the perception of taste changes.
Conversely, coffee that can be enjoyed deliciously even when it has cooled down a bit, allowing the taste of the coffee to be felt, is a high-quality product.
If the coffee beans are fresh and of good quality and roasted properly, even if the temperature drops and the "acidity" and "sweetness" become more prominent, there will be no unpleasantness, and it can be enjoyed deliciously, but...
If the coffee beans are old or not roasted enough, you will start to feel off-flavors and astringency as the temperature changes, resulting in "unpalatable" cold coffee.
After brewing coffee, the optimal temperature for delicious enjoyment is said to be "60-70℃."
Humans are said to perceive the deliciousness of warm drinks at about 25℃ above their body temperature.
At this temperature, you can fully appreciate the aroma of the coffee and also perceive the characteristics of the beans, such as acidity and sweetness.
As a tip for enjoying coffee within this temperature range as much as possible, it's a good idea to warm the equipment and cups beforehand to prevent the temperature from dropping even slightly during extraction or when pouring into the cup.
Within the range where deliciousness can be felt, experiencing the change in coffee flavor that accompanies temperature by finishing the coffee "before it cools down" is also one way to enjoy coffee.
Synopsis of "Café Funiculi Funicula"
"Café Funiculi Funicula" is a human drama and fantasy film released in 2018, based on a play and novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and the directorial debut of TV drama director Ayuko Tsukahara.
The synopsis of "Café Funiculi Funicula" is...
The setting is a small coffee shop called "Funiculi Funicula" in a certain town.
There's an urban legend... that if you sit in "a certain seat" in the shop, you can go back to the past as you wish.
But there are rules...
"Even if you go back to the past, once something has happened, it cannot be changed no matter what."
"Even if you go back to the past, you cannot leave the coffee shop."
And,
"You can only go back to the past from the moment coffee is poured into the cup until it cools down. If you don't finish drinking it before it cools, you'll be trapped in the past and won't be able to return."
...these were the rules.
Everyone has experienced the "regret" of "if only I could go back to that time..."
A young woman who had a fight and broke up with her childhood friend, a husband who wants to know what his wife, who is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's, was trying to tell him, a regular customer who wants to see his deceased sister again...
Customers with various "regrets" visit the shop today and sit in "that seat."
...and so on.
It's a movie that you can watch slowly and feel warm inside. It might be good to watch it on a relaxing afternoon.
By the way, I cried my eyes out at the acting of Yutaka Matsushige and Hiroko Yakushimaru.
Coffee in "Café Funiculi Funicula"
In this work, coffee can be said to be the central theme of the story. When the protagonist, Kazunari Tokita, played by Kasumi Arimura, brews coffee, those who sit in the seat can go back to the past, and whether they finish drinking the coffee or not determines whether they can return to the present. That's why, in several scenes where coffee is brewed in the film, the focus is on the act of coffee extraction, with only music and the sound of hot water being poured, and the visuals are slightly slowed down, showing the amber liquid being poured into the cup. The slowly rising steam and the pleasant sound of the coffee dripping stimulate a desire for coffee.
Kasumi Arimura's beautiful posture, standing straight and holding the kettle with one hand while supporting it with the other, is also impressive, and after watching the movie, you'll want to brew coffee with a sharp posture.
By the way, the dripper used at Funiculi Funicula is called a Wave Dripper, which has a flat bottom and a slightly different shape from traditional drippers that don't have ribs. Instead of ribs, the wavy filter creates an air passage, allowing coffee to be extracted in a short amount of time.
What happens when coffee cools down?
In the film, the temperature of coffee is often discussed, but generally, cold coffee is said to be unpalatable. Haven't you ever felt that the taste of coffee changes slightly with temperature? In the real world, even if coffee completely cools down, you won't be trapped in the past, but temperature is very important when savoring coffee. Let's touch a little on the relationship between coffee and temperature here!Temperature and Taste
One reason why the taste of coffee seems to change with temperature is the temperature characteristics of human taste. Even if humans taste the same thing, the perception of taste changes if the temperature is different. When coffee is hot, the human tongue cannot perceive complex flavors and tends to feel simpler flavors like "bitterness" more easily. As the temperature drops, the tongue gradually becomes able to perceive "acidity" and "sweetness," and because these perceptions become more pronounced, the taste feels like it has changed.
Freshly brewed coffee may have a rather strong impression, but as the temperature drops, it may change to a slightly cleaner impression or feel sweeter because the perception of taste changes.
Conversely, coffee that can be enjoyed deliciously even when it has cooled down a bit, allowing the taste of the coffee to be felt, is a high-quality product.
If the coffee beans are fresh and of good quality and roasted properly, even if the temperature drops and the "acidity" and "sweetness" become more prominent, there will be no unpleasantness, and it can be enjoyed deliciously, but...
If the coffee beans are old or not roasted enough, you will start to feel off-flavors and astringency as the temperature changes, resulting in "unpalatable" cold coffee.
What is the optimal temperature for coffee?
To enjoy coffee deliciously, the temperature of the water when brewing coffee and the temperature of the liquid when drinking it are important. The ideal temperature for brewing coffee is "90-96℃." About 30 seconds after the water boils is the best time to brew coffee. When the water temperature is high, the flavors of the coffee, including bitterness, can be extracted thoroughly, and the taste will be clearer. Conversely, if the temperature is low, the extraction of components will be slightly suppressed, resulting in a lighter impression of coffee. It's not bad to change the water temperature depending on the taste you want to achieve, but it's generally better to keep it above 90℃ to ensure a good flavor.
After brewing coffee, the optimal temperature for delicious enjoyment is said to be "60-70℃."
Humans are said to perceive the deliciousness of warm drinks at about 25℃ above their body temperature.
At this temperature, you can fully appreciate the aroma of the coffee and also perceive the characteristics of the beans, such as acidity and sweetness.
As a tip for enjoying coffee within this temperature range as much as possible, it's a good idea to warm the equipment and cups beforehand to prevent the temperature from dropping even slightly during extraction or when pouring into the cup.
Within the range where deliciousness can be felt, experiencing the change in coffee flavor that accompanies temperature by finishing the coffee "before it cools down" is also one way to enjoy coffee.