How did Beethoven brew his coffee?

Ludwig Van Beethoven lived in Vienna. At the time, Vienna had an exceptionally strong cafe and coffee culture at this time, but perhaps due to his deafness, Beethoven preferred to make coffee at home and in a very specific way. 

Beethoven isn’t the only brilliant artist who was a coffee lover. From David Lynch to James Franco, L. Frank Baum to Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. 

According to Coffee or Die Magazine, Beethoven likely learned how to make coffee at a young age. At 19, he was the youngest member of the Hapsburg Empire's court orchestra and was relegated to performing kitchen duties during their tours of the Rhine. Though he became known as an awful cook, this did not translate to his coffee-making skills. 

What was the secret?

 Beethoven would count out 60 coffee beans every morning. He believed that this was the number of beans that would make a perfect cup of coffee. Sixty ground beans is roughly equivalent to 8 grams (enough for a decent espresso), though this wasn't invented until 1884, according to Open Culture. Beethoven used a glass, balloon-style coffee maker of his own invention, which probably looked similar to a modern siphon brewer. But it must have pulled a great cup of coffee because this ritual remained unchanged for the remainder of Beethoven's short life.