French Press 101
- Thread starter Dinder1
- Start date
oh man am I excited. Got my new Tirra french "pull". Its the one where you pull the plunger up instead of down. It takes out all the grind and stops the brewing process...its just magical.
Yesterday morning, they delayed my son's school start by a hour and a half due to a weather event (which didn't actually occur). So, I decided to use the extra time to do up a pot of French press coffee.
I turned my cheap burr grinder to a very coarse setting and ground way too many beans. I used as much for four cups as my wife normally uses for a 12 cup pot of drip coffee.
Next, I decided to pre-heat the press pot with hot water. Then, while I was heating my coffee water in the microwave, I also pre-heated a thermal carafe with hot water.
When my coffee water was up to boiling, I emptied the press pot of water, added the coffee, filled with the freshly hot water, and stirred it a few turns with a wooden spoon. Then I timed it for three minutes, emptied the thermal carafe, stirred again with the wooden spoon, did the press, and decanted to the carafe.
It was absolutely delicious. Deep and rich but with no hint of bitterness. My wife and I had two cups, each.
Tim
I turned my cheap burr grinder to a very coarse setting and ground way too many beans. I used as much for four cups as my wife normally uses for a 12 cup pot of drip coffee.
Next, I decided to pre-heat the press pot with hot water. Then, while I was heating my coffee water in the microwave, I also pre-heated a thermal carafe with hot water.
When my coffee water was up to boiling, I emptied the press pot of water, added the coffee, filled with the freshly hot water, and stirred it a few turns with a wooden spoon. Then I timed it for three minutes, emptied the thermal carafe, stirred again with the wooden spoon, did the press, and decanted to the carafe.
It was absolutely delicious. Deep and rich but with no hint of bitterness. My wife and I had two cups, each.
Tim
Well I took the plunge (pun intended) and got a french press. I had a few Starbucks gift cards from students and I don't usually drink their coffee. However, I saw a Bodum press. So now I can try french press coffee. Had it not been for this thread (and the Cafe''' forum), I probably wouldn't have bothered giving it a shot. Can't wait to try it!
My wife got me a Bodum Chambord 4 cup French Press. I haven't used it yet, but looking forward to giving it a whirl tomorrow morning.
Its home will be my desk at work..
I am going to keep the Mr. Coffee machine in my classroom. Too much of a hassle to heat water at school. But press is great to have at home!
Well, I love it. But I am not quite sure about SWMBO. I think she may be just humoring me. She seems to have a bit of an objection to the bit of sediment at the bottom of the cup.
Should I try to make the grind even more coarse or will you always have a bit of sediment?
Thanks all.
The last time, I ground mine very coarse and there was still a good bit of sediment.
Tim
I have tried several different grinds in mine and I still get a little sediment as well. I guess it's just more good coffee for me.....
Although my press pot is still a few days from arriving so I have no user input I have done a bit of online reading (always dangerous.) I saw a fine filter for most of the bodum presses on sweet marias website. If you continue to experience sediment in the cup after dialing in your grinder and find it objectionable you may want to consider a fine filter.
The loose tea I am becomming a fan of will give me a small amount of sediment in the cup for the first few drinkable pu-erh cups. Sometimes I consume it other times I leave it.
+1 on the fine-mesh nylon filter from Sweet Maria's! Although I bought my first French press on ebaY, I'd already been perusing the SM website and, along with a few pounds of green coffee beans, I (wisely) purchased a couple of those filters. Invaluable!
It's been my experience that, given a fixed setting on my hand-grinder, some roasted beans will produce a less-than-uniform grind (read: more/less "dust"). As a rule, that's the case with roasts that had a lot of chaff -- other than building a DreamRoast (with its chaff-collector), I don't see a way to avoid this problem; so, I avoid taking that "final slurp" from the mug.
After opening my coffee themed (late) Christmas presents yesterday, I am enjoying my first cup of french press coffee.... holy crap, this stuff is good!
Thanks for posting the tutorial, it was a big help. I might never use the mr coffee again.
Thanks for posting the tutorial, it was a big help. I might never use the mr coffee again.
GRRRRRR! All this talk of great coffee has me browsing for a press. Thanks guys! SWMBO is going to ban me from this forum soon!
Until I had been reminded recently by this forum, I had forgotten how much better pressed coffee is. For convenience, I had got into the habit of using the paper cone filter over the past couple of decades.
Of course, I offered SWMBO some.
Now, when I ask if she wants coffee, she specifies the press.
I've always used 20 grams of beans to 14 oz of water w/ a tiny #2 drip cone, with ~2 oz remaining in the cone and drinking a 12 oz cup, but that coffee looks so delicious that I'll have to give it a go.
Don't know if you're aware, but I've always resisted the pull of the French press because it is the only method of consuming coffee which allows bad cholesterol to make it to your mouth. It's not much LDL in a bean, far ess than having 1/2 an egg yolk daily, but for some this could be a sticky wicket.
Don't know if you're aware, but I've always resisted the pull of the French press because it is the only method of consuming coffee which allows bad cholesterol to make it to your mouth. It's not much LDL in a bean, far ess than having 1/2 an egg yolk daily, but for some this could be a sticky wicket.
You certain of this? Can you point to one or more studies (as opposed to popular press articles)?
A quick googling identified at least one study indicating that coffee (french press wasn't specified) does adversely impact the body's ability to metabolize LDL, but didn't increase/decrease the LDL level directly.
One other thought -- I'd have expected that if French press preparation allows LDL to flow, so would espresso preparation. And so would 'gold-mesh-filter' drip.
I have tried several different grinds in mine and I still get a little sediment as well. I guess it's just more good coffee for me.....
+1
I followed the instructions and got a good cup of coffee, but didn't get that cool looking froth. Is there a trick to getting the foam? I suspect it's either my grinder or my beans. I'm using a burr grinder, but it's a Black & Decker model. It's certainly an improvement over my blade grinder, but I'm guessing that a Zass would be even better. I'm getting beans from HighPoint coffee in Memphis. They tell me that it's roasted in MS and they get shipments every Monday, so it's fairly fresh.
What's the trick to froth?
~Jeff
What's the trick to froth?
~Jeff
Similar threads
