French press for my birthday!

[dreaded_rust]

My birthday isn't until Thursday but since my wife and I will be working opposing 13 hour shifts (her nights, me days) this week, she gave me my birthday gifts today.

I received a stainless steal french press and a super cool coffee mug with a picture of our son on it....aaaawwww

now I've never used one of these before but the instructions seem pretty simple. any advice form the coffee gurus here?

 

[PMT]

Wish I could help, but for what it's worth, people at work swear by them!

 

[smalltank]

just wondering..how do you see how much amazingly great tasting coffee is still in the pot?..by weight?

french presses up your brewed coffee quality by 10x IMO

 

[Matt_Bloodletter]

Will it be used at work? I ask because the closer to boiling, the better. If the workplace has a hot water outlet from a coffee maker, that can be ok but sometimes not hot enough. In that case, try pre-heating the container by filling with hot water, then pouring off and refilling. Now it should be hot enough to take. You'll know when it's right but it will just seem off when it's not.

Coffee - I've used every kind of coffee in a press. Store bought /ground is fine. But I do prefer to buy bold beans from SBucks and have them ground medium. That way the are still ok in a drip maker if needed but excellent for press.

My absolute favorite coffee - though I only do it rarely due to calories, is to make french press coffee and dump in some real condensed milk. It's pretty much Vietnamese style coffee. So great. The bitter and the sweet are epic. On that front, make sure that the condensed only has 2 ingredients - milk and sugar.

All that aside - the main thing to do is enjoy and figure out how you like to do it. Oh and get a coffee scoop if you don't have one.

 

[KW Driver]

course grind is the way to go. the finer the grind, the more ends up in your cup. water at about 190-200F. play with how much and how strong you want it. I can't see the pic because of work filters, but you'll get to be able to see the color, and judge the strength that way as well, if you have a clear/glass side. otherwise, you'll have to experiment with time of brew.

one thing to consider, that I was told and haven't confirmed is that you get more oil in your cup this way, because it's not going through a paper filter. the oil will push up cholesterol numbers.

that said, pressed coffee is the best tasting brew to me, and my favorite way to cook. been doing it for years. I've even got a "gorilla proof", lexan, travel mug/press that I can take out in the woods, or load, get in the car and start driving while it finishes.

 

[Mink]

Sweet Maria's has all kinds of information on making coffee. http://www.sweetmarias.com/index.php

Be sure to use very hot water and stir in the ground coffee to get it saturated. It will float and make a dry cake on top if you don't. And yes, it beats everything else out there.

 

[dreaded_rust]

gave it a run this am and I've got to say I'm fairly impressed.
I'll be a little more careful with the initial press of the plunger next time (spilled just a bit).
it made a decent cup of coffe though. tomorrow I may let it steep just a bit longer.

thanks for the advice everyone. and Mink, wow what a great website. thanks

 

[gearchow]

Will it be used at work? I ask because the closer to boiling, the better. If the workplace has a hot water outlet from a coffee maker, that can be ok but sometimes not hot enough. In that case, try pre-heating the container by filling with hot water, then pouring off and refilling. Now it should be hot enough to take. You'll know when it's right but it will just seem off when it's not.

Take a thermometer and verify it. I bet it's not hot enough.

-jim

 

[dreaded_rust]

I did preheat the container with my tap water at its hottest. it was pretty hot but perhaps not hoyt enough for the coffe so while this was being done I just microwaved a big glass of water. cant say how hot it was but it was a hell of a lot hotter than my tap water gets. this method worked well for me. maybe tomorrow ill hit it with a thermomter just to see.

 

[xXClockwork]

I have a small and large bodum french press. I do french press every morning with beans that I grind coarse. It says to let it steep for 4 minutes, but I usually do 5-7. I also put a little more coffee in than it had in the directions. I boil water in a tea kettle, let it stop bubbling, and then pour. It makes a nice, strong cup of coffee. I love it. Now when I taste coffee someone else made, it tastes like water.

 

[jtb]

I use a french press every morning. I do like fresh ground coffee, so I grind every morning. I boil the water then let it stop rolling before I pour it in. I give it a little stir then wait about 5 minutes. Perfect coffee every time.

 

[zethreal]

From what I've read, the optimum temperature for coffee extraction is 194F ( I mainly just make sure it's hot, but just below boiling ). I then add enough water to cover the ground by about 1 inch, use a chopstick to stir the grounds into the water & then add more water, while stirring, until it's at the 'full' mark. Then I put the top on and push on the plunger just until the filter is at/just below the top of the water. This makes sure that grounds won't float. After 4 minutes, you slowly push the plunger down. I try to do it while counting down from 30 & finishing on 1. That makes sure you don't push it down too fast and force coffee grounds through the filter.

*optional* To keep what contact with the grounds from making the coffee bitter over time, I pour my coffee into a large thermos. If you do this you can 'preheat' the thermos by adding hot, not boiling, water to it & sealing it when you start your coffee. Then just dump out the water & pour in the coffee.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your french press! It makes a MUCH better cup o' java than a drip machine does!

 

[dreaded_rust]

From what I've read, the optimum temperature for coffee extraction is 194F ( I mainly just make sure it's hot, but just below boiling ). I then add enough water to cover the ground by about 1 inch, use a chopstick to stir the grounds into the water & then add more water, while stirring, until it's at the 'full' mark. Then I put the top on and push on the plunger just until the filter is at/just below the top of the water. This makes sure that grounds won't float. After 4 minutes, you slowly push the plunger down. I try to do it while counting down from 30 & finishing on 1. That makes sure you don't push it down too fast and force coffee grounds through the filter.

*optional* To keep what contact with the grounds from making the coffee bitter over time, I pour my coffee into a large thermos. If you do this you can 'preheat' the thermos by adding hot, not boiling, water to it & sealing it when you start your coffee. Then just dump out the water & pour in the coffee.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your french press! It makes a MUCH better cup o' java than a drip machine does!

second run today. it only makes one cup at a time so I made two this morning. both times I was a bit more careful with the initial push of the plunger so no spillage today. also I put the top on just below the surface of the water to keep the grounds from clumping as suggested. finally I took a whole 30-40 seconds pushing the plunger down and was rewarded with zero grounds in my cup afterwards. a very pleasant experience and a couple damn fine cups of coffee I must say

BTW, got the rest of the gift today...http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/309978-kope-luwak

 

[zethreal]

second run today. it only makes one cup at a time so I made two this morning. both times I was a bit more careful with the initial push of the plunger so no spillage today. also I put the top on just below the surface of the water to keep the grounds from clumping as suggested. finally I took a whole 30-40 seconds pushing the plunger down and was rewarded with zero grounds in my cup afterwards. a very pleasant experience and a couple damn fine cups of coffee I must say

BTW, got the rest of the gift today...http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/309978-kope-luwak

That's a GREAT gift!

Oh, I didn't initially notice that it was only a 1-cup brewer. You should be able to press a bit faster, but just stay slower & use a steady motion. Once you get using it more, you'll eventually find the fastest speed you can press it without forcing grounds through it.

 

[DirtyMitts]

French press is by far the best way to enjoy coffee...definitely my favourite!

 

[zethreal]

French press is by far the best way to enjoy coffee...definitely my favourite!

Mine too. I think part of it is the additional prep & effort put into it ( not much, but enough ). It's like the added effort you put into traditonal wet shaving... you spend more time with the coffee instead of just throwing it at a machine and turning it on.

 

[Doc4]

I love my French Press.

My trick is to put the coffee grounds in, and then just enough hot water to cover them ... and let that sit for a few minutes. This lets the coffee start to brew. Then, boil up more water and pour it in once that part is done ... you end up with warmer coffee compared to if you fill it up right at the start.

just wondering..how do you see how much amazingly great tasting coffee is still in the pot?..by weight?

Partially by weight, but more by how far over you have to turn the pot to get a pour ... that, and memory (this thing holds three mugs of coffee, and I've had one so this is my second and there's one more waiting).

 

[Jasonian]

From what I've read, the optimum temperature for coffee extraction is 194F ( I mainly just make sure it's hot, but just below boiling ).

The range is 195F to 205F. Depending on the coffee and degree of roast. I tend to stick in the 199-204 range.

 

[zethreal]

The range is 195F to 205F. Depending on the coffee and degree of roast. I tend to stick in the 199-204 range.

I'm once again corrected. That was several year old data coming from the depths of my brain . I knew it was in that area, at least.

 

[Everett529]

Tis a very nice french press sir! Hope you are enjoying it!