I use a barasta Encore. If you want something a little better get the virtuoso
Your friendly neighborhood BambulanceMan
Your friendly neighborhood BambulanceMan
Letting the water cool a little before brewing will do a lot to remove the bitterness from your cup. The most bitter compounds inside of the coffee bean are more readily extracted by hotter water. This is why cold brewed coffee tends to be so remarkably smooth. Letting the coffee brew for too long also causes more bitters to be extracted, so your idea of using a timer and going to exactly 4 minutes is right on the money.I thought I'd just chime in that I've been getting some amazing coffee from my french press lately. I think it has something to do with my tracking the amount of time I allow the coffee to brew before pressing down the plunger. I now pour the hot water after it has cooled down slightly into the pitcher and then set the timer for 4 minutes. I plunge it as soon as the timer goes off and I do it slowly. I've also found that I am using a full 4 scoops (coffee gator) for a half carafe full of water. That works out to about 4 cups in a vintage Victor diner mug. I don't pour all of the coffee out of the french press and that leaves most of the fines in the carafe and not in my cup. But most importantly the flavor of the coffee, most notably this morning, was spectacular. I always froth up some milk in a manual frother that adds to the flavor and mouth feel. I've been using La Colombe Corsica beans which is a blend that comes from Brazil, Colomia, Honduras and Mexico and is a dark full bodied roast. My Baratza Virtuoso does a great job of grinding the beans to a fairly uniform consistency which reduces fines to a minimum. It's taken me a long time, really until this morning for me to take a sip of my morning coffee and say to myself "now that is one darn fine cup of coffee." If I can keep this up I may actually squash my desire to buy an expensive expresso machine and all the equipment that goes with that. I'll be up and out of the house too early tomorrow to make my own coffee before we head out for some sailing on the Hudson River but I'll be anxious for Monday morning to roll around so I can see if I can make it two in a row and replicate this mornings brew.
It is nicer to make 2 brews of 2 cups rather than use a 4 cup and let it sit while we drink the first one
Letting the water cool a little before brewing will do a lot to remove the bitterness from your cup. The most bitter compounds inside of the coffee bean are more readily extracted by hotter water. This is why cold brewed coffee tends to be so remarkably smooth. Letting the coffee brew for too long also causes more bitters to be extracted, so your idea of using a timer and going to exactly 4 minutes is right on the money.