How do you use your French Press?

[Reggs]

If I have coffee with a relaxing meal, Ill often use a press as opposed to a drip. Iv heard of a few different methods to using a press. Some have a high coffee to water ratio and let sit for a short time, others have a lower coffee to water ratio and let sit for a longer time. What measurements and time do you use, and how strong do you prefer it to taste?

Does you use water when it just starts to boil, or after it's violently boiling? Are silk screen presses better than metal mesh? Does it let all the oils seep thru?

 

[johnapril]

I have used a coffee press to make my morning coffee for the past 13 years. I grind the beans each morning. I use a common coffee bean grinder. I fill it and grind it just as the water begins to make sound in the kettle. Add coffee powder to pot. Take kettle off heat. Wait for kettle to go silent. Pour water over a large spoon in the pot, just enough to cover the powder. Stir. Pour water over spoon again until pot is half full. Stir. Fill pot using same method. Stir. Wait two minutes. Stir. Wait two minutes. Plunge. I use a metal mesh plunger. Pour slowly from pot to cup to produce a thin layer of foam. East African or Yemenese beans are my favorites. Kalossi comes in a close third.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by johnapril

East African or Yemenese beans are my favorites. Kalossi comes in a close third.
Costa Rican La Minita and Brazil Santos are very good too.

 

[Tyto]

I think JA gave the best rundown on process, though I don't stir nearly as much--usually once after just covering the grounds with water, and again when the carafe is full. You definitely want the water to be a little off of the boil, or it will burn the beans, and you don't need to be a connoisseur to taste the result.

I also use my press for steeping loose-leaf tea.

 

[sjmin209]

The mechanincs of the press are fairly simple, but many people go wrong by grinding the beans too finely. French press coffee should be ground fairly coarsely; if you get your coffee ground where you buy your beans, they should ask you how you're planning to brew it & then grind it accordingly (if they don't, you should be buying your beans somewhere else). If you grind your own, you should invest in a good coffee grinder (not one with a single spinning blade) that produces an even grind.

Also, as a side note, boiling water cannot burn coffee beans. Coffee is roasted at temperatures from 375 to 475 degrees farenheit. Most recommend a water temperature around 200 farenheit (around 93 Celsius). The temperature of the water affects how much coffee is extracted from the solid bean into the water: too high a temperature, and you overextract, producing a bitter brew; too low and you underextract, producing a sour one.

 

[Tyto]

Originally Posted by sjmin209

The temperature of the water affects how much coffee is extracted from the solid bean into the water: too high a temperature, and you overextract, producing a bitter brew; too low and you underextract, producing a sour one.
Exactly right. Don't know what I was thinking about the burn. . . .

 

[Dmax]

I like it the french press.

I mostly drink espressos but when I am trying out some new coffee that does not work well as an espresso I like to see what it tastes like in the plunger pot.

I use a lot of coffee per pot, water off boil, stir once, let sit for 4 minutes and plunge. I own both the metal filter and nylon filter pots and the metal filter probably allows more coffee oils in the cup.

Buying freshly roasted coffee and grinding right before preparation pays the biggest benefits in taste.

 

[sygyzy]

To make tea.

 

[lawyerdad]

Don't you mean a freedom press? Stop giving aid and comfort.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Don't you mean a freedom press? Stop giving aid and comfort.
Eh, it's been done