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Erin Meister, aka the CoffeeMeister, trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is the first in a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.
Mon chérie, let us speak together of the French press.
The press can be a tricky mechanism for the average user to master, especially if she is fumbling with it before consuming even a drop of caffeine. Used correctly, presses make fantastic coffee taste exceptional. Plunging willy-nilly, however, will make that same coffee taste exceptionally crappy.
First of all, I don't mean to get all tough love on you before we really get to know each other, but that little whirly-blade grinder you use isn't going to work out. It's the "best friend" you call despite knowing you don't have anything in common anymore. It's bringing you down, and it's time to meet somebody new.
Try this guy or this one, but trust me: Buy a burr grinder and never look back.
Now that we've got that out of the way (awkward!), here are the components of a truly killer French press coffee:
Pot: Bodum's got a zillion sizes and styles. Pick one that makes a volume of coffee that can actually be consumed in one sitting.
Coffee: the right amount (2 grams coffee to 1 ounce water, aka 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces), freshly roasted (within two weeks), freshly ground (within two minutes) to the right particle size (coarse).
Water: 195 to 200 degrees F, or 30 to 45 seconds off the boil, and don't guesstimate on the volume -- measure before heating. Pour steadily and saturate the grounds evenly. Don't put the plunger on until you're ready to press.
Steep time: Plunging after 4 minutes is pretty standard. Consider transferring whatever you don't drink immediately to a thermos; even though the grounds are at the bottom, the water's still hanging out with them, which could lead to overextraction, aka a bitter cup of joe.
Voila. Appréciez le café!
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5-16-2009 @8:58AM Fash said... All this time I've been buying pre-ground Chock Full O'Nuts coffee in a can and brewing it in a drip machine...and all this time, it's been awesome. Huh.
I use my Bodum to cold brew iced coffee in the summer. It's a vast improvement on the jar method.
Reply
5-16-2009 @5:25PM RobynT said... I bought a very cheap ($20) blade grinder (I've only started drinking coffee in the past few years) and I get a lot of sediment. Planning to upgrade to a burr soon.
Why is it better to leave the cover off the press until you are ready to press? I think the directions that came with my Bodum said to put the cover on right after stirring. And yes, I stir with a chopstick too!
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5-16-2009 @5:43PM Meister said... Hi, Robyn,
Glad to hear you're ready to upgrade; I hope you find a great grinder that's not too much $$ and does the trick. There are plenty out there!
The not-putting-the-top-on thing is just a personal preference of mine for two reasons; I find that putting the top on right away breaks the crust of grounds that forms on the top of the water, which I preserve to lock the aromatics into the brew, and I find that leaving the top off cools it just enough to make the finished pot comfortable and enjoyable to drink right after it's done.
The reason I don't stir is that I like to be able to exactly re-create every step so I can make pot after pot of good coffee—if I stir six times this time but only three next time (which is so like me), I won't be able to do that. But lots and lots of people stir and make great coffee!
There are as many different ways to make coffee as there are different people making it, so I don't want you to feel like I rolled in here saying "Now you have to make coffee just like I do!"
Happy caffeinating,
Meister
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