"FrenchPressCoffee" news and stories

Erin Meister 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 second in a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Maybe things got rolling a little fast with my last post about making the perfect cup of French press coffee. So let's back up a sec.

Some readers had pretty visceral reactions to my suggestion that they ditch the ol' whirly grinder in order to make a tastier mug of French press joe, and I understand: Blade grinders are cheap, burr grinders can be expensive! But not all decent burr grinders will chop your wallet as well as they chop your beans, and your cup quality should skyrocket as a result.

Learn why and see a ridiculous video of me after the jump.

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.