the French Press

…and two comments from me.

In the side bar of my blog are a number of coffee sources you might want to check out. I highly recomment http://www.coffeegeek.com. There’s a lot of “how-to’s” there.

Brewing with a French Press is one of the best ways to enjoy coffee. Period. This is because it doesn’t filter out the natual oils in the coffee, giving it the best flavor possible. I use a 1 tbsp per 4 oz of water. This is a pretty all-around standard measure for a press. Also, you should use filtered water, and the more filtered the better. Most good coffee shops brew using triple filtered water. The more coarse the grind the better. Coffee straight out of the grinder is also best.

Two more things:

1. French Press coffee should be a treat. Every day is not good for you. Since the press doesn’t filter out the oils, those oils are going into your body. The oil is what makes it so good, because it adds to the viscosity of the beverage, giving it a heavier body. Same is true for espresso.

2. Please, if we’re friends, don’t use Starbucks coffee in your press. Get something from a small local roaster that isn’t burnt. This way, you’ll really be able to taste THE COFFEE….mmmmm. I think I might go brew a press now.

I agree with Adria on every count!

Also, you might feel better to know that the first few cups out of a new press are never going to be very good; same with espresso machines. There’s a bad flavor that you have to work out of the metal just at first.

At the shop where I moonlight we just got a top-of-the-line new baby, the La Marzocca GB/5, and she’s a lovely Lady but the first shot (which we ceremonially shared with a toast to Fairtrade and Florence, where she was made) was complete crap. Now, of course, she makes the best cappucino you’ve ever had; but to begin with– phew! So if Our Lady of Firenze was crap at first, then your french press is in good company! It may not have been anything you did, at all.

PS Can I have your email address? On account of sharing a recording for your ministry’s meeting. You can email it to me at: mixedmoss at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

I agree with all the above. The press is awesome but don’t overdo it b/c it can be very unhealthy. With that said, I confess that I love my press and use it a few times a week.

Here is something that I have wondered about, given that too much of this great thing can be bad. What is it like to somehow “brew” your french press and then somehow filter it to take out some of the oils. Would this have a different taste and feel than a regular pot of drip coffee? Would it still have some of the great flavor of the press?

Also, has anyone used a chemex brewer before? What do you think about those?

jason - I’ve never thought about trying that before, but that’s a great idea. I may do some experimenting later on with that.

nooc - “p.s. - you’re kind of “off the gridâ€? at voxtropolis. I don’t get emailed when you leave a comment on my blog and your blog doesn’t have an RSS feed that I can find to subscribe to. Just wondering if that’s intentional and there are settings I’m unaware of or if something is buggy with your account?”

nothing is intentional, just ignorant. i’m not the most tech savvy person on here, or even remotely tech savvy. i often feel as though i need someone sitting beside me as i try to do this stuff. any idea how i would go about fixing that?

mel - good heads up on the ’seasoning’ thing; it’s absolutely true. it’s kind of like a cast iron skillet

Hey,
I enjoy a pot or 2 a week (and I mean the entire 8-4oz ones) and am getting a bit freaked out with the unhealthy talk. I thot the natural oils were good for you!!
Greg - I know of a great roasting place in the city, give me a call. You can also check my blog regarding the response to the conference. I should have something up this week. Maybe we can get together and discuss around a pot of….you know….coffee…mmmmm.

“Studies have consistently shown that drinking a lot of French press coffee increases low-density lipoprotein, the bad cholesterol”

(http://www.healthbanks.com/PatientPortal/Public/NewsDetails.aspx?ArticleID=532299)

This is the main health issue, Duglas. If you don’t already know your choleterol level, you might want to get info on that before you freak out. It probably affects choleterol levels in the same way as other foods, but it’s good to at least know that. We don’t normally think of cholesterol being in a beverage, which allows the health implications of drinking a lot of French Press coffee to go unrecognized. You can keep researching if you want to, but this is what I found.

Thanks for the conversation, all. I’ve enjoyed it.

Thanks for the health update. Just had some of that tested. Since the Doc hasn’t called me, I hope that’s a good thing.

Greg, I am taking the plunge into the Vox. I hope you don’t mind me picking your brain on how to possibly jazz it up a little.
http://just4clowns.voxtropolis.com/

PS - Like I said, we could talk about it around a nice cup of…yeah…coffee!!

No One Of Notoriety?