Guess I'll switch to using a filter. @Yakster : what type of filter do you use, bleached or unbleached, commercial supermarket or Japanese import?
Summary:
Coffee can help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes -- but only filtered coffee, rather than boiled coffee. New research show that the choice of preparation method influences the health effects of coffee.
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Paper 'cleans up' the coffee taste too much for me, it refines it so to speak; paper removes the oils and particulates that can pass through a metal filter and I prefer the murkier/heavier presence of coffee, a brawnier, more hooligan coffee. The oils that a paper filter captures have been said to cause higher cholesterol counts, but I brush that off and believe what I want.
If I was concerned about Type II diabetes I might get some lab work and note my triglyceride levels and all that, start the paper filters and get retested. But since diabetes isn't a concern (for me) I'll stick to my french press.
So I'm a coffee dummy. I like good coffee, but mostly drink the mud at work and k cups at home. I want to get into it a little for the weekends, etc but not like Chris with his Coffee Dyno or Edward with his team of researchers, but I would like a good cup of coffee. I like my coffee slightly above room temperature (maybe like 100 degrees or so?). I don't mind brewing hot and letting it sit, but I can't drink it hotter than that. I don't mind strong, but I want flavor.. Not an acid bomb in my gut, and not a crack caffeine high.
Want to buy some basic equipment on the cheap, yes knowing that you get what you pay for, but also knowing that a $10 lighter works the same as a $100 lighter. Was thinking about getting a French press. What's the difference with the cheapos and the good ones? I suppose I'm going to need a grinder too. Do you guys use filtered water?
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Paper is also said to filter out some molecules that could increase your cholesterol too, but I use a travel press for my afternoon cup and sometimes my morning cup what uses a metal and not a paper filter. Frank, I wouldn't recommend my travel press to you because it keeps the coffee too hot based on your stated likes.
How much coffee are you looking to brew at a time, the options change based on batch size. Just brewed a pot with 750 ml water and 50 grams coffee to share with my daughter, my travel press brews about 300 ml with 18 grams.
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A 14 oz cup on Saturday and a 20 oz tumbler on Sunday, and that's about it. Rest of the time I drink Maxwell House mud at work.
Sometimes I may have additional cups on the weekend. But not often. I don't usually put anything like cream or sugar in my coffee either.
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So I'm a coffee dummy. I like good coffee, but mostly drink the mud at work and k cups at home. I want to get into it a little for the weekends, etc but not like Chris with his Coffee Dyno or Edward with his team of researchers, but I would like a good cup of coffee. I like my coffee slightly above room temperature (maybe like 100 degrees or so?). I don't mind brewing hot and letting it sit, but I can't drink it hotter than that. I don't mind strong, but I want flavor.. Not an acid bomb in my gut, and not a crack caffeine high.
Want to buy some basic equipment on the cheap, yes knowing that you get what you pay for, but also knowing that a $10 lighter works the same as a $100 lighter. Was thinking about getting a French press. What's the difference with the cheapos and the good ones? I suppose I'm going to need a grinder too. Do you guys use filtered water?
So, if you like mug sludge (as it sounds like Peter does) then a French press is good for that. I once busted out the side of a French press by trying to force the plunger down with a paper filter wrapped around the foot so as to avoid the sludge. Not a good plan.
If you can live with paper filters, then I recommend a Clever (that’s the brand name) dripper. It uses a paper filter but I believe there are also those permanent filters available for these cone-shaped drippers.
These allow you to steep your coffee to your own preference before you set the dripper over your mug to empty the coffee.
And they’re cheap. In about the $15-$20 dollar range IIRC.
There are some general guidelines and accepted practices for making a good cup. Apart from the obvious, starting with good coffee that's not stale, here are a few things to keep in mind (yakster, please chime in). The areas to be mindful of are, water temp, amount of time coffee is in contact with the water, uniform coffee particle size for uniform extraction.
Water temp will extract coffee's good stuff best when it's between 195-205.
Water passing over/through the grounds too quickly will under-extract and be week, too slowly and it will over-extract and be bitter.
A better grinder (I like a conical burr grinder - Baratza is the brand) will have most particles in a tight range of sizes. Blade grinders will only give good/uniform results if the grind produced is very very fine, which will only be appropriate for some brew methods (french press isn't one of them).
Frank, there aren't any real differences in french presses. Some are insulated but that won't help you. Some used to be available w/ a finer mesh screen, but I think they're now all the same. Remember, it's water temp/water-coffee contact time/grind uniformity. I like my press pot because I can do the first two, and rely on a good grinder for the latter. But if you will scrimp on a grinder, you probably won't enjoy a french press.
You should think if you'll be a paper filter guy or a mechanical filter guy. If you can go with paper, then Marty is spot on with his recommendation of the Clever Coffee Dripper. Check it out.
Well. I've been a paper filter guy all my life, so maybe I'll try s press. Honestly, I had tried this about 14 years ago. Bought me a Starbucks french press and a blade grinder. That's probably why I didn't like it much. I think, in fact, that I chucked that old press. Will have to buy a new one and invest in a quality conical grinder. I like the idea of a glass one....won't hold the heat as long.
Thanks fellas. I feel like the 20 guys a year on this forum asking why their glass top humidors from overstock.com don't hold humidity after a day of seasoning!
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And if I'm spending 80 bucks on Grinder either way, then a $30 press and a $20 dripper is no big deal. Might as well try both.
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Hadn't caught up on this thread in awhile. As I did I was reminded, I have a mesh filter! I'd forgotten it. There's a restaurant in Nashville that I eat lunch at sometimes that has French Press coffee, and I always enjoy it. My wife did NOT like the gold mesh filter and resultant "sludge", so we went back to the unbleached melita (sp?) filters, but I'm running that mesh filter through the dishwasher and going to give it a whirl again.
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Ok I have a newbie log for coffee. This is the best cup I've made so far but I have a ways to go.
Ground med-course (12 out of 18) Coffee 30 g Peru FTO (Peter!) Water 464 g (because I over poured) Temp 202 Steep 5 mins (thanks Chris)
Wonderful medium to full flavor, but it definitely seems like I can get more. It's not hitting the entire palette yet. No crema on the top which was disappointing, but I think it's because I'm grinding to course. 0 particulates with a French press.
And with all of that, it's the best cup of coffee I've had in 10 years.
I'm guessing a whole bunch of stuff has to be tweaked. Any suggestions for the next cup? I'm going to grind it finer. Maybe I should take the mesh filter out of the French press?
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My go-to coffee guru is James Hoffmann. His video on french press brewing is pretty much what I do. I weigh the beans but measure the water by volume. 28g coffee, ground fairly fine, to 14oz of water. That ratio works for me twice the ounces of water in grams of coffee. Where he says 5 or 6 minutes are scooping out the foamy floaty bits, I tend to go 2 to 4min. based on what else I'm doing. And then I plunge further than he does, but avoid hitting the coffee bed, because leaving the plunger at the top makes for a slower pour.
I came across this technique last summer from a different video and thought that can't make any difference, "I've been using a french press for years. I have the best technique..." But I tried it on two coffees that I'm very familiar with, and the difference was dramatic, like I was using a completely different coffee. Two cups brewed in the french press, using the new technique, every morning - that's how I roll, baby.
I noticed today that my press, which came with a handful of extra screens, has two screens preloaded onto the plunger. I took one off and rolled with one. Noticably better. but my next cup will be doing this video thing....
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My wife made fun of me that it took me 20 minutes to make a cup of coffee. but it was the best cup of coffee I ever had. I followed the directions on the video but I use a 1 to 15 ratio and this is a cup of coffee that I am looking for. Oily Sheen, sludge free. Thanks Peter!
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I watched that video and found it interesting. I noticed, however, that he qualified all that he’d said with his final statement.
What he said was that this was the very best cup of coffee that you can get from a French press. I have no argument with that but to me, the resident skeptic, that statement implies that there are better ways to brew a cup of coffee. And I believe there are.... 👴🏻
There are always better ways to make a cup of coffee, Marty. For those that prefer french press, your way of making coffee would be inferior.
It does make me curious though, why you poo-poo the french press, and whether or not your opinion is based on never having had a cup of coffee from a french press done properly.
There are always better ways to make a cup of coffee, Marty. For those that prefer french press, your way of making coffee would be inferior.
It does make me curious though, why you poo-poo the french press, and whether or not your opinion is based on never having had a cup of coffee from a french press done properly.
Well, if you listen carefully to his words, I believe I heard him say that most of the grounds and sludge would fall to the bottom. And at another time he says something to the effect that the coffee brewed this way would be almost sludge-free.
For my taste, almost sludge-free doesn’t make the cut. I know a lot of folks don’t mind tolerating the grit and sludge, and that’s fine, but I’m not one of those folks.
I wasn’t disagreeing with the method, simply pointing out the qualifications.....
I see. I thought you meant there were better ways to make coffee, when what you were actually saying is in your opinion, or according to your preferences...
I see. I thought you meant there were better ways to make coffee, when what you were actually saying is in your opinion, or according to your preferences...
Right. I tapped into that video expecting to learn that someone had figured out a way to eliminate mug sludge from French press coffee. According to the narrator, there’s still gonna be some of that but the coffee will taste great.
It may very well taste great. But it’s still gonna have some sludge based on what I heard..... 😎
I had a delicious 50/50 blend of home roasted coffee from Ethiopia and Guatemala inspired by running out of the jar of Ethiopia.
The Guatemala is a sample of Café Juan Ana, from the mission in San Lucas Tolimán. I'm deciding whether to buy more, it has a nice chocolate, caramel, and apricot notes.
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Almost sludge free. Didn't feel any grit to include the last sip before this.
Yep, hooked.
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So where do you get your hot water to put in your French press? Are you boiling water in the stove and the pouring out directly in?
That's how Frank does it. Lots of us use an electric kettle. Let it cool for a half a minute after it boils to get it down to the right temp. 195-205* is what 'they' recommend.
Comments
Summary:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191219214147.htm
If I was concerned about Type II diabetes I might get some lab work and note my triglyceride levels and all that, start the paper filters and get retested. But since diabetes isn't a concern (for me) I'll stick to my french press.
So I'm a coffee dummy. I like good coffee, but mostly drink the mud at work and k cups at home. I want to get into it a little for the weekends, etc but not like Chris with his Coffee Dyno or Edward with his team of researchers, but I would like a good cup of coffee. I like my coffee slightly above room temperature (maybe like 100 degrees or so?). I don't mind brewing hot and letting it sit, but I can't drink it hotter than that. I don't mind strong, but I want flavor.. Not an acid bomb in my gut, and not a crack caffeine high.
Want to buy some basic equipment on the cheap, yes knowing that you get what you pay for, but also knowing that a $10 lighter works the same as a $100 lighter. Was thinking about getting a French press. What's the difference with the cheapos and the good ones? I suppose I'm going to need a grinder too. Do you guys use filtered water?
How much coffee are you looking to brew at a time, the options change based on batch size. Just brewed a pot with 750 ml water and 50 grams coffee to share with my daughter, my travel press brews about 300 ml with 18 grams.
Sometimes I may have additional cups on the weekend. But not often. I don't usually put anything like cream or sugar in my coffee either.
Water temp will extract coffee's good stuff best when it's between 195-205.
Water passing over/through the grounds too quickly will under-extract and be week, too slowly and it will over-extract and be bitter.
A better grinder (I like a conical burr grinder - Baratza is the brand) will have most particles in a tight range of sizes. Blade grinders will only give good/uniform results if the grind produced is very very fine, which will only be appropriate for some brew methods (french press isn't one of them).
Frank, there aren't any real differences in french presses. Some are insulated but that won't help you. Some used to be available w/ a finer mesh screen, but I think they're now all the same. Remember, it's water temp/water-coffee contact time/grind uniformity. I like my press pot because I can do the first two, and rely on a good grinder for the latter. But if you will scrimp on a grinder, you probably won't enjoy a french press.
You should think if you'll be a paper filter guy or a mechanical filter guy. If you can go with paper, then Marty is spot on with his recommendation of the Clever Coffee Dripper. Check it out.
Thanks fellas. I feel like the 20 guys a year on this forum asking why their glass top humidors from overstock.com don't hold humidity after a day of seasoning!
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Ground med-course (12 out of 18)
Coffee 30 g Peru FTO (Peter!)
Water 464 g (because I over poured)
Temp 202
Steep 5 mins (thanks Chris)
Wonderful medium to full flavor, but it definitely seems like I can get more. It's not hitting the entire palette yet. No crema on the top which was disappointing, but I think it's because I'm grinding to course. 0 particulates with a French press.
And with all of that, it's the best cup of coffee I've had in 10 years.
I'm guessing a whole bunch of stuff has to be tweaked. Any suggestions for the next cup? I'm going to grind it finer. Maybe I should take the mesh filter out of the French press?
I came across this technique last summer from a different video and thought that can't make any difference, "I've been using a french press for years. I have the best technique..." But I tried it on two coffees that I'm very familiar with, and the difference was dramatic, like I was using a completely different coffee. Two cups brewed in the french press, using the new technique, every morning - that's how I roll, baby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st571DYYTR8
I noticed today that my press, which came with a handful of extra screens, has two screens preloaded onto the plunger. I took one off and rolled with one. Noticably better. but my next cup will be doing this video thing....
It does make me curious though, why you poo-poo the french press, and whether or not your opinion is based on never having had a cup of coffee from a french press done properly.
I had a delicious 50/50 blend of home roasted coffee from Ethiopia and Guatemala inspired by running out of the jar of Ethiopia.
The Guatemala is a sample of Café Juan Ana, from the mission in San Lucas Tolimán. I'm deciding whether to buy more, it has a nice chocolate, caramel, and apricot notes.
Yep, hooked.