Casa Vitus is without a good coffee machine. Our current brewer is exhausted after 9+ years of good and noble service.
My wife says she’s thinking about a “French coffee press” to replace it. What the heck is that? And patriotic considerations aside, does anyone have a recommendation for a good one? (My wife wanted me to ask you to recommend an inexpensive one, but I assured her that the Slowtwitch forum does not do “inexpensive.”)
Thanks!
While I cannot recommend a good French Press, I have to say that this post succinctly captures the very reasons I love this forum:
we love coffee
we hate the French (in a fun-loving way Francois)
we love expensive stuff, when inexpensive stuff would get the job done just as well.
Rock on.
The “French Press” style coffee maker also goes by the name “press pot”, and by the common name Bodum - which is itself a brand name (kind of like kleenex or xerox). They are as a general rule fairly inexpensive, and very simple both in terms of operation as well as construction. It is also one of the best ways to make a cup of coffee. While the press pot itself should be easy to find (hell even starbucks carries them), to acheive coffee excellence you will also require a high quality grinder. This is where it can get expensive. You want large, uniform chunks which you will not get from a cheap grinder. Skimp on the grinder and you may be unimpressed with your press pot. With a good grinder however, you will be hard pressed (no pun intended) to find a better cup.
A couple of links to get you started:
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/99/05/frenchpress/
http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/presspot
Call it a “freedom” press.
I love it, I like my coffee strong enough that I whistle and it comes over. You pour hot water into the press (whick looks like a very small pitcher) and put in the cofee grounds. Stir and let it sit for as long as you want. After 10-15’ it won’t get any stronger. You then push a metal “filter” down the pitcher. The filter keeps the grounds at the bottom so that you can pour out the coffee. The downside is that you will have a little sediment at the bottom of your coffee cup. just don’t drink that last little sip.
Get any of them you find at Target, WalMart, etc. It should cost anywhere from $10-$20 depending on how much chrome comes on it. They will all taste the same.
I understand they take a bit of practice to get the knack. I’m no big coffee drinker, but I do look fondly upon the French Press. It’s just got the perfect combination of simplicity, sophistication, pretentiousness, and cool factor. Using one makes everyone in the room think you are a pompous ass and at the same time wish to God that they were you.
Using one makes everyone in the room think you are a pompous ass and at the same time wish to God that they were you.
I’m fairly confident I’ve already got the first part covered. . .
Thanks everyone for the help.
This is the prefered method these days. The metal strainer keeps the oils that a paper filter can take away. 5-6 minutes is the time you are looking for and mine (cheap Bodum $7.99) has no problem with espresso grind. Lance has been plugging Peete’s coffee, find it on the web, and they have a great website for tips and product. I’m not a pro at this so if I’m making it wrong, I don’t even know.
(My wife wanted me to ask you to recommend an inexpensive one, but I assured her that the Slowtwitch forum does not do “inexpensive.”) reply
dude, that’s hillarious and so true. well said!
**to acheive coffee excellence you will also require a high quality grinder. **
Almost forgot to ask- can you recommend a good grinder?
As Khai mentioned, a good grider is key to great french press coffee. Get a Burr Grinder which crushes the coffee beans into uniform size and doesn’t heat up the grinds as a blade grinder can do. Not that expensive, may $20-$30 for a basic one.
Andrew
the only thing I would add to what everybody else has already stated is the manual aspect of press pots. We have two of them and love the quality of the coffee they produce compared to dip coffee pots. But they have yet to make a press pot you can setup with a timer that will have coffee already made as you stagger into the kitchen in the morning.
This has typically resulted in the “you get up and make coffee I did it yesterday” conversation with your significant other whilst your both still lying in bed.
We got a vacum brewer few years ago from bodum that gives you the taste and quality of a french press but the convience of a dip machine. Just watching it brew coffee is way cool, plus its has a great warmer function that doesn’t cook the coffee. After 5 yrs of constant use, one of the seals is leaking and we are back to using our french press until we finally get off our ass and order the part.
you can also get a presses from the same site. Starbucks has completely eliminated their online sales dept. You can only get stuff at their stores now
all this typing about coffee… I needs me another cup.
Jim
French Press: Great for Sunday mornings. But for everyday use? I would rather not operate a grinder and French press every morning half asleep. But that’s just me. I hate mornings.
And another thing, if you have kids or are prone to knocking stuff off the counter - search for an insulated stainless steel one. That way you won’t break a few before you find an unbreakable one. And it will do a nice job of keeping the coffee hot if you don’t intend to guzzle it all at once. I think ours is a Nissan, it was $22 a few years ago.
Dang, I finally get to post on a topic I know something about. I’m a slow triathlete but I have been running restaurants, hotels, privete clubs for 25+ years. Dont aske me for training advice- but cooking is a different story!
French press = very good coffee. It’s also simple and extremely to use. Only dis-advantage is that most of them don’t keep coffee hot - so you’ll have to either look for an insulated one (hard to find and costly) or invest a few $ in an insulated carafe. (USed to be called a Thermos!).
Burr grinder (mentioned above) is the only good kind. the cheap ones that work sort of like a food processor heat up the beans and don’t give an even grind. I like the retro looking kitchen aid model I have, design from the 30’s. Nice and noisy to annoy the family at 5am… has a bunch of grind settings so you can experiment.
Last- buy coffee roasted locally, not weeks ago. Search out a place in your city that roasts on site. I like, when I can, to leave my money in my own community.
SP
Vitus,
I love the french press but a bit of a pain for every day use. I use the retro Stainless Kitchen Aid brewer and Bur Grinder. I would buy a press now to use until you get tired of it and buy a brewer. It makes a great reserve unit or camping pot.
Send me your address (and real name) in a PM and I will send you some locally roasted Peat’s Major Dickason’s blend. The best coffee ever and I don’t care that Lance drinks it. It’s the least I could do after the sign you made for me at CDA.
Dave Hinds
Thanks, Dave, that’s most cool of you!
I agree with sp. mail order coffee is too old. you don’t know when it was roasted or how long its been sitting around. cofe shouldn’t be more than a week old when used, so find a competent local roaster. and a french press is great, but I can’t do it all the time.
can you recommend a good grinder?
If you’re made of money, the Mazzer Mini is pretty much the best there is - but for nearly $400, you’d have to be a true coffee aficionado to even consider it.
On the “normal” side of the scale, a quick Froogle search shows me that there are several burr grinders to be had for under $50. Krups, Capresso, and DeLonghi all have some weight in the coffee world, although I must admit I’ve no experience with their grinders. Perhaps someone else here does?
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=burr+grinder+&btnG=Search+Froogle
My wife and I have been considering the vacuum brewer. Saw it in some catalog. So, it’s as good as they tout it to be?
<<Almost forgot to ask- can you recommend a good grinder?>>
Capresso burr grinder. Mine was $50.00 but still grinds like it was brand new.
HTH
Brett