topic Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience. in Kitchen

Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

Allthingsgirly67 — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 12:36:47 GMT

I had posted previously that a woman I knew had made the most delicious cup of coffee using a French press. It was pests coffee. I had no idea how much coffee you have to use to make a cup. Is it more economical to buy the k-cups or use a percolator? Or am I just a newbie?

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

gardenman — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 12:54:17 GMT

The coffee purists of the world will tell you a French press is the best. But they're often a little on the lunatic fringe side of things and want very freshly ground coffee, preheating the French press by running hot water, and not just any hot water, but water heated to a very precise temperature. Then using water at a very precise temperature for the French press to make the cup of coffee and leaving it for a very specific period of time before pressing and then pouring it into a prewarmed cup and drinking it within a certain window of time when it's at its absolute best. Some are even very picky about the water they use and want only distilled or reverse osmosis water to be used.

If you just want a cup of coffee and you're not on the lunatic fringe side of things, a K-cup works great. If you want a whole pot of coffee and you want it to be good but not too hot, then a drip coffeemaker is your best option. If you think coffee can't be too hot, then a percolator is for you. The "best" coffee comes from a French press with every step followed to the T, but do you always want the best coffee, or do you just want a cup/pot of coffee?

If you're a person who dilutes their coffee with lots of creamer and sugar, you probably don't want/need a French press. If you want to add creamer but still have very hot coffee, then a percolator may be your best option. They make the hottest coffee. An old-fashioned drip coffee maker also makes very nice coffee if you want a whole pot of coffee but don't need it extremely hot. You have lots of options out there. Just figure out your own wants/needs and go from there.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

PinkyPetunia — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 13:42:46 GMT

I have an unused French press sitting in my garage. I wish I could give it to you @Allthingsgirly67 it was too much work for me. The worst was where to dump all the hot wet grounds when done.

I am widowed now and don't drink lots of coffee. I use a 5 cup drip coffeemaker and it is perfect for me. My soution to getting hot coffee from the drip machines: microwave each cup after pouring (15 seconds).

My DIL has a Nespresso and it makes delicious coffee but I don't want to spend $200 for the machine and then commit to buying those odd pods.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

wagirl — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 14:41:49 GMT

My DD found her teeny tiny french press awhile ago and has been making 1 cup of her fave coffee--it is a messy little thing----when I had a house with garden, I would toss the grounds in the dirt---can't drink coffee now but used a small auto coffee maker or a tiny latte maker---

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

JeanLouiseFinch — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 15:43:32 GMT

One of our kids was committed to using a French Press for years, but converted to a Ninja Dual Brew last year.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

charsha — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 15:49:37 GMT

I never thought a french press gave me hot enough coffee. I use a cuisinart drip machine with a thermal carafe, and it is great.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

Etoile308 — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 17:28:48 GMT

I like Peet's coffee, but keep in mind they have several different blends and flavor profiles. I like a dark roast and they have several. My favorite, and readily available is the Major Dickason's Blend.

Also with a French Press it's best to use a course ground coffee. That usually means buying whole beans and grinding it yourself either in store or at home. Most packaged ground coffee is a medium grind for drip coffeemakers.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

SurferWife — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 18:43:44 GMT

Well, I guess I'm a lunatic fringe coffee drinker. I love my French Press coffee and in my lunatic fringe opinion, nothing else compares. Now, back to my coffee & banana bread with butter & honey.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

maximillian — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 18:47:49 GMT

@SurferWife

Oh, the weather is getting cold here now. Banana bread-good comfort food on a cold morning. With a good cup of coffee, of course. Love your post!

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

katie1859 — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 18:49:39 GMT

The BEST coffee is a pour over.
So yes, the French press is a French pain in the butt lol.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

Allthingsgirly67 — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 23:14:43 GMT

I’m not a fanatic, I just boil water in my kettle and then pour over the coffee. It just seems to waste a lot of coffee to me.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

Alsace Gal — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:55:42 GMT

@SurferWife

Another lunatic here.😄

I have French press and love it. I use Lavazza coffe in all my coffee makers. I order whole beans and grind it myself.

Excellent coffee requires quality beans as each type of maker requires the beans to be ground at a different setting.

I just received a Nespresso Virtuo plus and like the ease of using it.

I don't mind the clean up of any of them as long as I have an excellent cup of espresso or coffee.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

smoochy — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 01:16:00 GMT

for a year or so, I was into grinding my own beans for a drip coffee maker. Bought a fancy burr grinder. I loved the taste but eventually got tired of the bother. Now I alternate between cheap ground coffee in the five cup coffee maker and using my mini Keurig. Recently my daughter brought me a bag of wonderful ground coffee from Nepal, what a treat! Basically I'm happy to have two large mugs of coffee with half and half every morning. It's the nectar of life that turns me into a human, so I don't want to spend much time on the process. Haha.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

AuntMame — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 05:59:18 GMT

Coffee made with percolators has a way higher caffeine content than coffee made with other kinds of pots. The caffeine in percolated coffee can be twice of what it is with drip coffee.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

Sooner — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 03:35:56 GMT

I only drink Nespresso Espresso or iced espresso and milk. One or the other. I don't like coffee. I also hate the mess of grounds and such.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

River Song — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 04:24:03 GMT

I use a French press and I'm not a coffee purist by any stretch. My French press is double-walled stainless and makes three cups of coffee and keeps it hot.

I buy coffee beans and grind enough to last a week since I'm too lazy to grind beans every morning. I prefer light or medium roast with smooth fruity flavors. I detest Starbucks coffee beans as I swear they don't roast them, they burn them on purpose to make them bitter and acidic.

I live on a wooded lot so I just throw my used grounds out in the woods and rinse the carafe out at the spigot. However, OXO makes a long handled scooper to get the grounds out of the carafe and into the garbage can.

The reason I started using a French press is because I got really tired of buying new drip coffee makers. They eventually broke or leaked. Also, have you ever really looked in the water reservoir with a flash light? Slime mold city even with regular vinegar cleanings. That finished drip coffee makers for me.

I like coffee made with the pour-over method, but, again, I'm too lazy to stand at the kitchen counter waiting to put more hot water into the cone-shaped dripper.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

kate2357 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:38:41 GMT

I love my French press, but mostly use it fall/winter when I have cream in the house. Since we can lose power in the winter, it's very handy to have an insulated FP in the house. It also makes very smooth tasting coffee. I don't consider it a lot of work...maybe because I love my 2 cups of coffee every morning, it's worth the effort.

Re: Rethinking the whole French Press experience.

Razzy 7 — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 18:32:23 GMT

Don't you mean Peet's coffee not Pest's?