Blue Sailor
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I love coffee. And where I come from in Montreal, we take coffee seriously. This thing where people line up, and a barista writes your name badly on a disposable cup? Not our thing! We prefer the neighborhood café or bistro where you can sit down in a nice ambience to drink a good cup of Fair Trade coffee in the company of friends. Maybe you eat a croissant while you read La Presse. Or maybe you order a little cheese plate with fruit to nibble on. It’s relaxed, you take your time. And if you frequent the place often enough, the server knows you by name.
But what do you do when you want a good coffee at home? Sure, there are home espresso machines. You can make a cappuccino or a caramel macchiato in your kitchen. But those machines take up a lot of place. And unless you get one connects directly to your plumbing, you have to deal with all that fuss over filling the reservoir – which gets empty way too fast!
What you can do instead is to use a French press. It’s low-tech and you can make a good cup of coffee in four minutes. So you can cook the eggs or make your toast, and the coffee is ready. And trust me, it’s way better than the drip coffee we grew up with in the 80s!
To use a French press, you should have:
- a French press
- a scale to weigh the coffee beans
- a plate or cup to hold the beans when you weigh them
- a burr grinder set to a coarse grind
- a count-up kitchen timer
- a wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- a kettle, preferably one with a gooseneck
To make a really good cup of coffee, you need to weigh and grind the beans right before you brew. You also need to have the water at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have a kettle that allows you to control that temperature, let the water sit for about 30 seconds after boiling.
The very best part of making coffee in a French press is the “first bloom.” You put the ground coffee in the press and fill the water just halfway. Then you wait one minute. It’s unbelievable what happens! There is seriously a crust that forms from the coffee rising to the surface of the water. You can feel it crunch when you break it with the spoon!
After stirring, add the rest of the water and wait until three more minutes have passed. Then push the plunger down slowly. If you did it right, you will see the crema on the surface of the coffee. It’s very cool!
Check out this video that shows you more of how to make the best French press coffee.
not really…but i used to drink alot before but not anymore..although i still very much love the smell of pure coffee! 😀
It’s the best smell in the world, isn’t it? I love to go into the Brulerie St. Denis and just smell the coffee roasting.
nice 🙂
Are you a coffee drinker, Marcelle?
So nice post
Thank you, Olga!
I enjoy my cup of coffee each morning. I like it dark with cream and sugar.
Great information here. Good to see you!
You have the same tastes as me. I like it strong and sweet, with cream.
I never use the french press but I will try making coffee this way.
I know some people put their French press away because they are discouraged that the coffee doesn’t taste the way they expected it to. We were so impressed with the difference when we tried it this way. It’s worth it!
Soon I will try to post about some other coffee brewing methods. Watch for new posts!
Informative though we don’t have French press here. 🙂
I will try to post other methods in the future, Aries. What do you use for brewing coffee?
Well…this is very informative…I always drink coffee from French press…in fact, I have 3…one large and medium for coffee…and one for herbal teas…I am going to try doing this your way…I have always been filling up the hot water right up to the top…after I warmed the pot oc…and I also warm the china cups too. This time I am going to fill this up to the half of press and see the difference…this is so cool!! Thank you!! 🙂
( I need to add that I am not a big coffee drinker…but when I do drink it…it has to be good…with all the trimmings and prepared the right way lol )
I like your style, Jolanta! I don’t know if this method applies to the teas as well. It would be interesting to experiment and see if it makes any difference.
Awesome, I drink Black coffee from the coffee maker. Ive really cut down alot, several years ago I would drink a whole pot in the morning. Im down to 2 cups a day.
That’s a lot of coffee! Myself, I can drink about 2-3 cups of brewed coffee in one day. If I drink more, I get too hyper and I feel uneasy.
Yeah made me hyper as well
Oh no! I guess it’s good you cut down.
Do you have a favorite coffee? We like the VanHoutte coffee blends. I get a nice, medium roast – whatever they happen to have on the shelf when I’m in the grocery store. But occasionally I will try one of the single origin coffees too. I discovered this year that I like Ethiopian coffee.
Im disabled on a fixed income, my wife works in the school system. Sadley
we drink what’s on sale. Usually a colombian dark roast