Making coffee with a French press

Bodum French Press

While I am sipping a hot fresh cup of coffee from my french press I realize that most folks don't know how to make coffee in one, nor have they tasted the wonderful coffee they make.
Why should I give up my drip coffee maker you say? Well, for one, it is generally wasteful and good coffee isn't cheap, and two, it just doesn't get hot enough to unlock the oil from the beans and give your coffee that great flavor it should have. Also, a french press is cheap, easily replaced, cleaned and doesn't require a filter. After I started using a press, I gave my $150 Krups drip coffee maker to my mother and I do not miss it.

Here are the instructions for making coffee in a french press.

1. Grind some fresh coffee from medium coarse to coarse. Don't make it too fine or it'll be hard to press and you'll get the fine grounds in your cup. Also, use a burr grinder with a good consistency for grinding. I use a Cuisinart. It isn't very expensive but it works. I sometimes use my Rancilio Rocky grinder, but that is a bit overkill and I don't like moving my settings away for my espresso, changing coffee and changing over from espresso grinds to coffee grinds, etc.
2. Depending on the size of french press. The standard one should take about 4 tablespoond of coffee in the carafe.
3. Pour boiling water over the grinds. My belief is that this is the secret to the best cup of coffee. A drip machine never gets close enough to boiling, nor does it swirl the grounds around like the press.
4. Place the top on the press and there are two ways to do this part.
    a. Wait about 5 minutes then slowly push the handle down
    b. go ahead and very slowly push he handle down.
It really doesn't matter, since the effect is the same.
The pressing pushes all the grounds together and to the bottom of the glass carafe.

Now pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy. Savor the difference in the taste. Notice how much richer and bolder the taste is when compared to the bitter, shallow taste of a drip maker. If I am going to make coffee, I either do it this way or I make a Cafe Americano with espresso and boiling water. The espresso takes the quality up another notch, but not everyone can afford an espresso machine, but for around $15, everyone can afford a french press. I think everyone on my Christmas list is getting a french press this year.