by J. Michael Wheeler
While Esquire’s Francine Maroukian denies any scientific claims, The Coffee Matrix (Esquire 3.09) is so full of those cross-indexing, spider-webby kinds of lines, whose unachievable goal is to make the complicated clear, that you might think her title is Dr. Of Something Or Other, rather than that magazine’s food editor. But food editor she is and The Coffee Matrix reassures that the best way to make a great cup of coffee is with a French Press.
To quote from the article (subtitled A Simple Guide to Your Ideal Cup)
Well, I’m glad they did it and after tracing each squiggly line from Typical Brewing Method to Designated Bean Category to one of 15 Taste Results, I agree with the we’re-not-scientists: a French Press can’t be beat, using any designated bean category.
Making coffee in a French Press is simplicity itself: medium to coarsely ground coffee is placed in a cylinder, hot water is poured into the cylinder and a plunger separates the coffee from the grounds. Done. The details follow...
Like other brewing methods you can vary the amount of coffee to your preferences. Illy suggests one tablespoon per 8 ounces, others recommend two tablespoons per eight ounces (I use two). Almost universally, it is recommended to let the coffee brew for 3-5 minutes depending on the grind (always use a medium to course grind). Illy, at its web site, tells us you don’t need to let the coffee brew at all. I’ve tried both ways. The Illy method yields a cleaner but less rich cup of coffee. It’s up to you.
1. Put the French Press on a flat, dry surface and holding handle of the press, pull the plunger straight up and out of the pot.
2. Place one or two heaping tablespoon (7 - 8 grams) of coffee into the pot for every 8 ounces of water. A medium to course grind should be used. Try different grinds to suit your taste. Too fine a grind can clog the filter and make it difficult to press.
3. Pour hot (not boiling) water into the pot.
4. Stir the water and grounds a couple of times then fit the plunger into the cylinder with plunger base above the water.
5. Set your timer (buy a timer) for 3-5 minutes. I let my coffee brew for four minutes.
6. When ready, push the plunger down using a slow, steady motion. Slow and steady pressure produces the best results. (Pushing too fast could cause hot coffee to shoot out from the spout of the pot. Not a good thing.)
7. Let the pot rest for a minute or so to let the coffee settle. Like good red wine, there will be sediment at the bottom of your coffee cup; don’t drink it!
8. Wash the pot in mild detergent and water and dry thoroughly after each use.
Extras To heat the water for my coffee I use an electric kettle. I fill it the night before, and as soon as I wake up in the morning, I stumble into the kitchen and click it on. When I stumble back, the water is hot and the first thing I do is to pour hot water into the French Press to pre-heat it. Then I pour that water into my coffee cup to pre-heat that. Then I make my coffee.
Bodum Chambord 12 Cup French Press Coffee Maker 1932 Often referred as a French Press or Plunger pot, this coffeemaker is the most elemental way of making coffee. It captures most of the oils found in the coffee bean to provide a rich-tasting, complex coffee. The French invented the press pot in approximately the 1850's. The first pots were metal, and functioned roughly like they do today pressing coffee grounds to the bottom of a metal pot, through a metal screen (or sometimes through a loosely woven material). In the 1930's, the Italians reinvented the French press pots, using first metal, and then glass. The pot has been refined over the years to the single-chambered French press pot we know today. Bodum is a leading French Press manufacturer in the USA and the Chambord is classically styled with modern glass, metal, and plastic materials to mimic those that became popular during the 1930's in Europe.
A grand selection of French Presses are at Foodie's Emporium! Click here.