Brewing the Best Coffee Possible with a French Coffee Press

This is a guest post by Jeremy. Learn more about how you can guest post for Daily Shot Of Coffee.

For coffee lovers who want the best quality coffee possible, a conventional coffee pot will not be good enough. Nothing is better than the French press for its intense flavor and style. Allowing the coffee beans to mix directly with the water creates a thick and more flavorful cup of coffee because the French press allows the beans essential oils and sediments are not filtered out like they would be in an auto drip coffee maker. If you have a press, go dig it out from the cupboard and use the below ideas to get the best tasting coffee possible. Once you try the press, you may never want to go back to coffee makers again!

Cleaning the Coffee Press

The coffee press should be cleaned after each use to make sure that it stays in the optimum condition. The chafe can be washed in warm soapy water with your other dishes. The filter should be removed immediately after using the press. The filter will need to be disassembled before it can be cleaned. The disassembly and reassembly depends on the type of filter and you will need to pay close attention. The best method for cleaning the filter is using baking soda, warm water and an old toothbrush. Scrub the filter, rinse and repeat. You will know when it’s clean when it there is no smell of coffee in the filter.

Preventing Sediment

One problem with a French coffee press is that sediment can accumulate in the bottom of the press or in your cup if the coffee is finely grounded. This results from people using the blade grinder instead of the burr grinder. Make sure the coffee is coarsely grounded because finely grounded coffee won’t get caught in the filter efficiently which may be difficult to depress the plunger.

Smelling Coffee Beans

The best coffee is partially a matter of taste. People should smell their coffee beans before they try them so that they can get a sense of what the coffee will taste like. It is also important to grind the coffee beans instead of buying already ground coffee beans. In fact, the coffee beans should be ground as close to the time of drinking the coffee as possible to maximize the flavor.

Roasting Green Coffee Beans

Even better is to get green coffee beans and roast them. All coffee begins as green coffee beans and they are then roasted to give them the characteristic brown color. If you’re the do-it-yourself type then you can roast your own beans using an old hot air popper or a cast iron skillet. Make sure that you evenly roast the beans and not scorching them.

Purify the Water for the Best Taste

When people drink coffee, they are really drinking water with coffee added to it. For this reason, the taste of the coffee is largely determined by the quality of the water used to make the coffee. Purifying water will improve the quality of the coffee and can be performed affordably using water filter. Also, water shouldn’t be used that has an unpleasant smell because that water will end up in the coffee. Also, the water must be at a temperature between 195 degrees Fahrenheit and 200 degrees to produce the best possible cup of coffee.

Adding the Ingredients

All of these preparatory factors are not required to make a good cup of coffee and can be skipped for those who are in a hurry. However, each technique will contribute to making a better cup of coffee. With the water purified and the coffee beans freshly ground, coffee enthusiasts can measure out two tablespoons of coffee for every 8 ounces of water. For best results, the coffee should be dry and placed in a clean pot.

Brewing Process

• Add the hot water to the pot slowly. Gently stir the water while doing so.
• Place the lid on the coffee press in such a way that the steam from the coffee is not able to easily escape.
• Start the plunge after three to five minutes. Push the plunger down carefully so that the screen pushes the grinds to the bottom.
• Replunge if the grinds begin to escape. Push slowly.
• Now the coffee is ready to be poured and enjoyed!

Refill anyone?

-

Jeremy would like to thank Mike for allowing him to contribute this article. Jeremy is a writer and coffee aficionado who works at PartSelect. They are a DIY resource and appliance retailer and love to contribute to the communities they care about. They care about saving money, DIY and helping homeowners with their home projects. More information about us is available in our PartSelect reviews on our Facebook page.