French Press

A friend at work saw my blog and asked me about using his french press that he recently picked up. I had to search through my basement and desk before it struck me that I'd left it in a bag in my garage when I took it home from work one day. I dusted it off and got to work on testing how to brew a really good cup with this method.

I measured the water and it works out that it holds as much water as the coffee pot holds when it's at the '6' (half way) line, which is app. 900ml. Given this fact I figured I would start with using the same amount of grounds. Here is how I brewed the coffee:
1. Boiled the water and let it sit for about 5 - 6 minutes until it had cooled enough
2. Added 9 tbsp ground coffee (mixture of Starbucks House Blend, Christmas Blend, and Second Cup Paradisio Dark)
3. Put the plunger in and pushed/pulled it a couple of times to mix the coffee and then pulled it up to the top to let the coffee steep for 5 full minutes.

This produced a very tastey cup of coffee. Full body, full flavor. The bottom of the cup did have some 'muddy' type residue but no actual grinds. It is best to avoid the last sip. This is a very easy way to make a really good cup of coffee and just as fast as using the drip machine.

Since I had good results with my french press I decided I'd try it again with regular store bought pre-ground coffee. For the last 18 months of so I've been using President's Choice West Coast Dark Roast as my daily coffee. Most people seem surprised by this, and I was shocked when I first tried it to. I mean, this coffee is $12.99 for a 2lb bag of whole beans or only $7.99 for a 2lb container of pre-ground beans. This is not your 'coffee-shop' coffee but its actually really good and is way better than any other grocery store brand I have ever tried. Its a great job for the day to day cup since its very friendly to my wallet. Normally I buy the whole beans and grind them myself but I decided to give the pre-ground a try just to see. It is quite good as well. One thing I have found is that with the whole bean you need 9tbsp for a half pot or the french press. With this pre-ground coffee you only need 7tbsp. Even this store bought pre-ground coffee does the job in the french press.