Your coffee brewing method

MntnMan62

Forum GOD!
I recently found a couple videos that showed how to brew french press coffee. The two videos were totally unrelated yet both espoused the same process which was somewhat different than the process I had been employing for the past couple years. And the coffee I was brewing never quite satisfied me, sometimes ending up somewhat bitter. So I figured I'd give the process a try. I had already been grinding my beans fresh for each carafe. But I was not measuring anything and instead doing things by eye. This time I measured the water and coffee beans ratio 1:15 using the new kitchen scale I bought just for this purpose. I was already allowing the grinds to steep for 4 minutes. But neither one pre-infused the coffee by pouring a little hot water in and waiting 20 seconds. So I didn't do that. Instead I just poured the hot water and let it sit for 4 minutes like I always did. But once the timer went off at 4 minutes, they both said to spoon off the grinds that had not floated to the bottom, otherwise known as the "crust" and discard it. So I did just that and then let it sit another 5 minutes. At the 4 minute mark I would have plunged the press down to the bottom but they said not to do that. So I didn't. I just used the press as a filter sitting just above the level of the coffee. What I ended up with was a very smooth, strong cup of coffee with no bitterness at all. I'm blown away that I can actually make a decent cup of coffee now. I want to tweak the recipe but I'm psyched for tomorrow morning to come. Like a little kid who can't wait for Xmas morning.
 

p.b

Forum GOD!
I recently found a couple videos that showed how to brew french press coffee. The two videos were totally unrelated yet both espoused the same process which was somewhat different than the process I had been employing for the past couple years. And the coffee I was brewing never quite satisfied me, sometimes ending up somewhat bitter. So I figured I'd give the process a try. I had already been grinding my beans fresh for each carafe. But I was not measuring anything and instead doing things by eye. This time I measured the water and coffee beans ratio 1:15 using the new kitchen scale I bought just for this purpose. I was already allowing the grinds to steep for 4 minutes. But neither one pre-infused the coffee by pouring a little hot water in and waiting 20 seconds. So I didn't do that. Instead I just poured the hot water and let it sit for 4 minutes like I always did. But once the timer went off at 4 minutes, they both said to spoon off the grinds that had not floated to the bottom, otherwise known as the "crust" and discard it. So I did just that and then let it sit another 5 minutes. At the 4 minute mark I would have plunged the press down to the bottom but they said not to do that. So I didn't. I just used the press as a filter sitting just above the level of the coffee. What I ended up with was a very smooth, strong cup of coffee with no bitterness at all. I'm blown away that I can actually make a decent cup of coffee now. I want to tweak the recipe but I'm psyched for tomorrow morning to come. Like a little kid who can't wait for Xmas morning.
have you got links to the videos please?
 

wintoid

Out of control
I want to tweak the recipe but I'm psyched for tomorrow morning to come. Like a little kid who can't wait for Xmas morning.
Great! I'm a member at the coffeeforums.co.uk site, and there's a chap there called MWJB who seems to be the expert on brewed coffee. His brew times go even longer, sometimes 40 minutes or so, which gets into the territory of "I just wanted a cup of coffee!" for me, but it's surprising how a longer brew can sometimes help.

As for me, I sold my espresso machine and replaced it with a Behmor Brazen, but I've currently stopped using that too because I'm having SO much fun with a little £5 plastic V60. Bit of a faff, but the best drip I have personally made.
 

MntnMan62

Forum GOD!
Great! I'm a member at the coffeeforums.co.uk site, and there's a chap there called MWJB who seems to be the expert on brewed coffee. His brew times go even longer, sometimes 40 minutes or so, which gets into the territory of "I just wanted a cup of coffee!" for me, but it's surprising how a longer brew can sometimes help.

As for me, I sold my espresso machine and replaced it with a Behmor Brazen, but I've currently stopped using that too because I'm having SO much fun with a little £5 plastic V60. Bit of a faff, but the best drip I have personally made.
I'm by no means an expert. But lately, I really appreciate a good cup of coffee to start the morning. Most of my life I have never really had time to make my own in the morning during the week so I was always stopping to pick something up on the way or popping a Kcup into the Keurig. But now that I'm working from home I like to take some time and am starting to enjoy the journey, much like the shaving journey. I have a Mokka Pot but the coffee ends up being too bitter for me. I love espresso but don't want to spend $1,500 or so for the machine and all the other stuff. I'm seriously looking at a Cafelat Robot which is a totally manual espresso machine. What I like about it is it has a pressure gauge so you can see how many bars you are at during extraction. But otherwise it's really simple and has gotten good reviews. All in I'm probably looking at $400. I kind of like the ritualistic aspect of coffee, much like shaving. And the manual machine would certainly feed on that. Not sure my Virtuoso grinder is up to the task of grinding for espresso though. Maybe I'd give it a shot and if not, I'd get a manual Lido E grinder just for the espresso and keep the Virtuoso set for french press. I'm definitely no expert but I like finding new ways to see if I can make a better cup of coffee.
 
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ronald

Senior Member
Here you go.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st571DYYTR8&t=8s


I can't seem to find the second one but there was little to no difference in approach.
Is this the second video you were referring to? Chris Baca and James Hoffmann are two of the best youtube coffee channels IMO.





When I do have french press coffee, the Hoffmann method is my preferred way too. The rationale behind the method shown is that when coffee professionals taste different coffee beans and pick up the various tasting notes, they do it via a process called cupping. The process of cupping is intended to be consistent in order to try and keep variables the same so that the only differences in taste are due to the differences in the beans. These guys have applied the cupping process to making french press coffee and it works great.
 

MntnMan62

Forum GOD!
Is this the second video you were referring to? Chris Baca and James Hoffmann are two of the best youtube coffee channels IMO.





When I do have french press coffee, the Hoffmann method is my preferred way too. The rationale behind the method shown is that when coffee professionals taste different coffee beans and pick up the various tasting notes, they do it via a process called cupping. The process of cupping is intended to be consistent in order to try and keep variables the same so that the only differences in taste are due to the differences in the beans. These guys have applied the cupping process to making french press coffee and it works great.

Yes, that is the second video that I was referring to. I made another carafe this morning and it was consistent with yesterday's brew. One thing I wonder about is the step of taking the crust off after the first 4 minutes. Mine had a ton of crema on top of that crust and I wonder if I am removing a whole lot of flavor that is sitting in that crema. I know that with espresso the crema is what differentiates an awesome shot from a terrible one. But I also realize that with french press the idea is to stop the brew process so it doesn't end up being bitter. But I figured I would ask that question. Either way I'm really getting into the nuances of brewing coffee.
 

ronald

Senior Member
Yes, that is the second video that I was referring to. I made another carafe this morning and it was consistent with yesterday's brew. One thing I wonder about is the step of taking the crust off after the first 4 minutes. Mine had a ton of crema on top of that crust and I wonder if I am removing a whole lot of flavor that is sitting in that crema. I know that with espresso the crema is what differentiates an awesome shot from a terrible one. But I also realize that with french press the idea is to stop the brew process so it doesn't end up being bitter. But I figured I would ask that question. Either way I'm really getting into the nuances of brewing coffee.
The crema in espresso is not just carbon dioxide gas, it's also an emulsion of coffee oils produced by the high pressure of the espresso machine, that's why it has a great flavour. That's completely different to the foam on french press which is basically just carbon dioxide gas released by hot water hitting the coffee, there's not much in the way of flavour from it. It would also contain bits of extracted coffee that have floated to the top, which again, would detract from the final taste rather than add to it. Next time you make a french press, drink the foam you scooped off and you can taste that it isn't the same as crema from espresso.
 

Chief Brody

Forum GOD!
Great! I'm a member at the coffeeforums.co.uk site, and there's a chap there called MWJB who seems to be the expert on brewed coffee. His brew times go even longer, sometimes 40 minutes or so, which gets into the territory of "I just wanted a cup of coffee!" for me, but it's surprising how a longer brew can sometimes help.

As for me, I sold my espresso machine and replaced it with a Behmor Brazen, but I've currently stopped using that too because I'm having SO much fun with a little £5 plastic V60. Bit of a faff, but the best drip I have personally made.
Could I please ask where you got your V60 from?
 

Preacher

Über Member
As much coffee as I drink you would think that I would be more knowledgeable, but I'm content to pop in a K-cup to get my day started.
 
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