Food Friday: French Press
Cary, NC – The weekend is here, the weather is fine and there’s no better time to talk about food. Today, we offer 3 stories under the heading Food Friday. The first is about coffee.
French Press for Everyone
I’ve been a coffee-aholic for years. Decades in fact. But the mysteries of the French Press eluded me.
Turns out, it’s simple and quick. It’s like gourmet instant coffee. Everyone can do it.
How to Make Coffee in a French Press
In a Nutshell: Throw a scoop of coffee in the french press pot, pour in the boiling water, cover, wait four minutes, plunge the press and pour.
The Details: You can use any kind of coffee you want, any flavor, any grind. Use about the same ratio of coffee to water as you would in a drip coffeemaker. The grounds are completely removed from the coffee when you plunge the press.
You can make from one to four cups of coffee in the french press pictured above.
Getting Fancy
You can use your french press to make tea. Works great. Just put the loose tea leaves into the pot and add boiling water. Brew, plunge and pour.
A french press also works as a milk foamer. Put a half cup of milk in the pot (before or after making coffee) and use the plunger as a churn. Plunge it a few times and the milk starts to foam up. Warm milk is key. Throw some cinnamon on top and it makes a nice cafe au lait.
Some remarks: It’s widely accepted that a coarser grind is better for the french press. Personally, I don’t know how accurate this is.
French Presses do tend to have sediments left at the bottom of the cup, according to people using this method.
One more use of French Presses: it can also make cold brewed coffee (not to confuse with Iced coffee – check out: http://www.coffee-makers-guide.com/cold-brew-coffee-maker.html ).
Jack – Thanks for the good info.
I’ve used all kinds of grinds in the FP – for courser, I use more coffee and maybe a slightly longer brew time. The opposite for a finer grind.
My french press leaves absolutely no grinds in the cup.
Think I’ll have some right now!