French Press Coffee Makers Make the Grade
Mmmmm…coffee. Sometimes it feels like the only thing helping us make the transition from half-awake ghoul to normal person with the ability to smile at the start of a new day. Once you are into coffee, it's hard to stop. The good news is, coffee is full of antioxidants. That, and a little extra effort is all it takes to make a good cup of coffee great. You can do that with a French press coffee maker!
Coarser Grind, Finer Coffee
French Press coffee is made from a courser grind of beans. It's one step coarser than percolated coffee, and two steps away from ultra-fine espresso. The grounds should be the size of small grains of gravel. Unlike a percolator, a French press coffee maker type is generally favored by connoisseurs who know their coffee because of a French Press's ability to produce coffee with a taste full of richness.
Look complicated? It isn't
Making French Press coffee is a breeze. In fact, I picked up a French Press coffee maker originally because I thought automatic percolators were too difficult! You just need to trust yourself a little. Take the carafe (the pitcher) of a Press kit and throw in some grounds, a layer about an inch thick. Pour in some boiling hot water and let sit until grounds rise to thetop. Stir it, let sit another minute, and plunge!
The plunger, usually a mesh made of wire or nylone, separates the coffee grounds from the water. After you have plunged, do not add more coffee! This will ruin your coffee and make it "sandy" with clumps. The French press coffee maker has been fine tuned to reveal a delicious, muddy brew that goes down easily.
French press coffee makers are found all over the world, and have different names all over. They're called "press pots," "coffee presses," "coffee plungers" or "cafetieres" in British English. It was, however, popularized by the French, who seem to prefer electric percolators these days. If you're in South Africa and request a "French Press" they will give you a quite a stinkeye until you say "plunger coffee, please!"
French press coffee makers are very popular. They make a coffee superior to most drip machines, they don't require much work to clean (a few rinses with soap and water usually does the trick). They are extremely portable, and green, too. They can be powered with no electricity with a little hot water and someone to push the plunger…and you're ready to enjoy!
