Best coffee I've ever had!

I could not be happier with this coffee maker. First of all, the taste of the coffee that it produces is fantastic! Secondly, it is not nearly as hard or as time consuming as you might think. Initially I figured that I'd only use this press on the weekends, as a treat, and I'd use my drip maker during the weekdays...but once I learned how easy it was to use and how great the coffee tastes, I haven't used my drip maker even once since I purchased it. Third of all, it is simple to clean up. I used to own a brind and grew maker by Cuisinart and cleaning it was a pain in the neck! With the Bodum press, you simply rinse the grinds out of the canister and the strainer and viola, you're done. I would highly recommend this to any coffee lover.

[Thursday, October 23, 2008]

Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!

Sure pressed coffee is great, low acid, gets rid of the bitter burnt taste, especially if you get the med roasts. But what of the coffee press itself, they all pretty much do the same thing, you put your freshly coarse ground inside, pour boiling water over them doing a little jig in anticipation, right. Well up to a certain point, we got the Bodum Columbia 8-Cup Stainless-Steel Thermal Press Pot which worked perfectly but alas was too small producing only about 3 American sized cups, don't believe the 8 cup reference. In anticipation of company we got the Bodum Chambord 12-Cup for its extra capacity, seemed like a great value.

The problems start right away, first it's complete undoing is the stainless steel screen to glass interface, this design produces a large amount of resistance as the plunger goes down. The extremely small ball (it hurts) sitting on top of the shaft sits about a foot and a half up in the air requiring a pressing motion straight down (to work correctly) with no mechanical guide. Here in lies the danger, if your pressing technique veers slightly to the side with the great force required, the plunger and shaft will suddenly cock, slamming into the glass vessel. This does two things, it immediately jossles the vessel spilling boiling hot coffee, or in a major malfunken it completely tips over slamming the beaker down cracking or breaking it, spilling hot coffee. This just happened to my female compadre who couldn't wait for me to do the honors this morning. Luckily she only had superficial burns and the jagged glass didn't cut her, it could have been much worse though. The crumpled Chambord now lies in the trash where it belonged a long time ago, having given warning signs of its nature, had I paid heed. I did give it two stars because it does work, but playing Russian roulette in the morning first thing is not the way I want to wake up!

[Saturday, October 04, 2008]

Best Coffee Ever - Just learn how

I admit to being a relative newbie, using a French Press for only about 3 months now. I suppose I've been a wannabe coffee snob for a few years now, trying lots of things, but I certainly do not claim ANY level of expertise. I tend to read lots on the 'Net and then experiment for myself.

Here are my observations --

Smaller presses brew somewhat better coffee than larger ones. (I have a 3 cup and a 12 cup)

All the hoopla about course grind vs. fine grind are largely overrated. IF you push the plunger slower (MUCH slower), you won't end up with much sediment. I grind VERY fine as I have for years, and yes, with a blade grinder (OMG!) and find that as long as I take my time with the plunger, it's not an issue.

Press coffee is by far, the best I've ever tasted, no matter WHAT kind of coffee/beans you use. I prefer medium-dark like Sumatra, but it's really a matter of personal preference.

Another little tip I learned on a trip to Chicago in an very upscale Italian restaurant -- cut a small (1/2" +/-) piece of fresh lemon peal, twist and put in the bottom of the cup - THEN pour in your coffee. It extracts the oil from the lemon peal and adds a very slight, but significant taste. Personally, I like it a lot and have begun to keep fresh lemons at home all the time just for use with coffee.

Finally, if you haven't tried geisha coffee from Panama, OMG you are missing the best coffee in the world! It's like the best sex you ever had, but in a cup. Yes, it's expensive. So is good sex. We all have our personal preferences, and I suspect some folks wont' like it. Believe me though, if you're a coffee geek at ALL, you owe it to yourself to try this at least once.

I have done away with all other coffee makers. I have a high-end drip coffee maker, two espresso makers (one electric, one stovetop), and now two presses. I now ONLY use the presses. They make the BEST coffee! For something so inexpensive, especially compared to just about any coffee maker better than a Mr. Coffee, you really oughta try it! If you want to make it all more convenient, (I have), get an electric water heater/kettle. It takes only a couple of minutes to boil the water, then pour into the French Press, stir, let sit 4 mins. and you'll have coffee like you've never imagined.

[Saturday, September 13, 2008]

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