Tips for using your French Press / Cafetiere
There has been lots written on how and how not to brew coffee in a cafetiere.
The bottom line is if you like the coffee you make that’s the right way.. But here’s a few tips that may be worth playing with if you’re not doing it already.
- Use great quality coffee beans (obviously)!
- Freshly ground beans are much nicer than pre-ground beans and stay fresher longer.. so if you don’t have a grinder, put it on your Christmas list.
- Use water that’s around 94deg c, as a rule of thumb if you are boiling about .5L of water, just as the water begins to bubble is about 90 deg c, so give it a few moments and you shouldn’t be far away. Alternatively, allow to boil and wait for it to cool a little for about 2-3 minute before it drops to the right temperature.
- As an experiment, try using water that’s boiling and then compare with water that has just started to bubble – so about 90 deg. Compare the taste. A quality coffee that has been roasted well can take a bit more heat than a oily badly roasted coffee.
- Try different steeping times to find one you like .. this is easy, just pour a little coffee out at 30 second intervals starting at 30 seconds. Notice the different flavours that develop at different times. Find the time that you like.
- Use filtered water and never reboil water, it can affect the oxygen levels that can effect the extraction of the coffee and so the taste.
Some other ideas..
Texture your milk
You can use a cafetiere to texture milk. Just put a little warm milk in a warm cafetiere then plunge the handle up and down vigorously. In a few seconds you will have smooth silky textured milk for your cafe latte.
Use your cafetiere to cold brew coffee
Put your preferred amount of ground coffee in the cafetiere, pour over cold filter water and give it a good stir. Don’t plunge, just put it in the fridge for about 24 hours. Again, experiment until you find your preference…Remove and plunge. This will give you a nice cold brew coffee with some beautiful bright flavours depending on the coffee beans. Cold brew coffee is nice over ice or just as a refreshing pick me up during the day.
Enjoy your coffee.
Kev
