French Press do or don't?
I've been talking to my boss about new ideas for the fall. And one of the topics that have come up is serving coffee in the french press
The question is...Does anyone here use french press' in your shop? And if so what do you generally charge for coffee for two? And if you do, any tips on serving with a press? I personally think this idea is awesome. You get to talk to your customers about flavours that different regions can produce. And slowly get your regulars into cupping. And just the idea on sitting down with friends and to relax with a great cup of joe.
The question is...Does anyone here use french press' in your shop? And if so what do you generally charge for coffee for two? And if you do, any tips on serving with a press? I personally think this idea is awesome. You get to talk to your customers about flavours that different regions can produce. And slowly get your regulars into cupping. And just the idea on sitting down with friends and to relax with a great cup of joe.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Joe Smith said:well don't get me wrong it does make a good cup but the hot water just gets dumped over the grounds and left to steep. If you're going to give someone hot coffee you should be able to control certain variables, like the water temp, the speed of the water as it hits the grounds, and how long the water stays in contact in the grounds.
check out this video of the v60 pourover from hario. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gi846njhiA&feature=related
definitly try this if you have the chance. You will immediatly notice a difference from this and french press, it's much more flavorful.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:forget the french press, it's tasty but not a great way of displaying flavor characteristics.
Interesting. Why do you say this?
Look, nothing against the v60. This just reads like too many other "this device is the best thing EVER" threads of the past. I also never said I wasn't aware of the differences between the brew resulting from these various methods. Well-made brews using each of these methods will taste surprisingly similar, but have their own little nuances. I'm not going to say "forget the v60, vac pot, coffee sock" though. To just dismiss any of the tools in our toolboxes out-of-hand is kinda silly.
The nice thing shared by all of these manual brew methods is that the barista controls all the variables you've listed to some degree. Want to increase turbulence in a press? Give it a swirl or a stir. Contact time? Um... that's what that screen-thing is for. Temperature? Same way you do with a v60 - use hotter or cooler water.
BTW, thought I'd point out... the v60 was kinda last year. Last I saw the trendy guys they were headed for Clever territory. Good thing, too - I was kinda waiting for the hype to die down a bit so that we could start honestly evaluating it as a mere-mortal brew device. Know what I'm saying?
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Keaton Ritchie said:I enjoy coffee brewed via most any method I've tried, I'm certainly not dismissing any of them. But, any secondary filtering aside since that to me is modifying the essence of the brewing method, I think cups brewed via french press, even if not necessarily muddy, don't have the same type of crisp clarity as those brewed in some other ways. They're not worse, nor better- just different.
I like that philosophy.
Feel like I need to clarify the "secondary filter" thing, though. The one I'm talking about is just a finer mesh disk that you add in the stack, right next to the existing metal screen. You use the exact same principle: full infusion then plunge to filter - you just plunge with a little bit finer of a filter. I'm not talking about pouring the brew through another paper or other filter after plunging. Is that clearer?
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Permalink Reply by Joe Smith on
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haha last year...... All i was pointing out is that it's more acurate than the french press. No need to be a smartass.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:well don't get me wrong it does make a good cup but the hot water just gets dumped over the grounds and left to steep. If you're going to give someone hot coffee you should be able to control certain variables, like the water temp, the speed of the water as it hits the grounds, and how long the water stays in contact in the grounds.
check out this video of the v60 pourover from hario. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gi846njhiA&feature=related definitly try this if you have the chance. You will immediatly notice a difference from this and french press, it's much more flavorful.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:forget the french press, it's tasty but not a great way of displaying flavor characteristics.
Interesting. Why do you say this?
Look, nothing against the v60. This just reads like too many other "this device is the best thing EVER" threads of the past. I also never said I wasn't aware of the differences between the brew resulting from these various methods. Well-made brews using each of these methods will taste surprisingly similar, but have their own little nuances. I'm not going to say "forget the v60, vac pot, coffee sock" though. To just dismiss any of the tools in our toolboxes out-of-hand is kinda silly.
The nice thing shared by all of these manual brew methods is that the barista controls all the variables you've listed to some degree. Want to increase turbulence in a press? Give it a swirl or a stir. Contact time? Um... that's what that screen-thing is for. Temperature? Same way you do with a v60 - use hotter or cooler water.
BTW, thought I'd point out... the v60 was kinda last year. Last I saw the trendy guys they were headed for Clever territory. Good thing, too - I was kinda waiting for the hype to die down a bit so that we could start honestly evaluating it as a mere-mortal brew device. Know what I'm saying?
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Look, surely you've noticed the coffee community's propensity to over-hype every "new" brewing device to hit the market. Its natural - we all love new methods and toys... and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I hardly feel like pointing this out is "being a smartass".
I'm not saying the v60 isn't a terrific brewer. I'm just saying that you can take your post and substitute in "Clover", "Eva Solo", "Clever", "Halogen Vac Pot", etc and be transported to another discussion at another time - a time when the "it" device was the only way that anyone should even consider brewing coffee. Which, by the way, is what you said. Taking that sort of approach is pretty narrow-minded and leads you to miss out on some great stuff that just doesn't happen to be the flavor of the day.
I think we've run this little sidebar well into the ground.
Joe Smith said:haha last year...... All i was pointing out is that it's more acurate than the french press. No need to be a smartass.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:well don't get me wrong it does make a good cup but the hot water just gets dumped over the grounds and left to steep. If you're going to give someone hot coffee you should be able to control certain variables, like the water temp, the speed of the water as it hits the grounds, and how long the water stays in contact in the grounds.
check out this video of the v60 pourover from hario. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gi846njhiA&feature=related definitly try this if you have the chance. You will immediatly notice a difference from this and french press, it's much more flavorful.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:forget the french press, it's tasty but not a great way of displaying flavor characteristics.
Interesting. Why do you say this?
Look, nothing against the v60. This just reads like too many other "this device is the best thing EVER" threads of the past. I also never said I wasn't aware of the differences between the brew resulting from these various methods. Well-made brews using each of these methods will taste surprisingly similar, but have their own little nuances. I'm not going to say "forget the v60, vac pot, coffee sock" though. To just dismiss any of the tools in our toolboxes out-of-hand is kinda silly.
The nice thing shared by all of these manual brew methods is that the barista controls all the variables you've listed to some degree. Want to increase turbulence in a press? Give it a swirl or a stir. Contact time? Um... that's what that screen-thing is for. Temperature? Same way you do with a v60 - use hotter or cooler water.
BTW, thought I'd point out... the v60 was kinda last year. Last I saw the trendy guys they were headed for Clever territory. Good thing, too - I was kinda waiting for the hype to die down a bit so that we could start honestly evaluating it as a mere-mortal brew device. Know what I'm saying?
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Permalink Reply by Amanda Latham on
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We charge $3.25 for a 32oz at-your-table press pot. My only tip is to press it for them and tell them that they don't need to press it anymore because I have had 3 presses broken by customers trying to press themselves. I know it sounds silly. I'm amazed myself.
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Permalink Reply by chaz Cox on
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another great way to sell coffee by the cup is either a drip bar, witch uses porcelain cone shaped holders with 2 snake bite holes. we only sell 12oz cups of that but its fresh and tasty. another semi new great form of coffee making called an Aeropress its like a giant coffee needle makes some of the best coffee i have ever had and you can sell it at 2.50 3.00 dollars a cup. just search it under google to get tones of results.
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I wasn't knocking the french press, all I was saying is that the v60 can be a little more accurate.
It's because of conversations like this that I never post here. I can't say anything to any coffee proffesional without getting my ass chewed out for it.
Brady said:Look, surely you've noticed the coffee community's propensity to over-hype every "new" brewing device to hit the market. Its natural - we all love new methods and toys... and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I hardly feel like pointing this out is "being a smartass".
I'm not saying the v60 isn't a terrific brewer. I'm just saying that you can take your post and substitute in "Clover", "Eva Solo", "Clever", "Halogen Vac Pot", etc and be transported to another discussion at another time - a time when the "it" device was the only way that anyone should even consider brewing coffee. Which, by the way, is what you said. Taking that sort of approach is pretty narrow-minded and leads you to miss out on some great stuff that just doesn't happen to be the flavor of the day.
I think we've run this little sidebar well into the ground.
Joe Smith said:haha last year...... All i was pointing out is that it's more acurate than the french press. No need to be a smartass.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:well don't get me wrong it does make a good cup but the hot water just gets dumped over the grounds and left to steep. If you're going to give someone hot coffee you should be able to control certain variables, like the water temp, the speed of the water as it hits the grounds, and how long the water stays in contact in the grounds.
check out this video of the v60 pourover from hario. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gi846njhiA&feature=related definitly try this if you have the chance. You will immediatly notice a difference from this and french press, it's much more flavorful.
Brady said:Joe Smith said:forget the french press, it's tasty but not a great way of displaying flavor characteristics.
Interesting. Why do you say this?
Look, nothing against the v60. This just reads like too many other "this device is the best thing EVER" threads of the past. I also never said I wasn't aware of the differences between the brew resulting from these various methods. Well-made brews using each of these methods will taste surprisingly similar, but have their own little nuances. I'm not going to say "forget the v60, vac pot, coffee sock" though. To just dismiss any of the tools in our toolboxes out-of-hand is kinda silly.
The nice thing shared by all of these manual brew methods is that the barista controls all the variables you've listed to some degree. Want to increase turbulence in a press? Give it a swirl or a stir. Contact time? Um... that's what that screen-thing is for. Temperature? Same way you do with a v60 - use hotter or cooler water.
BTW, thought I'd point out... the v60 was kinda last year. Last I saw the trendy guys they were headed for Clever territory. Good thing, too - I was kinda waiting for the hype to die down a bit so that we could start honestly evaluating it as a mere-mortal brew device. Know what I'm saying?
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Permalink Reply by Joe Marrocco on
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Do
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Permalink Reply by Karl on
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Joe Smith said:I wasn't knocking the french press, all I was saying is that the v60 can be a little more accurate.
It's because of conversations like this that I never post here. I can't say anything to any coffee proffesional without getting my ass chewed out for it.
Let's not get upset about a healty discussion guys.
True the Hario delivers more crispyness than an FP can. But isn't it so that that some individual can favor either one of them or even both depending on ones mood?
Both have up and downsides. The FP gives full immersion, is capable of stable results and is a method that is one of the closest to cupping. Lets not forget that.
The Hario does give clarity If that is what you are looking for! But like the slush of the FP this vessel has downsides to. Like any manual pourover it is more differcult to get your results stable through the week. There is always the danger of underextraction high in the coffeebed and over extraction in the lower regions.
Not to mention that commercially the H60 is more time consuming if one wants to do it right.
The aeropress Chaz mentioned is a very interesting method as well. Stable results, loads of taste an clarity wise between the other two.
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