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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Wow... glad to hear that you guys are doing FP as your only offering. Your prices seem awfully low though. Are your margins ok?
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Permalink Reply by Adam Wilson on
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Haha, yeah, I should have mentioned that we're in Auburn, Alabama where the coffee industry is next to non-existent. We actually just raised our prices ;).
Brady said:Wow... glad to hear that you guys are doing FP as your only offering. Your prices seem awfully low though. Are your margins ok?
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Permalink Reply by Joe Smith on
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forget the french press, it's tasty but not a great way of displaying flavor characteristics. Try doing a Hario v60 pour over service, and look up online how to use it properly. if you get it right it makes THE PERFECT CUP.
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Permalink Reply by Dinah on
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I think that a "Pot 'o Plunge" is a great way to go. It's my preferred brew method. We offer FP on the menu. I have found that these are a big hit with the college crowd. Ours run for $3.50 for a 24oz press. We handle the timing of the brew, and hand off with 6oz ceramics. I think that French Press, along with a pour over bar, is a great way to get the timid coffee drinker to dip their toes in and try something new and different!
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Permalink Reply by Parris Graves on
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We serve an 8 cup(32 oz) french press in one of my stores for $3.50. After steeping the joe for 4 minutes with water just off the boil, it is served with a 6 oz cap cup and saucer usually. This works well for the customers that are into it, but interest hasn't exactly taken off with a bang. Hope this helps
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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?
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Permalink Reply by Keaton Ritchie on
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Scott Rao's "Everything But Espresso" has a really great diagram that I wish I could include here for illustrative purposes, but it's basically an arrow illustrating a spectrum from body to flavour clarity with an arrow. And french press is, quite rightly, at the far left (body) of the spectrum. If you compare two coffees brewed via french press to the same two coffees drip brewed and then the same two brewed via vaccum pot, for example, it becomes apparent (at least to my taste buds) that the sediment in the FP brew obscures some of the finer nuances that are a bit more apparent in the other brews. The cleaner cup you get from other brew methods really brings the aromatics to the fore.
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?
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Keaton Ritchie said:Scott Rao's "Everything But Espresso" has a really great diagram that I wish I could include here for illustrative purposes, but it's basically an arrow illustrating a spectrum from body to flavour clarity with an arrow. And french press is, quite rightly, at the far left (body) of the spectrum. If you compare two coffees brewed via french press to the same two coffees drip brewed and then the same two brewed via vaccum pot, for example, it becomes apparent (at least to my taste buds) that the sediment in the FP brew obscures some of the finer nuances that are a bit more apparent in the other brews. The cleaner cup you get from other brew methods really brings the aromatics to the fore.
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?
With all respect for you and Mr. Rao, I find that well-made brew from the methods discussed here all have their place. I agree that, if made poorly, french press results can be muddy... but skill is required to use any manual brew method. To totally dismiss a method like french press is a mistake.
Manage your sediment. Pour once, smoothly and carefully, and leave the mud in the press. Still too muddy? Upgrade your gear with a secondary filter. It'll be way cleaner than you might expect.
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Permalink Reply by Oscar Nyman on
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All of a sudden Europe and America is full of "cool" Hario v60s and people struggling with how to use them? :-) I find the french press easier to operate (for professional baristas and home users), therefor more accessible. for many of my favorite coffees the french press brings out more of the oily flavors that I like. so don't dismiss it!?
Joe Smith said:forget the french press, it's tasty but not a great way of displaying flavor characteristics. Try doing a Hario v60 pour over service, and look up online how to use it properly. if you get it right it makes THE PERFECT CUP.
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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.
Brady said:Keaton Ritchie said:Scott Rao's "Everything But Espresso" has a really great diagram that I wish I could include here for illustrative purposes, but it's basically an arrow illustrating a spectrum from body to flavour clarity with an arrow. And french press is, quite rightly, at the far left (body) of the spectrum. If you compare two coffees brewed via french press to the same two coffees drip brewed and then the same two brewed via vaccum pot, for example, it becomes apparent (at least to my taste buds) that the sediment in the FP brew obscures some of the finer nuances that are a bit more apparent in the other brews. The cleaner cup you get from other brew methods really brings the aromatics to the fore.
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?
With all respect for you and Mr. Rao, I find that well-made brew from the methods discussed here all have their place. I agree that, if made poorly, french press results can be muddy... but skill is required to use any manual brew method. To totally dismiss a method like french press is a mistake.
Manage your sediment. Pour once, smoothly and carefully, and leave the mud in the press. Still too muddy? Upgrade your gear with a secondary filter. It'll be way cleaner than you might expect.
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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?
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The thermal stability of those pretty 1.5 Litre japanese kettles everyone seems to use with their v-60s and the uncovered dripping process isn't necessarily better than that of a nice SS French press and a good water tower. Contact time? You press when it's done and pour the coffee into another vessel- that's much easier control than with a pourover cone.
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?
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