Monthly Archives: November 2013

The French Press Connection

by

Although I don’t boast an intimate knowledge on all things coffee, operating the French press is a skill that I feel proficient in.

When I left for college, my mother knew I would need some sort of coffee brewing device. Because she wasn’t going to give me the family drip brew coffee maker, I was bequeathed a French press that may or may not have been collecting dust in the recesses of our cabinets.

So with my new press I felt ready to take on the challenges of coffee making, except I quickly learned that I didn’t know how to use it. A French press looks very unimpressive and lacks a lot of mechanical functions. It is for this reason that operation of a French press can seem overly simplified. Take my word for it, don’t over-think the French press.

The French press is the Thunderdome of coffee machines: two things enter, one thing leaves. To use a French press, put the appropriate amount of coffee grounds (remember: 2 tablespoons of coffee per 6 ounces of water) in the press, then add hot water, place the top on, and wait. After about five minutes or so, push the filter down to the bottom of the press using the rod attached to the lid.

As easy as that sounds, there are a few tricks awaiting you. First and foremost, coffee ground for a French press need to be the right fineness. If the coffee grounds are too fine, they may get past the filter and you end up having a drink with coffee particles floating around in it. If the coffee grounds are too coarse, they may cause your drink to be overly watery or clog the filter. It’s tricky to get it right, but like with most things, through practice you’ll learn to master it. If you’re purchasing your coffee from a store, they may grind it for you, in which case you can ask for it to be ground for a French press.

But even more annoying than getting the right fineness of coffee grounds, cleaning the French press is almost enough to send its users running for the hills. The French press requires cleaning, thorough cleaning, after every use. This requires throwing out the used grounds, cleaning the filter, cleaning the pot, and cleaning the lid. It doesn’t seem like much but you get really tired of having to do so every morning that you want coffee.

One last little thing worth mentioning: because you have to add the hot water yourself (instead of having a drip brew machine that heats the water up itself), you have to spend extra time preparing the water. Technically, you’re supposed to use water that is just before boiling, so as not to overheat the coffee grounds, but I tend to just wait for boiling for simplicity’s sake.

If you are looking for an easy way to make a quick cup of coffee, then the French press is not for you. Stay away. But if you have the time to prepare coffee, and you want coffee with more flavor than the traditional drip brew, perhaps try the French press. You can use the extra time it takes to prepare to contemplate past life experiences or use the time to catch up on your favorite internet blog. Either way, I’m a French press man, maybe you are too.

Related articles

May the best single cup coffeemaker win

by

It seems that Sophrosyne has made its triumphant return in the 21st century. Many coffee making devices, efficient and easy as they may be, may make coffee in excess.

Typically, a drip brew and French press coffee maker will produce about two or three cups of coffee. While it is possible to make just one cup with these devices, it can sometimes be tricky. Nowadays we have solved this problem with the introduction of the single cup coffeemakers.

There are a few single cup coffeemakers on the market. If you have visited a Starbucks recently, you may have noticed the Verismo coffeemakers that they sell. These coffeemakers can whip up a single cup of coffee in seconds, making them the fancy of coffee drinkers on-the-go.

The Verismo works by consuming single use containers that have coffee pre-ground in them. When placed into the machine, hot water is run through the container, as well as a great deal of pressure, and this makes the coffee very fast.

There are a few different variations on the machines of these types, and they are not sold exclusively through Starbucks, but some people find the coffee to be too watery and taste unpalatable. Because the machines tend to be expensive, I suggest you try one before you commit to buying one.

An alternative to the electronic single cup coffeemakers, the manual drip coffeemaker combines the aspects of a drip brew coffeemaker, but without the convenience of technology.  With a manual drip coffeemaker, a cone like cup is placed atop the coffee cup and, after placing a filter in the cone, coffee grounds and hot water are added. Then the user has to wait for the water to drip through into the cup. Because the coffee is prepared about the same way as a drip brew, it stands to reason that they would taste similar. This is another product that I would advise you to avoid, as a drip brew would be a better device, even if it is not single cup.

But the crown and glory of the single cup coffeemakers is, without question, the Aeropress. The Aeropress functions similarly to the manual drip, but differs by the way it pushes the water through the coffee grounds. The Aeropress, instead of relying on gravity, uses an airtight press that must be pushed down with the water and coffee grounds within it, thus creating a great deal of pressure that helps extract flavor and caffeine from the grounds. The coffee is directly captured in the cup beneath it making it an easy way to make a quick and delicious cup of coffee. The Aeropress, like a French press or manual drip, typically run for about the same price. If you are interested at all, I’d encourage you to try it out.

Related articles

Legend of the Drip Brew Master

by

Of all the methods to make coffee, the drip brew method seems to be most common with Americans. Based on my experience, any time I am in the house of any coffee drinker there is always a drip brew coffee maker.

Despite its popularity, drip brew receives a lot of criticism. The coffee it produces can lack some of the flavor or boldness that other methods have. Regardless of the criticism, drip brew is an extremely easy and effective method of making coffee that involves little cleaning.

Basically, the drip brew machine has three compartments: the water storage, the coffee grounds storage, and the coffee pot.

To begin, the desired amount of coffee’s worth of water is poured into the water storage compartment. Then coffee, if it is in its whole bean form, must be ground to a fine powder. This can be rather tricky because some grinders require a bit of finesse to get the right fineness.  The grounds are then placed into a coffee filter which is placed into the coffee compartment. A good ratio to remember is two tablespoons of coffee per six ounces of water. Finally, turn on the coffee maker and Presto!, coffee.  The coffee will drip down into the coffee pot.

Cleaning up a drip brew is as easy as removing the coffee filter with all the grounds and throwing it out, and cleaning the coffee pot.

People who don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to coffee preparation can appreciate this method because of its simplicity. Many drip brew machines can be prepared the previous night and preprogrammed to run at a set time so that a coffee lover can wake up to a fresh made pot of coffee.

It’s clear to see why this may be the preferred method, but there are some people that may insist that drip brew machines produce inferior coffee. I personally think that it is a even trade to have coffee that may be inferior but is prepared easily and with little clean up. I personally use a French press (which will be covered shortly) and it is a pain in the neck to clean and prepare it for each use.

If you don’t mind/notice coffee quality and are looking for an easy cup of coffee, drip brew is the method for you.

Related articles

Who’s the fairest trade of them all?

by

Even though Americans love coffee, and approximately 83 percent of adults in the United States drink coffee, there is not much coffee grown within the country. This is mainly due to poor growing conditions, as coffee grows best in a tropical climate.

So we have to import most of our coffee. However, being the capitalists that we are, we sometimes (who are we kidding, almost always) get coffee at the cheapest possible cost. While this is healthy for our wallets, it affects the farmers and exporters of the countries where we buy the coffee.

To combat this issue, the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) operated to set work and price standards. With higher prices, they can insure that the farmers and producers of the coffee receive an appropriate wage for their labor. Through the agreement, the farmers don’t use child labor, pesticides, herbicides and other environmentally damaging means to cultivate their crop.

So now that you know the basics, you’re wondering why everyone doesn’t purchase Fair Trade foods exclusively.  Essentially, it comes down to the cost. People are reluctant to pay more for something that they can buy cheap. I understand. I don’t agree, but I understand.

But lurking in the shadows of the FLO is some evidence that may cause people to spurn the organization. A report done by the Institute of Economic Affairs found that top four countries that saw benefits from Fair Trade were “middle income countries”. Poorest countries aren’t represented as well as they should be.

There is also concern that there is the opportunity for corruption within Fair Trade, that the money that goes into Fair Trade doesn’t reach the farmers, and that the quality of Fair Trade coffee is inconsistent.

I find that you have to look past these flaws though. It is important to remember why Fair Trade exists in the first place. Fair Trade aims to better the lives of people that may otherwise get overlooked and that is why, when it comes to buying goods (not just coffee), I implore you to look for Fair Trade.

Related articles

The Good, may be Bad, and the truth is Ugly

by

Before this blog sweet talks you into blindly loving the black gold known as coffee, it’s important to know that coffee can have negative side effects as well and some of them are nasty enough to turn people off coffee completely.

A lot of the negative side effects of coffee are caused by the things that make it beneficial. Because caffeine raises the heart rate and constricts the blood vessels, it makes the user feel more awake, however this raises blood pressure and can exacerbate preexisting conditions, especially those related to cardiovascular health.

Although, the next bit of news may be a little more uncomfortable. The caffeine in coffee can play a few tricks on your digestive system. The caffeine prompts your digestive muscles to work a little harder and prompts your stomach to release more stomach acid and this can cause a stomach ache, nausea, indigestion, or it may make you have to visit the bathroom a little more frequently, and it can even effect the consistency of your stool (how disturbing).

Aside from the aforementioned negative effects, coffee/caffeine can wreak havoc on your life in a few unexpected ways. Just to quickly list them off, here are some things attributed to caffeine consumption: infertility, headaches, gout, reduced emotional intelligence, increased anxiety.

Then there are the effects that are listed by some as negative effects but are, in reality, common sense. More than a few websites list caffeine as having the effect of causing sleeplessness and insomnia. Clearly, if you choose to consume coffee, its best to do so long before you plan to sleep.

All-in-all, coffee has its ups and its downs. People are drawn to it for its ability to perk up even the most tired of people but they don’t realize there is a trade off in doing so. Consuming coffee may subject you to any one of the effects listed in this post, but if you are brave you will throw caution to the wind and drink up a nice hot cup of coffee anyways.

Related articles

Dr. Coffee: or How I learned to stop sleeping and love caffeine

by

I was prepared to scour the internet to bring you, my loyal followers, information on why caffeine has the glorious effect of vitalizing a person. By what magical means can a cup of coffee transform the decrepit into the burgeoning with energy boundless?

So off I was on my adventure, ready to visit countless website pages to find the secret to caffeine’s success. However, thanks to a well written post on the subject (which very conveniently was the number one hit on the Google search “why does caffeine give you energy?”) I can proudly announce to you that I now feel knowledgeable enough on the subject to inform you of my findings.

It turns out, however, that while the article is very well articulated and informative, it doesn’t come to one conclusion or another on the cause, but instead lists many possible causes for the energy boost. Caffeine, as it states in the article, has a cavalcade of “metabolic effects”, and within one of the effects (or perhaps as a combination of a few of them) lies our answer.

Our first explanation brings us to the brain. In the brain, we have, among other things, neurotransmitters and their corresponding receivers. One such receiver, the adenosine receiver, is responsible for making us feel tired (boo hiss!). However, our helpful friend caffeine blocks, or as one website puts it, antagonizes, the receptors.

Another explanation for the energy is given, but this time focusing on the muscles. Caffeine can promote the release of calcium ions from muscles. This reduces the amount of energy required for the muscle to contract. In doing this, caffeine essentially greases the wheels for muscle activity.  As useful or interesting a fact as it is, I think this is not the cause for our excitable energy, but rather a secondary effect.

My favorite explanation is steeped a bit in controversy. Some professionals endorse, and others refute, that caffeine causes your body to release adrenalin. And boy, what a rush adrenalin can be! Adrenalin can raise blood pressure and sugar, constrict blood vessels and widen air passages. If this is in fact the reason for caffeine’s energy boost, than it is no wonder why coffee is the tired man’s panacea.

I haven’t chosen any one of these explanations as the one true answer to our question (I may have made one my favorite but that is because the prospect of a drink like coffee giving me an adrenalin rush is quite enjoyable) but I have rather laid them out for you to decide. Perhaps you will reject these answers and search for another, and perhaps that answer lies out there. However, no matter what the debate says as to why caffeine energizes us, there is no debate that it does in fact energize us, and that is enough for me to drink it.

Related articles