Espresso in a french press?

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synecdoche

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
11
I'm a fairly new coffee drinker. I've had one of the stovetop espresso pots for a while, and used it primarily to make lattes. However, yesterday I bought a small french press to make "regular" coffee.

I'd like to try it out, but I don't have any coarse ground coffee. Can I use the espresso grounds that I have for the stovetop espresso pot, or should I just wait for now? (Grocery stores are closed today because of a stat holiday in my province, but I can make an Americano or whatever with espresso easily enough.)
 
I switched to a French Press a year ago and won't ever go back to regular coffee pots again. This little gadget makes awesome coffee. But you have to use coarse ground coffee. I buy beans from Starbuck's - I mix two differenct coffees to make my perfect blend and grind my own. I grind beans every 2 days and my grinder does a great job on the coarse setting . If you don't have coarse ground coffee you might want to invest in a grinder and do your own. I haven't seen bagged pre-ground coffee in a coarse grind yet. If

If you use regular grind or fine grind you will end up with a very muddy, bitter cup of coffee. If you are a new coffee drinker this could be a big turnoff. Follow the directions on the manual that came with your FP pot and you can't go wrong.
 
I just bought a new press too and love that morning cup of coffee! I had a coffee grinder so that was no problem for me. Just an addition to the uses of a press, I buy my green tea at an Asian market and it makes great tea too. I use the tea leaves and the press keeps them in the pot, not in my cup. You will fall in love with the coffee from the press. I have always had one around for when our electricity goes out. I need that hot cup of coffee in the morning.
 
We have a small French press we got from the local coffee guru at the Farmers Market. It has a flat round paper filter at the bottom, and the tube that you press down on will give you just enough liquid to make one cup of coffee.
We always use fine grounds for it, as recommended by the manufacturer and our friend at the Market. You place the outer part of the tube directly over the coffee cup, add in the grinds, then the liquid. Stir good to mix well, then press down into the cup.
For clarification, though, the next setting down on his grinder is Espresso then Turkish, so fine is above those two. I do it manually by sound and look as my grinder does not have any settings on it. I have to be careful as sometimes I go down to powder! Which is great in the coffee maker but no so much in the French Press.
After pressing it out, we divide it between two cups and add hot water (not boiling) and that gives us two standard cups of coffee. It is some of the best coffee we have had, and doesn't taste bitter at all. Just strong!
 
I just bought a new press too and love that morning cup of coffee! I had a coffee grinder so that was no problem for me. Just an addition to the uses of a press, I buy my green tea at an Asian market and it makes great tea too. I use the tea leaves and the press keeps them in the pot, not in my cup. You will fall in love with the coffee from the press. I have always had one around for when our electricity goes out. I need that hot cup of coffee in the morning.

Silentmeow: your post blew me away. I too love to make tea with tea leaves, especially Chinese tea, and I make it in a tea pot. It never occured to me to use the French Press and strain the leaves to the bottom of the pot. Great idea. Thanks.
 
DramaQueen, I'm a firm believer in the phrase, any tool can be the right tool! My coffee grinder doubles as a spice grinder at times too. I hate to clutter my kitchen with things that only serve one purpose. Also it's just fun to see if it will work with something else!
 
Silentmeow: your post blew me away. I too love to make tea with tea leaves, especially Chinese tea, and I make it in a tea pot. It never occured to me to use the French Press and strain the leaves to the bottom of the pot. Great idea. Thanks.

I once did this in my coffee maker, emptying tea bags into the filter instead of coffee grounds.
It was, uh, interesting to be sure.:LOL:

But in a French Press, darn good idea!
 
DramaQueen, I'm a firm believer in the phrase, any tool can be the right tool! My coffee grinder doubles as a spice grinder at times too. I hate to clutter my kitchen with things that only serve one purpose. Also it's just fun to see if it will work with something else!

Much has been written about not using your spice grinder for anything but spices and your coffe grinder for nothing but coffee since the flavors will transfer. I can't imagine grinding spices in a grinder then putting coffee beans in that same grinder. I have two, one for each but if it works for you then you should use one.
 
The same goes for using a grinder for flavored coffees and then returning to regular coffee. This once happened in my grinder, and I could taste the flavor for weeks. I cannot imagine coffee tasting spices and herbs and/or herb tasting coffee. I have never really found a way to clean a coffee grinder. Use mine only for plain coffee, and make my coffee in a small french press. Takes only a few minutes during which you can be doing something else, and makes really good coffee. I don't drink tea, but a FP should work very well. Burr grinders have a quantity control so you get the same amount every time, and are not too expensive. I have seen the Cuisinart on sale for 30 bucks, and mine is 5 years old with no problems. Blade grinders work well for herbs and spices and are very inexpensive. You have to guess at the quantity and grind, so not as good for coffee However, if it works for you, that's what cooking tools are all about.
 
The same goes for using a grinder for flavored coffees and then returning to regular coffee. This once happened in my grinder, and I could taste the flavor for weeks. I cannot imagine coffee tasting spices and herbs and/or herb tasting coffee. I have never really found a way to clean a coffee grinder. Use mine only for plain coffee, and make my coffee in a small french press. Takes only a few minutes during which you can be doing something else, and makes really good coffee. I don't drink tea, but a FP should work very well. Burr grinders have a quantity control so you get the same amount every time, and are not too expensive. I have seen the Cuisinart on sale for 30 bucks, and mine is 5 years old with no problems. Blade grinders work well for herbs and spices and are very inexpensive. You have to guess at the quantity and grind, so not as good for coffee However, if it works for you, that's what cooking tools are all about.

The point you raised about flavored coffees transferring the flavor to regular coffee is a good one and one of the reasons I started grinding my own at home instead of in the supermarket's grinder. Every time I grind in the supermarket, I realize that the person before me ground vanilla, hazelnut or some other strong flavored coffee and now mine has the aroma and flavor of that coffee. I don't like flavored coffee so I grind my own.
 
I agree. I do not use the store grinder. I have noticed that some stores have a separate grinder for flavored and unflavored, indicating they might have had a problem, or want to avoid one. I think that coffee starts to oxidize as soon as it comes out of the roaster, and the larger the surface area, the greater the oxidization, which is why I grind my own. It takes less time to use the Cuisinart than to open a can of pre-ground, and flavor is much better.
 
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