Re: My First French Press
 

These are the instructions for the Toddy system, although I'm sure the same concept works in a french press as well.

http://www.toddycafe.com/customerser...structions.php

Re: My First French Press
 

We've been doing the French press thing now for a couple of years, and there is just no going back. I'm hooked on Mr. Jerry's "Killer Beans" and have done business with him for several years. I have started to check out the local roasters, though...some good stuff here in PDX.

In addition to the French press, I bought a Baratza grinder a couple of years back. No, they aren't cheap...and there is no comparison to the blade grinders. A good conical burr grinder will give you the most consistent grind imaginable. This is one of those dumb things that makes me smile every time I use it.

Lastly, as a friend of mine put it....here's the "next step off the cliff"....home roasting. Haven't gone there yet, but I'm looking into it.

Cheers - N.F.H.

Re: My First French Press
 

Two things to remember, though, coffee should NEVER be made with boiling water. If you boil water,
let it sit for 5 or so minutes before using it to make coffee. And secondly, if you use hot water from the tap,
make sure you do not have a conventional water heater. If you have that kind of instant heat deal,
that's OK, but drinking hot water from a conventional tank water heater is not good for you.

Re: My First French Press
 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...STRK:MESELX:IT
This is my auction, I have a few of them, if anyone is interested, and priced them well.

Re: My First French Press
 

Could you elaborate on these? Depending on the ambient temp and the container the water is in, 5 minutes could put it below optimal brew temp.

As far as the other.... No real reason that water would be harmful, in my experience. If you were on a well, with untreated water, and you had some high temp biological contamination, that might be an issue, but in general not an issue for 99,999 people out of a 100,000. What are you referring to? Soft water? Not really an issue, as the sodium levels in softened water are so low that for it to impact your health you would need to drink bathtubs of it to affect you. Daily. The sodium, in a softened water system are used in the ionic exchange process in the softener, and the resin bed is flushed of virtually all free NaCl in the final bed rinse.
Curiosity killed the cat, I suppose.

Re: My First French Press
 

When I made coffee this morning, like every morning, I wait for the water to just start to boil. I turn the stove off, count to ten, and pour it into the french press. The Specialty Coffee Association of America recommends a temperature of 195-205F for making coffee. My guess is that if you boiled water (~212F +/-) and let it sit for five minutes, you'd be well below their suggested minimum.

Now I'm curious; I'll stick a thermometer in the water tomorrow and find out where I'm at....

Re: My First French Press
 

That looks to be a good price for ease of use. I wouldn't want to pay $35-40 for a Toddy if I don't need to. Do the filters in the Ronco need to be replaced?

Re: My First French Press
 

It comes with 2 of them, and I really am not sure of the replacement. I will check the package.
Edit, the pads appear to be washable along with the other components per the directions.
Sorry for the psuedo threadjack, fellas.


That being said, you can also boost the temp of the water by putting it in a glass mixing bowl and nuking it for minute or two. No harm, no foul in that.

Re: My First French Press
 

Some good reading here...might pick up a french press today to give it a try.

Re: My First French Press
 

OK, it's official, after doing a little more reading, cold brewed just seems like way to much work for a cup of joe. I really don't want to take 18 hours to make my coffee.

Re: My First French Press
 

It's not any more work to make cold brewed coffee than it is for a french press and honestly, french press is probably more work. With the cold brewed coffee, you have the initial element of time obviously, but you have a concentration that will yield a LOT of coffee to drink over several days. Add water to your preferred dilution and you're all set. You could make up enough in one batch of the cold brew to last a week. I now make coffee once every 6-7 days compared to daily with the french press. The process is much the same, but the yield/taste of the cold brewing is night and day. With the french press, you're boiling water, brewing, and cleaning up every day.

Re: My First French Press
 

Even though it comes with filters, I know on my system, it's recommended to change them every 3 months, so that may be an issue if the Ronco doesn't have filters that are readily available. Just like any other filter, it'll get clogged over time and your flow rate diminishes, even if you do wash it every use like you're supposed to.

Re: My First French Press
 

One nice aspect of the Toddy is the ability to get new filters/plugs any time you wish from Amazon or anywhere else. Other systems may not have that luxury. :2

Re: My First French Press
 

Do you drink it cold? Sounds pretty good for summer. Can you reheat if the weather calls for hot coffee?

Re: My First French Press
 

I drank it cold, at room temp, and heated. It can't really be "reheated" since it was never heated to begin with.;) I enjoyed the same coffee each way just the same.

Re: My First French Press
 

I keep the concentrate in the decanter refrigerated, pour in a glass, add water from the water dispenser in the fridge, add a little vanilla or hazlenut creamer and spenda, and voila. Might add an ice cube or two to make it really cold. I prefer that over the hot coffee nowadays.

My wife microwaves her coffee in the morning, but prefers the iced coffee in the afternoons.

Re: My First French Press
 

Damnit, this is starting to sound tempting.

Re: My First French Press
 

It's really that good. Please excuse my semi-overcomplicated description of the process last night. It really takes little effort and is well worth it.

Re: My First French Press
 

Yeah, I realized after that waiting 5 minutes was way too long, but my 15 minutes of time to
edit were up and I blew it off. When I came back and saw the debate was on, I figured I would
come on and eat my crow. 15 seconds maybe to wait?? As long as it is not BOILING water.
And that's from the coffee Experts at Community Coffee.

As for the tank water, higher concentrations of lead and I am guessing also contaminants from the
fiberglass tank itself.

Re: My First French Press
 

The only drawback to the Cold-Brew would be if you wanted it hot. Coffee never has the same, good, fresh brewed flavor if it is reheated. No matter if its in a pot or the micro, it never tastes as good.

I will stick w/ the Press for hot coffee. I will probably try the cold brew this summer though.