harrymanback Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 214 Location: slo*cal Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: expobar brewtus ii Grinder: la cimbali md6, baratza... Drip: nah...bodum press(es) Roaster: modded wear•ever popcorn...
Posted Sun Jul 29, 2007, 10:09am Subject: Re: Why I like Bodum by Mark Prince
one comment on the article: whether i'm steeping with 8 oz of water or 32, i find a 4-minute steep after stirring the slurry works best for me (going as much as an extra 30 seconds for the mega brews). btw, i'm currently enjoying a cup from a 24-oz press, steep time 4:15, and it is superb.
harrymanback Said:
bit of a random question: anyone know why the "m" in "bodum" looks more like a sideways "3"? it could just be a style thing, but i've always thought there may just be a story behind this. curious.
and how lame is it to answer your own question? well, technically this is just a guess. since "bodum is registered trademark of pi-design," maybe the "3" comes from pi=3.14159... i know parent companies like to do things like this. i was hoping there was a better story here, but perhaps that's all there is.
harry.
"i should pull up the hardwood to see if there's carpet underneath! . . . no, that's never the case."
harrymanback Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 214 Location: slo*cal Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: expobar brewtus ii Grinder: la cimbali md6, baratza... Drip: nah...bodum press(es) Roaster: modded wear•ever popcorn...
Posted Sun Sep 2, 2007, 1:19pm Subject: Re: Why I like Bodum by Mark Prince
one more pressing note: as many espresso enthusiasts will testify, dark roasts like lower brewing temperatures than light roasts. with a dark roast, i don't preheat the press pot. also, once the kettle whistles, i remove it from heat, open the lid, then grind, dose, and pour.
with the lighter roasts, i preheat, grind just as the whistle starts, remove from heat, do not open the lid, dose, and pour. subtle differences make the most dramatic results in espresso, but can alter even a simple press, as well.
harry.
"i should pull up the hardwood to see if there's carpet underneath! . . . no, that's never the case."
MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 5,462 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Professional
Espresso: KvdW Speedster Grinder: Compak K10 WBC Vac Pot: A bit too many Drip: Clive Coffee Drip Stand Roaster: Hario Glass Retro Roaster
Posted Sun Sep 2, 2007, 2:03pm Subject: Re: Why I like Bodum by Mark Prince
Huge Kudos to you on that, Harry - it's all about "getting to know the coffee" and not making coffee on autopilot.
You're the complete opposite of something I saw in Seattle a few months ago... a customer ordered a press pot of coffee, so the PBTC went to one of several ESPRESSO grinders, and without changing the grind, just ground a bunch of coffee into a cup, then dumped it into a 8 cup bodum. The customer patiently waited for the coffee to be pressed. The PBTC ignored it. The customer then went to try and press it, and it was too hard (fine grind = clogged filter). The PBTC admonished the customer, grabbed the press, and almost literally did a headstand to push the plunger down. Scary.
Re your technique: I do similar things, but have a bit of a press pot arsenal to play around with even more:
- anything Full City or lighter (no surface oil, coffee hasn't really been brought into second crack) I tend to use bigger (5, 6 cup) presses or the Freeling insulated presses I have. They help retain heat more. I also will wrap a cloth or other insulator around the press to retain heat.
- Full City + or darker roasts, I'll use the small 2 cup press I have, or the 3 cup bodums, or the wide 4 cup bodum. No preheating of the carafe (hard to preheat the plastic bodums anyway).
- Steep times. I'm not religious about the 4 minute thing any longer. Smaller presses: less steep time. Usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the press.
- Initial stir. I use a Zojirushi on-demand hot water kettle now (set to 208F) for all my press pot coffee, and I use the water flow from it to do the initial stir and saturation of the grounds. I no longer stirr the slurry after doing this. I read somewhere online that someone did tests - stirring, no stirring, and the no-stirring method ended up introducing less bitters into the cup. I can't tell if this is true or not, but I just use the water flow from the Zoj to do the initial stir.
- In combination with that "stir", I only fill the press half full, pause, rotate the liquid in the press somewhat with a hand movement, then continue filling. Saturates the grinds better.
- Insulated presses definitely present a different brew. The temperature fall off is quite different from glass or plastic. It hinders some coffees that benefit from a good temperature fall off during the steep (higher temps = more bitters extracted), but benefits others. Probably the best coffee to benefit from the Freeling insulated press: The Esmeralda from 49th, the Biloya from Paradise, and the Yirg #7 from Novo coffee. All very light (some would say weird) roasts.
harrymanback Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 214 Location: slo*cal Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: expobar brewtus ii Grinder: la cimbali md6, baratza... Drip: nah...bodum press(es) Roaster: modded wear•ever popcorn...
Posted Sun Sep 2, 2007, 7:12pm Subject: Re: Why I like Bodum by Mark Prince
a french press with an espresso grind? yuck! that's horrible. for me that's the when i walk out of said coffee shop.
yeah, i'm definitely into coffee for the taste, not the utility (as you'd say, mark). i'm not home-roasting (yet), so i like to order a shipped (or picked up, if we're travelling near a good roaster) fresh pound weekly. getting a new coffee is exciting, but challenging given the nuances of each roast / bean.
generally i've found i like the lighter roasts, but we've had some darker ones that pleasantly surprised me, for sure. this isn't always true, but i've noticed that folks (like me) who've never liked coffee and then stumbled onto the specialty coffee scene usually prefer the lighter roasts. where as those who grew up on diesel, can get weened off of it by a specialty dark roast. maybe a totally objective palate can decide on one "best" roast for each bean, but i'm still skeptical a roast nirvana exists for each bean.
i'm not at the point where i measure temperatures before i steep, but there are little tricks, such as when to pour, to stir or not to stir, or how rigorous to stir, etc. that greatly alter the brew. i just have the one press pot, a double-walled glass bodum. it retains heat very well. i'm thinking of, for the the darker roasts, keeping the lid partially off or even total removed during the steep to even dramatically alter the temp. who knows...getting there's have the fun, as they say.
harry.
"i should pull up the hardwood to see if there's carpet underneath! . . . no, that's never the case."
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