Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 12:14am Subject: Using a French Press only half full . . .
Ok, I can't drink 8 cups of coffee in the morning (well I can, but I have to go to work sometime or other), so I've been only filling it up half way. My question is: Does this affect the quality of the drink?
If so, then I'm going to return it and get a smaller one, as I think it'll be rare to have so many people at once and more than likely I'll only fill it up halfway most of the time.
NYC_Crema Senior Member Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 1,504 Location: New York City Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Miss Silvia Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: I <3 Gorilla Coffee
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 6:21am Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
rokerij Said:
Ok, I can't drink 8 cups of coffee in the morning (well I can, but I have to go to work sometime or other), so I've been only filling it up half way. My question is: Does this affect the quality of the drink?
If so, then I'm going to return it and get a smaller one, as I think it'll be rare to have so many people at once and more than likely I'll only fill it up halfway most of the time.
I'm not an expert, but I haven't noticed too much of a difference. If you are really anal and can't stand anything but "the best coffee possible", then I'd suggust filling the container all the way. I think having depth is important, but at the same time, it may not matter. I could be totally wrong, but maybe the filter diameter is proportional to the depth or volume of the container.
I usually fill up my 24 ounce IKEA "kaffe" french press 1/2 way most of the time. I even put a little mark with a marker so I know where 12 ounces are. I get pretty good results and I haven't seen much of a difference by filling it up more.
Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer, but if you have money, just keep the large 8 cup french press. It'll come in handy when you have guests over and you want to make a lot of coffee. French presses are generally cheap (<$50), so its not awful to keep it and rarely use it.
SizzlingJoe Senior Member Joined: 27 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Sacramento, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: not yet Grinder: soon? Vac Pot: I have a french press, does... Drip: Melitta 4-cup, old Gevalia... Roaster: too much smoke, GF would...
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 8:22am Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
A 1L bodum french press recently joined our kitchen... and yeah, I'm really anal at first with anything... the mad scientist part of me, I guess!
Here's what I've found.
When making half a pot, 21 grams of coffee for 500 ML of water, 4 min extraction... well, it's great! Even the girlfriend will taste it black, with this combo.
But, when making a full pot, 42 grams of coffee/1L of water... same 4 minute extraction time... It tastes weak and watered down.
We usually only make a half pot anyway... so that's "dialed-in" to our own liking with Peet's Sumatra something something blend...
Not sure if a larger pot needs more extraction time, due to a smaller percentage of surface area exposed to the larger amount of coffee, or what.
I'll probably up the coffee next time by another 7 grams when I do make a full pot....
Yeah, I'm a geek. Both in coffee and other things. But hey, gotta remove those variables at first, right? Once you master it, THEN you can play to your heart's content! ;)
Thats funny. I don't know how many times I told someone or posted here that the coffee was so good "even my girlfriend had it black." Since probably 80% of the CG'ers are male (I'm guessing) and probably 50% plus have girlfriends/wifes, we all share a lot of girl related experiences.
My girlfriend thinks I'm so gay when I tell her I want this demitasse and that demitasse - or that I even say demitasse!!
SizzlingJoe Senior Member Joined: 27 Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Sacramento, CA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: not yet Grinder: soon? Vac Pot: I have a french press, does... Drip: Melitta 4-cup, old Gevalia... Roaster: too much smoke, GF would...
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 12:48pm Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
Yeah, who am I to think that only women drink "girly milk drinks"... haha. Funny story actually, back when we were in the "getting to know one another" phase.
One question asked on some personality quiz or something had to do with word association.
The word was coffee.
My response. strong.
Her response. sweet.
Of course, I was thinking black coffee. She was thinking mochas.
Today's visit to the coffee house had her proclaiming that she prefers soy milk to regular milk so much, that it's no more dairy milk for her, in her coffee drinks!
espressoperson Senior Member Joined: 9 Jul 2004 Posts: 114 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Olympia Cremina Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Cona Drip: Press Pot Roaster: Hottop
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 9:01pm Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
rokerij Said:
Ok, I can't drink 8 cups of coffee in the morning (well I can, but I have to go to work sometime or other), so I've been only filling it up half way. My question is: Does this affect the quality of the drink?
Take a look at how far the plunger comes down above the grinds. Does it just touch the grinds so there is no unextracted liquid left below the plunger? This is the likely scenario with an amount of grinds and water that match the press size.
Or is there some muddy liquid sloshing around down there that won't be extracted and may leak into your cup when you pour? This may happen when you brew less than the full amount.
I notice this gap even when making 8 oz (and 16 g coffee) in my 12 oz press pot. So I now brew 12 oz water (and 24 g coffee) and the plunger reaches the grinds. I'm not sure if there is a quality difference, but I'm happier doing it that way!
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 9:09pm Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
espressoperson Said:
Take a look at how far the plunger comes down above the grinds. Does it just touch the grinds so there is no unextracted liquid left below the plunger? This is the likely scenario with an amount of grinds and water that match the press size.
Or is there some muddy liquid sloshing around down there that won't be extracted and may leak into your cup when you pour? This may happen when you brew less than the full amount.
I notice this gap even when making 8 oz (and 16 g coffee) in my 12 oz press pot. So I now brew 12 oz water (and 24 g coffee) and the plunger reaches the grinds. I'm not sure if there is a quality difference, but I'm happier doing it that way!
even if the pot were full it wouldn't reach the bottom of the pot, it's approximately 2 inches from hitting the bottom. So I'd have to LOAD the pot with coffee in order to mash the bottom of the pot.
espressoperson Senior Member Joined: 9 Jul 2004 Posts: 114 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Olympia Cremina Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Cona Drip: Press Pot Roaster: Hottop
Posted Thu Jan 6, 2005, 9:29pm Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
rokerij Said:
even if the pot were full it wouldn't reach the bottom of the pot, it's approximately 2 inches from hitting the bottom. So I'd have to LOAD the pot with coffee in order to mash the bottom of the pot.
Are you saying that even when you put in enough coffee to make 8 cups in an 8 cup pot, the plunger doesn't come down to the top of the grinds? And there is liquid below?
If that's true, then there should be no diffference in using the pot for 8 cups or 4 cups.
PS. I don't think you want to "mash" the plunger into the grounds, just gently stop on first contact.
Michael, I don't follow your logic. Why would the liquid coffee solution that is below the filter screen not be extracted?
I have two presses at work - a small one cupper and a larger 3 cupper. I rarely use the 3 cupper for more than two cups (about 2/3 full of water when I brew), so the grinds do not contact the screen. Despite this, the coffee I make using this method tastes no better or worse than when I use the one cup model (the filter does contact the grinds in this case).
In my humble opinion, the press method is unaffected by the proportionate useage of the maximum capacity of the press. The mistake some people make with press coffee is that they do not decant it if making more than one cup at a time for themselves. Letting the coffee sit in the press for long periods after plunging would lead to overextraction. As long as you pour the coffee out of the press immediately after plunging, everything should be fine regardless of whether there is any liquid beneath the filter.
scubadoo97 Senior Member Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 671 Location: Florida Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Solis SL70 Grinder: Mazzer Mini & Solis Maestro... Vac Pot: got one of those too Drip: Aeropress, Clarity, FP,... Roaster: SC/TO
Posted Fri Jan 7, 2005, 1:21pm Subject: Re: Using a French Press only half full . . .
strugs Said:
Michael, I don't follow your logic. Why would the liquid coffee solution that is below the filter screen not be extracted?
I have two presses at work - a small one cupper and a larger 3 cupper. I rarely use the 3 cupper for more than two cups (about 2/3 full of water when I brew), so the grinds do not contact the screen. Despite this, the coffee I make using this method tastes no better or worse than when I use the one cup model (the filter does contact the grinds in this case).
In my humble opinion, the press method is unaffected by the proportionate useage of the maximum capacity of the press. The mistake some people make with press coffee is that they do not decant it if making more than one cup at a time for themselves. Letting the coffee sit in the press for long periods after plunging would lead to overextraction. As long as you pour the coffee out of the press immediately after plunging, everything should be fine regardless of whether there is any liquid beneath the filter.
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