espressobecky Senior Member Joined: 12 Nov 2002 Posts: 671 Location: Northern BC Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: Mazzer Major, Baratza... Vac Pot: Hario TCA-3 Drip: French Press Roaster: Behmor 1600
Posted Wed Dec 9, 2009, 7:15am Subject: Re: Do you stir your French Press grinds after approx 1 minute of brewing time??
John,
It's the best roaster I've used. I had a Poppery and a FreshRoast+ before the Behmor. I'm not exactly a "master roaster", so I'd still rather buy fresh roasted beans from a great roaster than roast them myself. But that's just because I'm not as passionate about roasting coffee as I am in making great espresso. As much as the Behmor is very simple to use, there are still a lot of variables to experiment with in roasting a coffee to it's potential. I don't regret learning the basics, but now I'd rather just leave the roasting to the professionals and stick to making a great espresso or coffee from those beans.
Posted Wed Dec 9, 2009, 12:02pm Subject: Re: Do you stir your French Press grinds after approx 1 minute of brewing time??
I stir twice. Once after a minute to break up the cake of blooming grounds floating atop the water, and again right before the plunge. The stir before the plunge creates the "pressure" element of the extraction process and seems to make a difference in the quality of my result. I have done comparisons with/without the second stir and there was an obvious diference to me. With the second stir right before plunging there were gounds suspended in the water that became trapped against the underside of the screen. This created considerably more resistance during the plunge, and caused the water to be forced through the gounds under pressure. The element of flavor that was added by doing this was an improvement over doing it without the second stir. YMMV.
Posted Wed Dec 9, 2009, 2:35pm Subject: Re: Do you stir your French Press grinds after approx 1 minute of brewing time??
toenail Said:
I stir twice. Once after a minute to break up the cake of blooming grounds floating atop the water, and again right before the plunge. With the second stir right before plunging there were gounds suspended in the water that became trapped against the underside of the screen. This created considerably more resistance during the plunge, and caused the water to be forced through the gounds under pressure. The element of flavor that was added by doing this was an improvement over doing it without the second stir. YMMV.
I don't do a second stir because I scoop off the grounds floating on top of the coffee before I plunge (technique shown in this collage). Looks like the second stir is in a way similar to scooping of the floating grounds because in both cases there are no grounds that become trapped against the underside of the screen.
Posted Wed Dec 16, 2009, 7:29am Subject: Re: Do you stir your French Press grinds after approx 1 minute of brewing time??
I must be confused about the "Press" part of a French Press. I thought in addition to acting as a filter, it also introduced the element of pressure (however modest) to the extraction process. Scooping the grounds out before the plunge or doing a "reverse" press seems counterintuitive.
JasonBrandtLewis Senior Member Joined: 9 Dec 2005 Posts: 6,098 Location: Berkeley, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Elektra T1 - La Valentina -... Grinder: Mahlkönig K30 Vario -... Vac Pot: Yama 5-cup Drip: CCD, Chemex Roaster: No, no, not another...
Posted Wed Dec 16, 2009, 8:45am Subject: Re: Do you stir your French Press grinds after approx 1 minute of brewing time??
toenail Said:
I must be confused about the "Press" part of a French Press. I thought in addition to acting as a filter, it also introduced the element of pressure (however modest) to the extraction process.
Posted Wed Dec 16, 2009, 9:50am Subject: Re: Do you stir your French Press grinds after approx 1 minute of brewing time??
I simply add the boiling water (yes boiling, the press walls will take the water to proper brew temp instantly, no need to wait) and then simply partially depress the plunger to push the grounds just below the water level. After brewing press all the way. Clean delicious coffee.
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