Coffee Presses

Our regular drip coffee maker croaked after about 5 years, so I had t whip out the gold card catalogue and order up another one (that seems to be aboutt all those points get used for around here).

While we are waiting the usual 2 weeks (how come I can order at Amazon and get my books later the same week....), SWMBO decided to buy a Bodum press. She got one that seems much better than the old ones I was used to - it has a double wall insulated carafe. Now the thing that is isntantly noticeable with this, other than the fact that it takes twice as long to make half as much coffee, what with boiling water etc., is that the resulting coffee is significantly hotter than you get from a drip.

That, and I like the hotter coffee better, I'd just forgotten what it was like. Doesn't matter to SWMBO as she drowns it in moo-juice anyway, but I appreciate the difference.

Now if i could just figure out how to rinse out the old grounds - needs some added water to get them moving and then you can't toss them in the garbage. My solution - grounds are good for the garden. Garden begins right outside the kitchen window over the sink (don't want them going down the drain and clogging it).

I have the bodum, but have moved away from it. I use an aeropress which makes a single cup, but does not have a problem with fines or continued extraction.

For a drip maker, I really like the Technivorm, one of the few machines that heats water to the recommended temp for optimal extraction.

[Jenise]

We bought the double-wall stainless individual French press mugs Starbucks carries once upon a time, intending to use them for travel purposes. They, and a baggie of home ground beans, accompany us on our occasional overnighters in Vancouver, for instance; we just use the hotel coffee maker to produce the hot water. The mug is shaped such that it's a good car mug, too, even if we refill it with someone else's coffee. Anyway, although we never considered using them for everyday, such is the convenience of the mug and the superior taste of pressed coffee that these mugs have completely supplanted our desire for drip coffee and we use them every day. I love that if we get up at different times (Bob slumbers as I type) we can each get up to a fresh cup instead half a pot of stale coffee. (I consider a pot stale after about ten minutes.)

Oh, and like at your house, all the grounds get loosened up with a little water and then dumped on the camellias. However unlike at your house, I will actually walk them to the camellia plant.

However unlike at your house, I will actually walk them to the camellia plant.

Well I would rather not take the chance of waking SWMBO before I am ready to bring her a cup out of the second pot, in bed, so no slamming doors......

[Jenise]

However unlike at your house, I will actually walk them to the camellia plant.

Well I would rather not take the chance of waking SWMBO before I am ready to bring her a cup out of the second pot, in bed, so no slamming doors......

Very considerate of you. Btw, I'm now forced to picture you tossing the grounds out the kitchen window. Wouldn't they hit a car?

I agree that press coffee is better-tasting than drip but the convenience thing is too much for me, and it's just too easy to brew up a pot. If we don't drink it within the first half-hour or so, it gets transferred to a vacuum pot, but it's usually gone before that happens. And it's still pretty good coffee, if not excellent coffee.