The Coffee Beans
Buy the beans that you favour. There is no one equal coffee dringer. However as you experiment with different roasts, blends and brands you will develop likes and dislikes. And after a while, you will probably find that some of your dislikes includes instant coffee. It's not that the instantanous and easy fashion in which you brew your coffee makes it intrisically inferior, it's just that the coffee flavours don't blend too well with the water - and this you will taste! After selecting your brand and blend there are a couple of things to know. Whole beans keep their aroma and flavour for far longer then ground beans. It is said that ground beans keep two days, while I've heard whole beans can keep for a month. You don't need to be too concerned about this. Just remember that if you don't drink too much coffee, its better to buy low quanta - often. Also for a french press, you want to grind the beans not too fine, and not too coarse. That is: a bit coarser than a filter ground.French Press
The French Press is just a reservoir for your coffee and water, with an inbuildt sive to filter out the coffee grounds. Some think the press is just too much work, but I beg to differ. Clean water and equipment is important for making good coffee. And with a coffee machine, there are pitfals for both. Many use the jug to refill the reservoir. This could bring unclean water to the reservoir. Also it is more difficult to clean the machine itself. So you tend to do that more seldom. With the French Press you just cleanse it with running water after each use, and you can do that for about a month before putting the whole thing in the dish washer. Be carefull though. With a glass pitcher (which I personally reccomend), the heat of the dishwasher will contribute to hasten the day when it inevitably breaks. So why chose a glass french press instead of a plastic one? Plastic is fine, but for the first few runs your coffee is going to smell of plastic. With glass this is not a problem. Also a transluscent container is good. Then you can visually track the tint of your coffe for a fantastic result every time.
The Operation
Boil up the water, then let it sit for about 5 minutes. 85- 90 degrees tend to give the best result. (I don't know why). Put in the amount of coffee you like, and stir. Let the coffee give of it's wonderful flavour for about 5 minutes, and press. And presto! Good coffee.
Serving
Serve black. Any added milk or shugar hides the quality of the beans. A good substitute is serving with a bit of dark chocolate. I like mint chocolates my self: I find they keep each taste of the coffee new and exiting. Also I resently found out that salty crackers are excellent, especially with the not- so bitter- blends. A hight quality coffee made right can be weak, strong and sometimes even cold and still be good. Happy drinking.
