Next you'll be telling us that if we put our Lagavulin over ice with a splash of 7-Up it will remove the medicinal taste.

Rest assured that there is no 'nondescript bitterness' in our FP. We've honed its preparation over decades, thank-you very much.

Please detail your parameters for grind, dose, brew volume, water temp, agitation, etc. I'm always the first to admit I might be missing something.

cafeIKE wrote:Next you'll be telling us that if we put our Lagavulin over ice with a splash of 7-Up it will remove the medicinal taste.

I nearly had to poke out my eyes after reading that. For those single malt fans, Lagavulin is as earthy and peaty as they come. I don't see medicinal at all but its the Scotch for those who like rich earthy Sumatra SO's.

I am going to have to try this reverse FP method this weekend. I have a nice Kenyan Gerthumbwini lightly roasted and ready to go.

This thread holds one of many great and simple suggestions one can glean from HB. I tried it with my 4 cup press I'm using while away from home. When I return home, I will use my 4 cup FP carafe and a press from the 8 cup. I can pull up the insulating top to add the coffee and water of my chosen temperature. That way the heat will stay in during brewing, but the axis of the press can stay upright and not let grounds drift below the press.

I did a little experiment this morning with the french press. Had a friend over for coffee to help with the tasting. He enjoys good coffee, but he only picks up tastes that are CLEAR and PRESENT... Subtle nuances are lost to him. I figured he would perfect to help me out this morning.

I made four french press pots. I have two 8cup presses, yet we only used 24oz each time. The Coffee was my home roast.. Brazil Ambiental Fortaleza, Roasted to City+.. Stopped shortly after 1C ended. This seems to be where I best like this coffee for brewing.

Equip:
(2) 8tasse FPs
PeDe 550 Hand Grinder
Bunn G2 Grinder
Stove/Pot for water

For the first two pots, I used the hand grinder, same weight for each. 55gr of coffee per 24oz of water. One french press, I was using the Break&Scoop method, and the other, Daves French Pull Method. For the grind size I used, 2:30 Steep time is what works. So, for the 1st FP, I Broke and Scooped at 2:00, pressing down at 2:30. With the French Pull Method, I pulled at 2:30

We each had a cup from both FPs, Black. No sugar or H&H. We silently tasted them, keeping comments to ourselves, until the end of the test...

For the next two FPs, I used my Bunn Grinder. Grind size was almost identical without using a SEM. Same steep times(2:30) and same methods. Broke&Scooped at 2:00, Pushed at 2:30. Pulled at 2:30 for the French Pull. Again, we each had two cups from both presses. Tasted silently, keeping comments to ourselves.

The French Presses we used we Bodum Chambords, my personal favorite. Both of the presses have the Nylon Mesh screen that SweetMarias sells. Other than that, they are both stock, identical FPs.

Our findings were interesting, I thought.

Test 1(Hand Grinder)- The French Pulled pot didnt have as much mouthfeel as the Broke&Scooped Press did. Flavors of the cup were very similar. Some Spice, Dark Chocolate, and both pots had some bitterness that we could have done without, and while not overbearing, it was definitely bitterness, and not the bittersweet that this brazil can sometimes exhibit with a darker roast. The Pulled Press had much less bitterness, but also had slightly less body. But we both preferred the Pulled Pot, even with less body, because the cup was smoother and more pleasant to drink.

Test 2(Bunn G2)- The body and creaminess of both cups were very similar, but not identical. The Flavors of the cup came out more. My friend was able to pick up on flavors that he didnt even notice with the previous cups. The cups were both sweeter, though the French Pulled cups had more sweetness then the Broken&Scooped cups did. Bitterness was almost completely GONE on both presses. With regards to bitterness, Neither of us could tell a difference between the two cups. The biggest difference I noted, was that French Pulled cup had slightly less body, but was sweeter and cleaner. The B&S cup had slightly more body, not quite as sweet or clean, but the flavors of the coffee were more detectable, probably because this coffee is a "darker" flavored coffee, without much fruit, so not being as sweet/clean probably favored this particular bean.

What I(humbly) conclude from this, is the grinder(duh!) has a big influence on the cup, and which method works the best. Using the hand grinder, I much favored the French Pull Method. The bitterness was close to non-existent, but it WAS there slightly. However, using the Bunn Grinder, which grinds like a friggin dream with almost ZERO dust/fines, I didnt have a clear preference. I suppose if i had to choose, I would use the Break&Scoop method, because I feel like the cup was clearer in terms of flavors of the bean, and I think the lower sweetness favors this bean. So, from now on, I will NOT be using my hand grinder for brewing anymore(it is a better espresso grinder then it is for brewing), And i will be trying both methods for different beans. Since I got the vacpot, bright and fruity coffees havent gone near the press. But, now that I have a grinder which excels at coarse(r) grinding, and a method which produces a sweeter, cleaner cup, Ill be trying certain coffees again in the press. And most Importantly, i think I proved to myself, ONE MORE TIME, that.. Its the Grinder, Stupid!

When I received my KYM espresso grinder in the mail and first tried it out, I was so excited to finally have a decent espresso grinder that I gave away my Baratza Maestro, and I have been kicking myself ever since. I know that there are some types of hand grinders that will do an even grind, but mine absolutely sucks for anything beyond the espresso range. And the results come out in the cup every time, every method.

Noah, same here. The Pede Excels at espresso grinding. I use it with my anita when I get the urge for a 3am session.. Vibe pumps are loud enough without a major running too. But, the coarser i go, the worse it gets. Which is why, when I used the PeDe for french press, i adapted Tom(from SM) method of a fine grind and a 90 second steep.

Jim, Thank you. As of now, I havent settled on which method i will use, but to be honest, I havent tried the new grinder, or the new methods with enough variety of coffees yet. French press isnt something I use a lot. I do brew vacpot semi-often.. Maybe a couple times a week, depending on my mood and what coffee I have, and there is less room for changing technique with a siphon. I havent noticed a profound difference in adding the coffee and then letting the water siphon, or siphoning all the water, THEN adding the coffee.. So I just stick with the ladder. But, with daves new method, any with some luck, my french press just may come back to life for me.

One thing my friend brought up to me this afternoon, was grinders. He asked me how much he could expect to spend for a grinder that could produce a grind similar to the Bunn type grinders. And then I realized.. Besides Bunn, Ditting and Mahlkoenig, which are all expensive for home use, there arent many(any?) grinders out there that excel at coarser grinding for a decent price. Or did I miss something... Is there a modestly priced grinder which grinds comparably to the lab-cupping type grinders(IE:minimal to zero dust/fines?) Cuz ill tell you this, IDC how big my bunn grinder is, I will never get rid of it, except for a ditting. Sorry for the thread drift.

I have been using a slightly longer steep time with the pull but not much longer. Maybe if I had something other than an espresso grinder the results would be better, but I work with what I have. The temperature is not the cause of the bitter that I get. I would like to think that I am reasonably proficient with most things coffee. It could be that I am simply more attune to bitter. While I dont mind it in a pint of stout (quite enjoy it actually), I just hate it in my coffee.

I will second the reduction in body using this method. It is more like a hearty drip or filter cone pot but for me, the slight reduction in body, increase in clarity and reduction or absence of bitter is worth the trade off. That is part of the reason I rarely use a press. I normally brew drip through my tuned plumbed in BUNN commercial pot.

To each his own, this is simply another alternative. Give it a try, if you like it use it if you dont, then dont. I like my single malt moderately peaty and slightly briny and smoky, neat with a slight chill but not cold preferably 14 year or older, my espresso thick and syrupy and my cigars hearty, often dark and whenever possible from Cuba and complex.

Dave, I think that the best thing about this method, IS the reduction in body. While I favored the break&Scoop method for the brazil I used, this is hardly definitive. I would be willing to bet, that I favor your Pull Method on Washed Africans and Centrals, and possibly even those rare sumatras that are bright and clean. In coffees like those, Im not after body, im after the Floral aromatics, the juicy cup, and the light body.

Ive just roasted up some Kona Typica, which, probably most of it will be brewed with the Siphon, Ill be trying to pull method for the Kona. If not on this batch, then the next one for sure. Ive also got a JBM Cultivar Kona(JBM Grown in the Kona Region), which I have yet to roast, but have similar plans for.

FWIW, I really think this method favors us Espresso Heads.. With our espresso grinders likely having their weakest point on french press grinds.. This method makes that a moot point. Well Done Sir.. Well Done.