Is it possible for glass to absorb a terrible flavor and pass it on for eternity into my coffee?

I have tried everything from cheap beans to expensive local roast beans and no matter what, the coffee comes out tasting like butt. It has a bitter burned aftertaste that you can smell the minute the water hits the grounds. I am now using a thermometer to make sure the water is 195F.

My recipe.

2Tbs coffee ground course
18oz water
Water at 195F
Pour half in, let sit for 30 seconds
Break crust with wooden spoon
Pour in remainder of water, let sit until 4min mark
Press down slowly

Just frustrated. Why can't I ever get it to taste like it does in Europe? My wife won't even drink it.

Wondering if I should buy bottled water (but I remember having this same bad burnt taste when I was using bottled water at the office. Maybe I should accidently break the press and get a new one. :/)

Glass is preferred because it won't absorb flavors... that's why it's used in labs. You do need to make sure to clean any oily film off the glass, that's not hard.

Tell us about the beans and the grinder you're using. How darkly is the coffee roasted, a bitter, burnt aftertaste sounds like dark roasted coffee and some overextraction.

Ben, Some points for your consideration:
1.Based on you taste description, I would guess your coffee is either over-roasted or stale or both.
2.However, based on your brewing protocol, I would expect it to be thin and sour rather than burnt and bitter.
3. Is your coffee roasted too dark for your taste?
4. Is your coffee stale? Just because it is local and expensive does not necessarily mean it is fresh.
5. Your ratio is very low, but that would not account for bad aroma.
6. How and when do you measure the water temp? If it is 195F in the kettle, it may be much lower after pouring to the press.
7. Is your thermometer accurate?
8. It is unlikely that your press is the cause of the problem if you keep it reasonably clean.

You are describing beans roasted well into second crack. Freshly roasted is important, yes, but to what degree and what is your preference? Not all roasters are roasting to emphasize origin. I've had stale beans before in my Kalita and they've never tasted burnt. It's a matter of roast level.

We dont have enough information, but I will take a stab, if any of the following are true correct htem immediatly:

1. Dose. YOu need to weigh. I cant really find the accurate information: How many grams of coffee is a tablespoon. I have seen sites listing anywhere from 5-19 grams. Anyway, I am guessing it is something around 7grams per tablespoon, which means you are putting in 14 grams of coffee.

The general recommendation is for anywhere from like 1:10 ratio to 1:20. Let say 1:15 to keep it in the middle. That means, if you are wanting to brew 18oz, that is 510 grams of water.

510/15 = 34 Therefore you need to put alot more coffee beans in...or just weigh them. Its much better and frankly easier.

2. You said you "Scoop" two Tbs, "ground course" and did not mention a grinder. I assume you are using preground coffee. If so, just use a coffee filter until you get a grinder. The french press will extract all of those old stale bitter oils from the ground coffee into your cup. Better to just filter them out.


3. The right beans might not be what you are thinking. Based on the above, I assume that the fresh local roasts are probably Feshmarket beans or similar grocery chain, extremely dark roasted, or a higher quality bean roaster, but perhaps old stale beans that were also very over roasted and have since been ground and staled.

First, check how dark are the beans, do they have oils on them. That is not what you want right now. If you just try some of the beans straight outo f the bag and eat them like chips, do they have a good crunch and smell. It should be quite palatable even if bitter. Or do they taste old, stale, slightly spongy, crumbly/ashy, and have a just all around disgusting flavor? (I have found that the body is pretty ready to identify old stale foods when you try to eat them


Verdict:

Get fresh roasted whole bean. Do not assume they are fresh because they say "Fresh" and they should not be over roasted. Get a grinder. Dose correctly.

Nothing is going to save old stale food and make it taste good, even moreover when served in the wrong ratios.

Today it was a fresh bag of (light) Angel City from Groundwork Coffee's actual roastary (link below). Bought and bagged for me this morning. Grinding with Virtuoso. It comes out of the grinder smelling so good.

http://www.groundworkcoffee.com/pages/g ... -hollywood

I also bought a bag of Sumatra (which I have bought from Whole Foods and TJs as well). So that is to try next. I also bought green beans which I will ruin in my popcorn maker

I have done a lot of reading and it seems the ratio of approx 2tbs per 6oz is a widely accepted method. I still have't ordered the kitchen scale to weigh, but I'm assume the 2tbs/6oz guideline to be good. I'm using 18oz of water and 6 (rounded) tbs of grinds.

arg...

I will reiterate. Burnt taste is not a product of over-extraction, it's roast level. A light roasted coffee has never tasted burnt no matter how stale or ill-prepared it was. So, with your current bag of beans, you should be okay to at least rid your coffee of the burnt flavour.

ben8jam wrote:Today it was a fresh bag of (light) Angel City

We use the word light, thinking we know what it means when, in reality, it's a relative term with no absolute meaning. For example, I am at this moment drinking an elegantly roasted coffee from George Howell, and it is what I would describe as light roasted.

My wife shares neither my taste for fine coffee nor my willingness to pay for it, so she drinks off-the-grocery-shelf coffee from Green Mountain. She is very particular to buy only beans designated as light by the roaster.

To my taste, those "light-roasted" Green Mountain beans are burned, bitter, and vile, a close second to Charbucks in their abuse of coffee beans. So that's one specific example of how the word light is meaningless. It would not surprise me if your "light" beans are in fact not and are the source of the problems in the cup.

Richard wrote:and are the source of the problems in the cup.

I only used the term "light" because that was how they classified it. Also, this was the first time I've ever used these beans, or this roaster.

I'm going to go to a coffee shop and have them pour me a french press then buy the exact beans and try it at home. Too many variables right now.

Tastes Like Butt
The off flavor you describe is consistent with rancidity. When you asked about something fouling the glass of your press pot, you were on the right track.

Your Virtuoso has something rancid stuck somewhere. Try running some Grindz or converted (NOT RAW) rice through it as a preliminary. If that doesn't do the trick, you'll need to disassemble it to the point where both burrs can be removed and thoroughly cleaned with soap and water, and where you can pick and/or brush out anything stuck below the hopper, in the collar, or elsewhere. Baratza has videos up showing you how to dissassemble and reassemble a Virtuoso.

Other
All of the other advice you received is good, but -- I believe -- not related to the specific problem.

Finally
"Coarse" with an "a", not "course" with a "u."

Rich