another_jim wrote:If you all stopped pressing down on those presses, you could get a cheaper grinder and better coffee. I always wondered why the coffee I cupped invariably tasted better than when I did the same one FP. Turns out that pressing down adds a lot of overextracted instant coffee bitterness to the cup. If you use an Eve Solo or decant the brew through a sieve, the fines don't matter and the cup tastes better. In fact, I believe most of the apparent grinder differences for brewed coffee go away if the grinds aren't overly disturbed

I think this could be why I like the break & clean method so much - when you press there is no resistance and relatively there is very little overextraction resulting from the pressing action.



...split from A hunt for a drip/French press grinder by moderator...

Talk about blind spot. I've never broken the crust and cleaned before pressing down with an FP. That'll obviously do the trick too.

It works very well, I find it very consistent and with a combination of tongue and TDS I've pretty much dialled the grind in to get exactly what I want from a coffee. My favourite brewing method by a mile.

another_jim wrote:If you all stopped pressing down on those presses, you could get a cheaper grinder and better coffee. I always wondered why the coffee I cupped invariably tasted better than when I did the same one FP. Turns out that pressing down adds a lot of overextracted instant coffee bitterness to the cup. If you use an Eve Solo or decant the brew through a sieve, the fines don't matter and the cup tastes better. In fact, I believe most of the apparent grinder differences for brewed coffee go away if the grinds aren't overly disturbed

That would explain why I always get a better(sweeter) tasting cup when I brew in the cup using a Finum filter instead of using my fp.

Hi guys,

I do the break and clean but still I get a lot of fines in the cup and on the bottom of the PF. It just goes to show how much fines my Macap produces I guess. Of course I get similar problems with drip as well as the fines clog up the paper filter and screw up the extraction.

Regards,
dsc.

HB wrote:I follow Sweet Maria's French Press Brewing Instructions, which calls for shorter steeping time and finer grind setting.

I use this method also. Is there any way, though, to use the break and clean method with a finer grind/shorter steep time? Usually, by the time my steeping is done, a "crust" is not there as it is with a coarser grind/longer steep time. Any thoughts on combining the two?

And, for the "best of both worlds", you could always try this product:

http://www.teavana.com/Loose-Leaf-Teas/Perfect-Tea-Accessories/Teavana-Perfect-Tea-Maker-16oz.axd invented by these guys: http://www.abid.com.tw/index.html and further described here: http://www.google.com/patents?id=t4UYAAAAEBAJ

erics wrote:invented by these guys: http://www.abid.com.tw/index.html

I have to check this out. My local coffee shop/roaster has some Abid things for sale. I'll have to see what he says about it.

Since I haven't been able to find my french press ... I've been using a stainless frothing pitcher and letting things steep in there. Then using a melitta brown flavor pore filter with a pour over maker from sweet marias to filter. Gives a pretty clean cup!

I usually just swirl the press to wet coarsely ground grounds (possibly a couple of times over a few minutes). For me, steeping is finished when the grounds have almost all sunk to the bottom. The press just takes the last few chunks and holds them down out of the way.

coffeefrog, that's pretty much how I do it, except I sift off the fines before brewing. I do a 4 min steep; stir after the first minute; ever so gently swirl the press pot with one minute remaining. The fines are already at the bottom of the press pot, then the coarser grinds and the screen hold them down there when I pour. I don't really have a huge sludge problem, but I still some. Sifting takes less than a minute, and I usually do it while I'm waiting for the water to boil anyway. Also, doing it this way you don't have as many fines contributing to the bitterness.

apart from "break and clean method" I'm using a gasket mod with my french press which prevents particles escaping from filter's sides where it touches to beaker's walls (that's a serious problem with bodum's previous kenya model and with many cheaper no-name french press)

I have several various sized french presses including bodum chambord and kenya models and I grind a little bit finer than usual french press grind size. I've had problems with kenya model even using break and clean method due to filter not fitting into beaker as tight as chambord's so I came up with this mod --> placed one of my extra gaskets of bialetti moka express between mesh filter and filter holder. later I decided to try it on a cheaper press with lower quality mesh filter, results with that one also dramatically changed.

here are some photos showing the mod with a cheap knock off french press which has lower quality mesh filter (without break and clean method, if you use both you get much better results but I wanted to show how it is when brewing conditions not the best )




there's another additional mod which includes hario's cloth filter. just untie hario cloth filter's string, using your gasket inserted filter cover it with filter cloth, pull the cloth filter's string to tighten, then press. you get "filter coffee like" very clean results, zero residues (and surprisingly the taste is much much closer to french press);



the only down part is, you'll get difficulties when you try pulling off the filter for cleaning.. but that's only if you let it cool down. so.. pour your coffee, pull off the filter while your press is still hot, you're good to go!

maybe I should sell this to bodum

Good idea. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

What grinder are you using for French press?

sorry I should have mentioned about the grinder

I have cimbali junior but it's a torture to dial for french press so I'm mainly using junior for espresso and for french press I use either rancilio md50 or sözen turkish mill. above pictures taken with a sozen grinder cos it grinds a little bit more dusty compared to md50, as I said previously I wanted to show how it is when brewing conditions not the best ah and beans --> el salvador astro pacamara 4 days old roast, roasted to full city

I originally thought I would use my Sözen for French press, but I like a coarser grind than what it produces. I'm now considering one of those Japanese ceramic-bladed hand grinders.

Does the moka gasket get oily and smelly? Or can it be washed and kept clean and odor-free?

yes it can be cleaned and it's odor-free (eh if you consider it's build for coffee brewing purposes already. as I said previously I'm using a bialetti moka express' gasket) but the color changes in time, which also happens when you use it with moka pot too. and I didn't detect any plastic or rubber taste (keep in mind that I can easily detect paper or cloth filter tastes in a cup no matter how higher quality they are)

btw once in a while I'm reversing the sides so that it doesn't get concave in time (or convex, however you see it)

btw it's easy to apply a mod to your hand grinder for coarser grinds but later you won't be able to grind as fine as turkish.