I'm just drinking my after-dinner brewed coffee using the "French Lift." It's definitely a hit. There's no trace of the instant coffee bitterness one gets from pressing, and the taste is as clean as one gets from cupping, an Eva Solo, or from decanting the brew through a Swiss Gold filter.

The clarity of the brew actually seems better than Eva Solo or using a Swiss Gold.

The only draw back compared to a classic French Press or Eva Solo (but not decanting through a Swiss Gold) is that one needs to dispose of the grinds before drinking. As Dave pointed out, it seems easiest and most mess proof to do the lift in a sink.

I have been doing it for a week now using Metropolis's Redline with no ill effects. What ever the cause of the bitter in a press pot, lifting the coffee out via the press screen instead of pressing it all to the bottom makes a much better cup for me. Be forewarned, it can be messy if you make a big pot. I do it all in the kitchen sink so I simply lift the screen out and dump it down the drain.

cannonfodder wrote:The pressure from the press is forcing out the compounds you dont want.

Really The area of an 8 cup press is about 10in². Assume a 3 pound [heavy] press force less the 1 pound friction gives 2 pounds net over 10in² or 0.2PSI. The half foot press water column exerts 0.22PSI on the coffee.

Too many boil the kettle and wait too short an interval for the water to cool, scalding the coffee.
Start with water at 202°F, brew 3 minutes with an initial stir with a swirl @ 1.5.
Adjust grind and dose to taste.
Never bitter. Never bested.

Hi guys,

Too many boil the kettle and wait too short an interval for the water to cool, scalding the coffee.

So true, to avoid this you can pour some water from the kettle to some other vessel (I use a bigger milk jug) and pour from that vessel into the PF (or PID a kettle...which is in the works). I'd also encourage to try out temps below 90*C which can bring out very nice fruitiness.

Regards,
dsc.

... PID your kettle. Right. For god's sake, if you want good water temps without the wait, just get a Zojirushi. Cost is about the same as a PID setup, and you don't have a kettle tethered to a PID box and a probe stuck in it.

dsc wrote:So true, to avoid this you can pour some water from the kettle to some other vessel (I use a bigger milk jug) and pour from that vessel into the PF.

Not without dropping your water temp to around 86C.

After playing around with this for some time, I have come to suspect that this business of allowing the water to settle a bit off the boil is unnecessary. There is a thread here that dealt with this. I think that just the pour itself will lower the temp enough.

To test it, boil your water, kill the heat, pour into your FP, and temp it. I would be shocked if it was over 93C, as I have yet to experience it, but...

cafeIKE wrote:Really The area of an 8 cup press is about 10in². Assume a 3 pound [heavy] press force less the 1 pound friction gives 2 pounds net over 10in² or 0.2PSI. The half foot press water column exerts 0.22PSI on the coffee.

Have you ever tried it? Absolutely everyone who I've ever served comparison cups has notice the difference between the identical brew pressed and decanted in some other way. So, from what I've heard, have most people who regularly cup. That is why James Hoffman recommends breaking the crust on FPs, or why Terroir recommends the Eva Solo over FPs.

It's true that the proposed mechanism may be wrong, but the coffee is made worse by pressing, for whatever reason.

cannonfodder wrote:Instead of putting the coffee in, then the water, then the press I reversed it.

I'm going to have to give this a try.

One of my pet peeves with the FP is wasting the grounds, with this method, I could dump the grounds in my 9" square silicone bakeware that serves as a frugal knockbox and then run it out later to the garden or the worms in the compost bins.

It'll also increase my production from my current AP (AeroPress) that I use all the time (peel off the filter and pop the puck right into the grinds bin).

Thanks.

-Chris

Hi guys,

kettle water straight from boil into a metal jug is around 95-96*C here and that's including the wait for the meter to stabilise (it's not fast). I always warm up my PF with boiling water, so it's pretty hot when I put the coffee in and pour the water in. I haven't checked with a TC (I will soon), but I usually use water that is around 92*C seconds before pouring it in the PF.

Zojirushi is a bit sh*t to be honest as it only offers two temps. I'd rather PID a kettle (quite cheap if you can get the parts from the right source:)) and set it to whatever I want.

Today I've tried not pressing the pot at all, I simply lowered the mesh part a bit down to stop it from falling out and to stop the sludge. Worked pretty well and the taste was better as well. Looks like pressing the grounds really does something bad.

Regards,
dsc.

another_jim wrote:Have you ever tried it?

Yes. Today with Costa Rica Dota light roast that we've been enjoying as FP for a couple of weeks.
The missus : "It's sort of coffee. The flavor is a bit weak and there is no creaminess to the mouthfeel... What will those lunatics think of next "

another_jim wrote:...the coffee is made worse by pressing, for whatever reason.

Some people call Corona 'beer.' Some are less complimentary.

Fadism begat *$