Yesterday and today I tried to test the effectiveness of blooming during my morning french press regimen. Yesterday's coffee was made without doing any bloom. I just poured the entire 300 grams of water into the 23 grams of coffee all at once and let it brew for 4 minutes. This morning I poured about 100 grams of water into the grounds and let it sit for 30 seconds before pouring the rest of the water for a total of 300 grams to 23 grams of coffee. I did not extend the brew time so that the total brew time with the bloom was still 4 minutes. I found that the taste of the coffee in the cup after doing the bloom was smoother and had no bitterness to it as opposed to not doing the bloom. Therefore, I'm sold on doing the bloom. I'll play with it some more, maybe letting it bloom for a full minute and see if there is any difference. I'm using fresh coffee I just bought earlier this week that has presumably been roasted a few days before. I'm finding I can really impact the taste in the cup by tweaking my process here and there and love the results. I should add that I drink my french press coffee as a cafe au lait.

This is not really a test. You would need to make 2 at the same time and then taste blind. Even then, blooming an immersion really is pointless so you would be spending time and effort on something that is pretty well hashed out already.

Pointless? Very funny. There are many who disagree with you. But that's ok. You stick to your guns.

No need to take it personal, was just stating was has been stated many times elsewhere. French press is basically a larger scale cupping where the liquid is decanted off. How often are cuppings bloomed?

Its also possible you are lowering the actual brew temp when doing it this way...

If for no other reason, it seems to me that blooming a French Press saves a lot of mess.

RyanJE wrote:No need to take it personal, was just stating was has been stated many times elsewhere. French press is basically a larger scale cupping where the liquid is decanted off. How often are cuppings bloomed?

Its also possible you are lowering the actual brew temp when doing it this way...

Take your comment personally? I don't know you. You don't know me. Nothing to take personally.

My understanding of "cupping" is that it's like wine tasting, only with coffee. Not sure how that relates here. I'm sure you meant something else.

I doubt I'm lowering temperature because I pour the first water right off the boil and the rest of the water is also right off the boil. No impact on temperature. I also pre-heat the carafe and it sits on an insulated pad so as not to lose heat through the granite countertop.

There is a trend in French Press brewing to essentially brew the same way one would brew bowls of coffee for cupping (Why isn't it called "bowling?" - with apologies to Tom@Sweet Maria's )

Here's a really detailed breakdown. You'll see some similarities with what you are doing, plus some additional steps that might give you a cup that you might like more. I suggest that you try it!

Thanks for posting... this is a great site, I've been learning a lot...

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