| Have you ever wondered how restaurants get | | | | grinder is the best thing you can do to improve |
| their coffee to taste so good? | | | | the taste of French press coffee. |
| First of all, restaurants are in the business of | | | | Remove the plunger from the press pot and put |
| pampering you so they devote much more time | | | | 1 rounded tablespoon of coarse ground coffee |
| to the perfection of a good cup of coffee. | | | | per each 6oz. of water into the pot. You can |
| Sometimes I'll remember a restaurant just | | | | adjust this to your own taste. |
| because of their excellent coffee. | | | | Coffee is 99% water so use clean filtered or |
| So what are their secrets and how can you | | | | bottled water free from chlorine and other |
| duplicate this recipe at home? It may surprise you | | | | minerals that affect the taste of coffee. |
| to find out that the French Press brewing method | | | | Boil the water and remove it from the heat for |
| could be the secret in achieving that restaurant | | | | five minutes before you pour it. This will give you |
| quality taste. | | | | the 195 to 205 degree water that is ideal to brew |
| Most fine restaurants use a press pot, also known | | | | with. Now pour the 195 to 205 degree water |
| as the French Press, which produces an | | | | over the ground coffee. |
| extremely rich cup of coffee. | | | | Stir the coffee to get total saturation of the |
| Press pot coffee is coffee steeped for 3-4 | | | | grounds then place the plunger on top of the pot |
| minutes between 195 to 205 degrees F. It | | | | and let the coffee steep for 3 to 4 minutes. |
| produces a thicker and much richer taste than an | | | | Depress the plunger slowly to push the grounds |
| auto-drip machine can produce. | | | | to the bottom of the pot. |
| A disadvantage of the French Press is it may | | | | Serve all the coffee in the pot after the 3 to 4 |
| leave trace amounts of coffee sediment. But the | | | | minutes of steeping. Otherwise the coffee will |
| rich taste more than makes up for the small | | | | keep getting stronger. |
| amount of sediment at the bottom of your cup. | | | | If you have any left, you can always transfer it |
| So first, start off with a quality medium roast | | | | to a clean, preheated air pot or a stainless steel |
| coffee, which is what most restaurants use. I can | | | | Thermos. This will keep the coffee hot about an |
| give you a couple of good recommendations. | | | | hour without hurting the flavor. |
| Seattle's Best Breakfast Blend, Starbucks | | | | The French press brewing method definitely takes |
| Breakfast Blend or Starbucks Sulawesi Coffee is | | | | more time but gives us the result we are looking |
| 3 excellent choices. These are full-bodied coffees | | | | for. Restaurant quality coffee in the comfort of |
| yet very smooth tasting. They are some of our | | | | your own home. |
| best sellers at and work well for French Press | | | | Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved. |
| brewing. | | | | This article may be re-published "as is" (unedited) |
| You want to grind the coffee slightly larger than | | | | as long as the author's bio paragraph (resource |
| you would for drip coffee. Too fine of a grind will | | | | box) and copyright information is included. The |
| produce a bitter cup of coffee. If your grind is | | | | URLs in the resource box should be set as |
| too coarse, the coffee will taste weak. A quality | | | | hyperlinks if used on a web page. |