My Journey with Coffee and Coffee Makers started 40 plus years ago
When I was growing up I went to an all-boys boarding school, I don’t ever remember getting coffee, tea mainly, with as the legend goes, some chemical in it to keep our raging hormones in check. What coffee I did get was an instant coffee that was a blend of chicory and coffee, but I think more chicory than coffee.
When I got married those some 40 plus years ago, we were given a coffee percolator as a present, an electric one. Much experimenting was done but I could never get it right. The percolator was like a kettle on steroids and it used to gurgle away, and in my ignorance, I used to leave it, thinking the longer it gurgled the better the coffee. This percolator got the nickname “Big Bertha” and could be heard gurgling away from all parts of the house
Some years later we moved country and I got a French Press – A Bodum. Again much experimenting was done and I battled to get the brew to my taste, most times it was way too weak. This went on for some time, I then did some research and from people on the net and talking to other people I can now brew a French Press coffee to my liking. This is how I make it –
Make sure the Press is clean
Warm Up the Press with a little hot water
I add a Tablespoon of coarse to medium ground coffee per cup and sometimes an extra one for good measure – I like strong coffee!
While I am preparing the press and coffee I boil the water so that it has stood for a bit after it has boiled
I pour the water over the coffee, covering it with about an extra 2 centimeters and let it stand for about 30 seconds
After giving it a stir, I pour in the rest of the water and let it brew for about 4 minutes.
Press down the plunger and you are ready to go. I like a big mug of strong coffee.
I know that some of you Baristas out there will say that I have not got it right. I don’t weigh the coffee etc, the way I make it now is streets ahead of what I used to make.
I digress, After getting the French Press ( and I now have a number of them in different sizes), my wife, knowing how much I love coffee has also given me a Drip Coffee Maker, which I use from time to time, and many varieties of coffee from all over the world. South America, Africa etc.
I recently got a Nespresso machine that I like a lot except that I like a large mug and they make the espresso cup sizes so I end up using 2 pods at a time. I have tried running the same pod twice but it is weak. Can get expensive if you have people over who also like a nice big cup of coffee.
I would love an Automatic Espresso Machine, the problem is I have no place to put it as our kitchen already has a collection of coffee makers.
I apologize if I have waffled on a bit, I wanted to give you some idea why I started this site. Please browse around the site.
For guides on brewing coffee etc I go HERE you should to.
The Bean Brewer