Coffee is an indispensable on a daily basis ritual for numerous of us, whether that’s picking up your order at your favourite cafe on the way to work or relaxing in the afternoon with a hot brew you’ve brewed yourself.
However really as there’s a big difference between a McDonalds’ burger and a burger from a Michelin-starred restaurant, there’s a big difference in results between different coffee-making methods – as well as a big price difference.
On one end of the spectrum, you have instant coffee, which is cheap but generally considered by even the least fussy coffee drinkers as pretty nasty. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got home espresso coffee machines, grinders and scales – all of which can cost hundreds of dollars and require a reasonable level of skill to get good effects out of. Or you can basically buy coffees, but then different baristas and cafes can have wildly different qualities of coffee. Buying coffee on a each day basis is an expensive habit, too.
One process of making coffee that’s considered somewhat of a middle ground is the Cafetière. Likewise known as a French press coffee maker coffee maker, push pot or coffee plunger, it’s a cheap, easy-to-use way to make coffee that produces a better result than a Mr. Coffee or a percolator, however coffee enthusiasts would say it pales in comparison to other methods such as pourover coffee or utilizing a moka pot.
Thankfully, one expert has come up with a genius hack that turns the French press into an instrument of black magic.
James Hoffman, a former World Barista Champion and co-owner of Square Mile Coffee Roasters in London, is among the many popular coffee experts on social media. Back in 2016, Hoffmann uploaded a video to YouTube titled ‘The Ultimate French press Technique’, which has since become his a lot of of viewed video with over 2.3 million views.
In recent months, the video has been recircling on Facebook, exposing a whole new audience to his humble yet groundbreaking way to make literally best coffee with only a few simple tools and tricks. The secret? Patience – and a willingness to mess with your coffee a little bit bit.
Hoffmann’s technique addresses the key criticism a lot of people have about French press coffees: that you tend to end up with grit or sludge at the bottom of your cup, which is quite unpleasant. Not only does his process virtually eliminate that problem, nevertheless it outcomes in a strong, smooth brew that’s eminently drinkable.
Sure, his process might be a little more time-consuming than a lot of Cafetière coffee maker users might initially be comfortable with, nevertheless the simplicity and convenience of the method mean that even the many novice coffee drinker can pull it off… Like myself.
I was initially skeptical that you could in reality make a basically good cup of joe with a French press coffee maker, but it literally does. Even without weighing out my coffee grounds, utilizing filtered waters and committing the cardinal sin of utilizing pre-ground coffee, Hoffmann’s brewing technique in truth brews a big difference. Subsequently, I’ve used freshly ground coffee and filtered water, and the difference is miles better still.
Utilizing my old Bodum press at home.
The one downside I found with Hoffman’s hack was that if you like to have your coffee with milk, waiting so long for the coffee to brew indicates that once you add your milk at the end, your coffee’s too cold. However this is completely a matter of personal preference; irrelevant if you don’t take milk with your coffee and a problem that’s easily avoided if you gently heat your milk before adding it to your coffee.
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Is it as good as, say, an Aeropress coffee? No, not in truth. But the difference between this technique and lots of other coffee-making methods is that French presses are cheap and easy to find anywhere. Most offices will have a Cafetière or two, and you can pick up one from Amazon or IKEA for $10 or less.
Of course, a nicer press and having all the other accoutrements – a water filter, a set of scales, a mill and so on – all add up in terms of cost. But even without those and some Aldi coffee (which is in fact pretty good), you can make quite a nice caffeinated beverage.
Give it a go yourself – you’ll be surprised.
This article was first published here, and it was syndicated on our blog from Google News in our section about Cafetière Coffee.