French Press usage

[crow610]

I''m using an 8 cup Primula press kit for making my coffee. Just for the sake of comparison, I purchased the same beans that my work used for their drip machine (Peet''s AMJ) which I love dearly. Great flavor! But it seems that when I use the same grind in my press the coffee tastes very diluted in comparison with what comes from the machine. My assumption was that running the same grind through a press would create a way better coffee but contrary to my belief tastes like cheap watered down instant coffee.

Any suggestions?

btw...I''m using the suggested ratios that most presses recomend.

 

[davidsbiscotti]

To feel satisfied, using more grounds or a darker roasted coffee in my french press was my only solution and it's been working quite well for me since. Also, using a finer grind has provided more flavor.

Stir the grounds into the hot water, then let it sit for three minutes, then plunge.

You'll get more technical answers from others, I'm sure.

 

[John P]

Water to coffee ratio doesn't change between standard drip, press, vac pot, Chemex or Melitta.

Use approx 7.25 g coffee per 125-150 ml water...
or 2 slightly rounded tablespoons per 6 ounces of water.

If it tasted weak, there are generally two culprits:
1) coffee to water ratio is wrong
2) grind is too coarse.

With a smaller grind, there is more potential surface area exposed to the water and a quicker/greater extraction. There's a balancing point at which your coffee will be intense and dynamic versus bitter or, conversely, flat/weak.

Experiment with your grind.

And for the record, I would not recommend Peet's as a good coffee for Press... much too dark roasted.

 

[Heidi]

The same beans don't taste the same if you use different brewing methods.

However, good beans should taste best in a french press and bad beans taste worse in a french press.

 

[John P]

Heidi is correct. However, each method can extract wonderful flavors from the bean. As you experiment, you will find that you need to pay attention to the roast in regards to the methodology.
My personal order of quality based on dynamic flavor, clarity, aromatics.

1. Vac Pot/syphon
2. Press
3. Chemex/Melitta (too close to call)
4.
5.Auto Drip (however, if using a Technivorm or equivalent, I'd move to 3.5)