French Press fanatic
Can we talk coffee? It has to be a favorite topic for millions of people. It could even be a food group unto itself. Warning: I‘m about to say something bordering on heresy in our culture.
I am not a Starbucks fan (although I have nothing against them) and actually rarely go to coffee shops. My ‘latte factor’ is wine. I figure, I can make a great cup of coffee at home but making wine in my garage is not on my bucket list, you know what I mean? About the only local coffee shop that receives my business is Old Town Battle Grounds because the owner, Diane, is FANTASTIC, her employees make a consistently good Americano and it’s in walking distance to my house which earns extra points.
With all the ways and combinations of making coffee, mine is a French Press with two tablespoons of cream. Yes, I measure it every time and if I’m somewhere that I’m not able to measure my cream, my face looks like someone needs to hit my ’reset’ button. I can’t wrap my head around the idea I might end up with more than the serving size. So, 12 ounces of coffee each day with two tablespoons of cream, in the morning, reading a great book about decluttering or finances or contemplating my naval and I’m over the stars happy. That was probably far too much information about me in one sentence, huh?
French Press nirvana
I had my first French Press when my husband and I stayed at The Haterleigh Inn, a bed and breakfast in Victoria, BC, in 1990. We still didn’t buy our own for many years opting for the coffee maker you put the grounds in the night before, set and forget. While a French Press is more hands on, I was giddy the day we gave our electric coffee maker to Goodwill and I’ve lived happily ever after all these years. So, at 5:45am every morning that I’m home you will find me putting our kettle on the stove to boil water, taking coffee out of the freezer, measuring the grounds into the press and waiting as patiently as I can for the water to boil and the grounds to brew. I start thinking about that cup of coffee the night before. That’s how much I enjoy it.
I have a friend who furiously gulps her Starbucks down each morning on her drive over the I-5 to work and that makes me sad enough to mourn the waste of a potentially amazing coffee-drinking experience. When that was my commute, I intentionally woke 20-30 minutes early because I refuse to drink coffee while I’m putting on my face or driving down the street. It’s just too sacred an experience for me to not approach mindfully. Besides, you really don’t want me multi-tasking on the road. Just ask my husband.
My perfect cup o’ joe
I grind our coffee in the store (Why should I own a grinder when the store has one?), setting the grinder for ‘coarse’. Let the water boil on the stove, cool for a moment or two, measure coffee into the press, pour the water ½ way up the press, stir the grounds carefully, fill the press to within one inch of the top to allow room for the plunger, set the plunger on the top (but don’t plunge yet), time the concoction for 6 minutes, carefully plunge the coffee and pour it into your cup that has the cream waiting for it (you don’t have to stir the cream this way).
If you want more detailed directions, check out How to make French Press coffee.
Viki
I am a Clark County native. I am Level 2 WSET (wine and spirit education trust)-certified and enjoy pairing wine with my passion for travel and fondness of food. My most prized possessions are the memories of places I've been with my husband, the chance encounters we've been blessed to have along the way and my carry-on bag. I can often be seen around town and in tasting rooms with our two beautiful, double-Merle Australian shepherds, Challenge and Baby Girl.