12 January 2009

A new toy for us!

We received a Starbucks coffee press for Christmas. I had heard great things about pressed coffee but had never tried it. This evening, we took it out of the box and put it to the test.

The instructions suggested using a more finely ground coffee than you would use in a regular drip coffee maker. We used coffee ground specifically for a press. You place the grounds in the bottom of the glass cylinder, then add hot water and let the grounds steep for four minutes. (The nice folks at Starbucks conveniently included a timer with this set!)

Next, you carefully push the plunger down into the cylinder, pressing the now-floating grounds to the bottom.

Once the plunger is at the bottom, your coffee is ready to be poured. (Of course, I used one of my Starbucks mugs!)

The press produced a very robust cup of coffee, not as strong as espresso, but much stronger than an average cup. My cup had a few too many grounds in it, but Spouse thinks that's because I poured too quickly. (His cup had no grounds, so yes, he is the superior barista!)

Once we (I) get the hang of it, I think we'll enjoy using the coffee press for a change from time to time.

6 comments:

Heather said...

I've heard good things about coffee presses too. Maybe we should get one and try it. We *heart* our coffee!! Do you ever buy whole beans and grind your own? Makes all the difference in the world to us!! :)

Janet said...

Heather, yes, if you like strong coffee, you'll love this! Keep in mind it only makes 2-3 cups/mugs, but that was plenty for 2 of us!
Yes, we do sometimes grind our own beans. It really does make a difference!

Sarah Coggins said...

One of my coworkers recently brought one of these into work. Looks quite neat, but I think I'd make a mess! I make a mess just filling the coffeemaker some days. LOL :)

toners said...

DH has one of these and uses it just like you plan to, when he feels like a change.

Maureen said...

Oh I love our press too! I am spoiled now....

Love yours and the mug too! Daughter would be very proud ;)

Jill said...

My mom and dad have always used that kind & so does my boyfriend. It's funny though - they do it so totally differently. I thought you were supposed to use a courser ground for the french press though? I guess I'm remembering wrong - since I'm not actually the one that makes the coffee around here...

Very pretty press, btw. We have one from starbucks, but it's all metal, no glass. It's pretty, but yours is much prettier.