Coffee Mad

It all started with a friend of mine going to San Francisco and raving about Blue Bottle's New Orleans iced coffee. We soon learned that there's one on Williamsburg and I was enticed to try it by the promise of a sweet coffee with no sugar. I tried it and was fascinated by how it tasted like sweet banana.

Fast forward to less than a year and I'm now in a midst of coffee madness. I bought a Bodum Bistro grinder and a Bodum French Press 8 cup- the Bonavita Thermal coffee drip is tempting but old NYC wiring may not agree with it.

To do justice to the entire endeavor I wanted to make the best coffee I could with two key features- not bitter and chocolatey. I soon learned I despise sour coffee and want to minimize or eliminate it from my brew.

My best coffee method (via French Press):

1. Pick excellent beans and read the roaster's description of the flavor. It's important to know when the beans are roasted, and you may want to wait a day or so after the roasting date before using them. A good roaster knows how to make dark roasted beans without burning them. I prefer medium to dark coffee. I seem to prefer blends and single origins from Latin America. I really like the Roasting Plant's Espresso Blend. Love their charts too.

2. Use a burr grinder. Electric is easier and convenient especially if you want to make more than one batch at a time. Blade grinders don't really allow for coarse settings and heats up the beans. Grind your beans right before you use it. Using Bodum's coffee spoon that approximates 7g I seem to need 7-8 spoons for the French Press to be filled up to the bottom end of the silver band on top.

3. Use clean equipments (and water of course). Coffee is oily so always wash your equipments with soap.

4. Preheat the French Press and use water at 195-200F. I've used my thermometer and it seems like I can eyeball the process now. Let the water come to a boil. Pour about 30ml of it in the press discard the water while the water is back on the stove.

5. Place the grounded coffee in the press and pour the just off boiling water (20-30seconds) evenly, in a circular pattern, to saturate the grounds.

6. Cover the press and wait a minute before stirring, and then replace the cover. Allow an additional 3 minutes to pass. With about 30 seconds left, scoop the coffee grounds on top and discard. Press the plunger. Pour your coffee asap and enjoy.