French Press Friday

**WARNING! THIS POST MAY PRODUCE A STRONG URGE FOR COFFEE**

Good Friday morning to you!  At our house, Fridays have become known as French press Fridays. Friday is Hubby's day off, so we take some time to enjoy a cup (or several) of French press coffee.  We take a lot of time to enjoy it.  We sit on the couch and talk, read, share what we're reading.  It's wonderful.  So, in my Queenly fashion, I thought I might officially dub Fridays as "French Press Fridays".  There.  They are now so dubbed.

In case you don't know about French presses, I thought I'd provide you with a little enlightenment.  The above picture shows the gorgeous coffee being poured generously out of said French press.  Ohhhh, it looks so good....(and I've already had 2 cups!).  The taste is richer and more aromatic than coffee from a drip brewer.  Although there's nothing wrong with that!  We use a drip brewer most mornings.  But back to our French press.  According to Wikipedia, the first French press (or press pot, coffee plunger, coffee press) was patented by Attilio Calimani in 1929.  It was very rudimentary, basically being a cheesecloth screen fitted to a rod and pressed down through a pot of boiling water. 

Here's another picture.

You can see the post that goes down through the middle of the carafe and the filter attached to the bottom.  Generally it goes like this.  Coffee beans are ground to a coarser grind than would be used for drip coffee makers.  What beans do you use?  That's up to you to discover.  I have used several different roasts, but by far our favorite is Kenya AA.  I haven't been able to find them in the stores anymore so I order 3 bags at a time from Amazon and store them in the freezer.  The ground beans are then put into the press along with hot water.  The ratio is usually 1 rounded tablespoon to 1 "cup" (4 oz.) of water.  Give the "sludge" a stir with a plastic spoon or wooden chopstick so as not to crack the glass.  Then you let it steep anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your personal taste. Slowly and evenly, press down on the plunger.  This forces the grinds to the bottom where they will be trapped by the filter.  Then pour the delicious beverage into your cup and enjoy!  I add half and half, myself.

Brewing coffee like this captures more of the coffee flavor and it's essential oils because they don't get trapped by the paper filter used in drip brewers.  And this wonderful contraption can be used to brew loose leaf tea, too!  How handy, right?  Just do it the same way you would with the coffee.  Put the loose tea in the carafe, then the hot water, stir, let it steep, and pour.  I would transfer all of the tea, after it has steeped, to a warm teapot so it doesn't sit in the water, making the tea too bitter.  Coffee, however, can sit in the press, waiting to be enjoyed as a second cup. 

This beauty to the right is an insulated press made especially for travel use.  I'll be setting aside some money for one of these.  It'll make camping this summer that much more enjoyable!