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If you use a French press for cold brew, be aware that the harder you press, the more bitter it will come out. I use a $5 nut milk bag instead, it lets me brew
by arijun 2y ago
If you use a French press for cold brew, be aware that the harder you press, the more bitter it will come out.
I use a $5 nut milk bag instead, it lets me brew way more at once; I do 1/4 kilo grounds with 2 liters of water. It also has the benefit of reducing cafestol, which makes it healthier, according to some.
- senkora 2y ago> It also has the benefit of reducing cafestol, which makes it healthier, according to some. I often filter my french press cold brew after-the-fact with a paper filter to achieve this.
- base698 2y agoIsn't the paper filter supposed to strip flavorful oils? Which negates using a French press?
- senkora 2y agoProbably. To be honest I just find it convenient to use a French press as a cold brew maker and first-pass filter, because it is IMO easier to keep clean than a nut milk bag or coffee sock.
- hammock 2y ago>the harder you press, the more bitter it will come out Huh? I don't plunge until after it brews, and the purpose of the plunge is just to keep the water out of the grounds from that point forward, to (essentially) stop the brewing process. Or so I thought
- vincentrolfs 2y agoI agree with your confusion, are we all talking about the same thing?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- i_am_jl 2y agoPlunging pushes your coffee through the metal filter. Pushing harder pushes the coffee through the filter with a higher pressure. Higher pressure pushes particles past the filter more easily than lower pressure. Coffee particulate has a tendency to make coffee more bitter. Anything that gets more small particles past your filter will add to your coffee's bitterness. This can happen when using a ground coffee that has a lot of fine particles, or if you agitate when you pour/plunge.
- hammock 2y agoI don’t know anyone who’s jumping up and down on the plunger or doing anything more than pressing it slowly. Have to imagine the coarseness/evenness of your grind is a 10x bigger factor in that regard
- NegativeLatency 2y ago> or doing anything more than pressing it slowly I have a french press for camping, it's fine but when I want that first cup of coffee and it's cold and rainy outside you better believe I'm not pressing it slowly.
- hammock 2y agoThree seconds faster? You must really like coffee
- NegativeLatency 2y agoHm maybe not that fast, whats considered fast?
- i_am_jl 2y ago>I don’t know anyone who’s jumping up and down on the plunger or doing anything more than pressing it slowly. Also my reaction the first time someone tried to tell me to plunge slower. >Have to imagine the coarseness/evenness of your grind is a 10x bigger factor in that regard 100%. Plunge speed makes a minor difference at most, and only then when you have a suitably coarse and even grind. If you want to play with the concept I think the best way is to prep a press, but instead of plunging the filter into the coffee before pouring, press it only to the top of the liquid and pour, allowing gravity to pull coffee through the filter. Pour a small cup like this, then press the rest of the way and pour another cup.
- _akhe 2y agoI used to plunge down hard and fast because I liked to see the bubbles. But I realized less disturbing is better, and I started barely using the plunge - just to catch grounds when pouring. After a while I went back to pour-over. The flavor is so much better - French press is now used for loose leaf tea and I have a lot more fun plunging.