how to make french press coffee
July 14th, 2010 @ 10:00 am | domestic, food | Comments (4)Today’s post was written for Slice of Pink as part of Pink University, and is cross-posted here. Go get your learnin’ on over there though now.
*****
Hello, lovelies! It’s Janet here from Love is Blonde. Thank you to my fellow Janet for having me here at Pink University today, where I will show you how to make delicious coffee in a french press pot.
Some of you probably already have coffeemakers, or perhaps you just get your daily caffeine fix from your local barista. But if you can learn the simple few steps below, I promise you will wow yourself and your houseguests with really smooth coffee, without spending a lot of money, and you can get rid of that ugly, hulking plastic appliance taking up precious countertop space!
Step 1: Buy yourself a french press. Mine is from IKEA (cheap!), and there’s really no need to spend more than $20 or $25. Here’s a 32 oz. one and here’s a small, pink 12 oz. one.
Step 2: Head on over to your local coffee shop to buy a pound of coffee beans, and ask them to grind your beans for a french press setting. This should be included in the price. Bonus — at my local Peregrine Espresso, a pound of beans comes with a free cup of coffee, maybe yours will too!
You don’t really need to know the difference between a french press grind and a regular grind, except to know french press is coarser than regular. Let the experts do the dirty work, just get yourself some coarse ground coffee. I like to pick a roast that has the word chocolate in the description, like this one below: “…flavors of caramel, chocolate, black cherry, and wine.”
Step 3: Boil as many cups of water as you’d like coffee. Except don’t let the water get too boiled. Ideally, you want the water to be just below boiling point when you pour it into the french press.
Step 4: While your water is heating up, measure out two tablespoons of ground coffee per cup of water, and put it in the french press.
Step 5: Take your just-shy-of-boiling water, and pour it into the french press pot, slowly to get all the grinds soaked. Give it a small stir if you’d like. (You can either measure your water before or after it’s boiling. I generally measure mine after, so the water goes from the stove, to the measuring cup, to the french press. But you could measure first, then boil, then pour. The key here is mixing 1 cup of near-boiling water per 2 tablespoons of coffee grinds.)
Step 6. Put the lid on, but keep the plunger up, and set the timer for 4 minutes. Now go do the dishes so you can enjoy your coffee in a clean kitchen.
Step 7: Once 4 minutes are up, slowly press the plunger down, which pushes the grinds down, and separates the grinds from the coffee. You’re done!
Step 8: Pour your coffee into a mug and add cream, milk, or sugar to your liking. If you’re used to highly-acidic, almost-burned coffeepot coffee, you might be surprised at how smooth and sweet french press coffee tastes, and how much less sugar you need. Which means it’s totally fine to have an extra cup.
If you like your coffee stronger, you can either increase the coffee to water ratio, or increase the brewing time. Or vice versa if you like your coffee mild. The measurements and times above are standard and will give you a good starting point. If you don’t finish all the coffee on one sitting, you can put the french press in the fridge and enjoy iced coffee later.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your lesson today, please report back if you have success (or any questions).
Signed,
Prof. Blonde
oh hello lovelies
June 13th, 2010 @ 7:36 pm | family, life | Comments (19)
I’m so sorry I haven’t updated in forever; life has been a bit of a doozie (or is it doozy?) lately. But after approximately 22 hours of sleep this weekend, I think I’m back from the brink. How about a few updates?
My sweet nephew was born! I’ve been an auntie for about two weeks now. Not a very good one, seeing as I am here (DC) and he is there (Colorado). But on Friday I’m getting on a plane and I should be snuggling him by 8:30pm. His name is Nolan and I hope he stays this tiny and precious forever. (Photo taken by the new grandma over at kdalyphoto.com.)
I’m taking a digital photography class this summer that begins on Wednesday! This will be the first time I’ve been a student in more than seven years…yikes. I promise to show some of my work here, hopefully we will all be able to notice an improvement by August.
I’ve become increasingly concerned about chemicals in everyday life. Have you read this article? Quite frightening, isn’t it? Can anyone out there personally recommend a phthalate-free, paraben-free product line they love? I’m ready to invest in new hair, body, and cosmetic products if I can find something I like. (I bought Aveda shampoo and conditioner only to learn they aren’t nasty-chemical free….Le Sigh)
Sorry to end on a downer note. I’m counting on you to leave some happy comments to whisk me through the week and into Friday-night-with-my-nephew-squeeeeeeeeeeee!
omgzies
May 20th, 2010 @ 4:08 pm | life | Comments (19)OMGZ #1: My little sister is about to have a baby. (!!!!!!!!)
OMGZ #2: I have somehow signed myself up for going camping this weekend. Like the sleep-on-the-ground, poop-in-the-woods variety. Oh, and it’s supposed to rain. I’m really only going for the s’mores.
OMGZ #3: My 29th birthday is in five weeks. Not that I actually care about my birthday at all. But I enjoy online window shopping in honor of my birthday. I need to start thinking about ways to make the final year of my 20s awesome. Is it possible to lose 20 pounds and have a baby at the same time, I wonder?
sewing and baking, oh my!
May 5th, 2010 @ 7:48 pm | domestic, home | Comments (15)A few updates from the housewife files…(nevermind that I am not at all a housewife)
Remember this chair?
This $20 Craigslist bargain from two years ago has new fabric covering the cushions and a new home in our bedroom. I sewed the cushions myself with a little help from my DC-BFF. The pillow was clearance West Elm.
Here’s a close up the fabric. I can’t remember how much I paid for it, but it was in the ballpark of $10 at JoAnn Fabrics. So let’s call it <$50 for the entire mid-century modern chair ensemble. What do you think?
*****
Last weekend we went to Delaware for my mother-in-law’s birthday. Instead of spending a gazillion dollars on a bakery cake, I spent most of Saturday baking one, and photographing the adventure with my new camera. It was fun, messy, and more exhausting than cake baking probably should be.
But the cake was so good! My blog idol swears by Barefoot Contessa’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe so I had to make that. It calls for oil and not butter which I prefer because I think it makes for a lighter, more “box-like” fluffy cake. I knew I wanted vanilla frosting and searched some food blogs before settling on this buttercream one. Both recipes were perfect and I don’t think I’ll ever seek out alternatives (since I bake a cake only maybe once a year).
My MIL must have liked it, because she confessed to me that she woke up at 1:30am and came down to the kitchen for an encore slice as a midnight snack. And then my husband ate a piece for breakfast the next morning.
*****
While I’ve been a wee bit enthusiastic about domestic-ness lately, I must admit when I came home today to a house freshly cleaned by my monthly cleaning ladies I was soooo happy. My zeal obviously stops short of scrubbing toilets.
stripes and splurges
April 27th, 2010 @ 8:08 pm | pretty things | Comments (13)Things I have been wanting but not buying:
(You will see a theme here. I get a wee bit obsessive. I’ve had spinach quiche for dinner three of the last four nights…)
This lovely striped shirt from Nordstrom. Would be perfect for work or weekends, don’t you think?
This supercute $10 rug from Kohl’s. Only ten bucks! But I can’t figure out where in my house I’d put it…otherwise I would have totally bought it already.
These chic calling cards from etsy’s sweetbeaker. Except I REALLY DO NOT NEED CALLING CARDS. I’m bad enough about returning calls I currently get.
Thing I have been wanting, and I FINALLY ACTUALLY BOUGHT:
I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. Except…I have no idea how to use it. But I swear I’m going to start learning this weekend.
So tell me, what have you been wanting but not buying? And more importantly, what have you splurged on lately?
