Coffee, Tea, or Me?

In my opinion, there is not a better way to start out the day than with a nice cup of coffee. Now there are several ways to go about getting this delightful beverage into a mug for drinking. They range from using *shudder* instant brands of freeze-dried coffee to high-end espresso machines that are so complex it looks as if they might even do your laundry. However, the two most popular ways of making coffee are drip-brewing and the coffee press.

It certainly easy to make coffee in a drip-brew machine, but you loose out on some of what I think makes coffee a great beverage. The process of actually making coffee. So for me, using a coffee press is the ideal way to make that wonderful beverage each morning.

Over the years, the coffee press has had a number of names. Theyve been called Coffee Plungers, cafetière à piston, melior, and cafetière. No matter the name, the device is the same. A metal or glass cylinder with a plunging device equipped with a metal mesh. Coffee grounds are placed at the bottom of the container and off-boil water is added. Four minutes later, the coffee is ready. Simply press the plunger to the bottom to secure the coffee grounds out of the way.

It may seem like a lot of work, but its well worth it. You see when using a drip-brew system, a filter is required. The paper or mesh system traps the coffee beans essential oils and distorts its true taste. Brewing coffee in water releases these oils for a fuller flavor.

The other benefit of using a coffee press is that it can be used to make tea. Now I personally recommend having separate presses for coffee and tea, as some residual flavor from the coffee may spill over, but it isnt necessary. After steeping your tea bags, or preferably loose leaf tea, you press the plunger down to stop the brewing process.

Music by Kevin MacLeod, used with permission.

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[jamyers2000]

Thanks for the instruction. I need an easy way to make coffee while camping and I think I just found it! Just didn't know how these gadgets worked. Now I do! Any recommendations for a durable unit to take camping that won't break the bank?

[qiranger]

@jamyers2000 Plastic ones are about $20US, or used to be.

[maryade]

Great tip! I would never have thought of making tea in the cafetiere! I normally prefer a teapot as you can scald it properly (swish a bit of water in it & throw it out before filling it) - but for travel I can now use my one-cup press I have at work that sits in a mug.

One comment on the amount of coffee/tea. You use 1 dessert spoon of ground coffee per cup/mug (i.e. 8 in that size pot) and one teaspoon of looseleaf tea. Grinding your own is best as the finer it is, the stronger it is.

[qiranger]

Very true. Thanks for watching!

[PhrostCope]

What's your favorite type of tea?

[qiranger]

I really prefer a great Chinese Green Tea.

[kick1517]

Great video. I prefer coffee from a perculator. I like it strong cause I'm Italian :)

[Eastsidegeorgiaboy]

Nice Video. Very informative. I am a Tea Drinker myself. My dad, being a War Vet, swears by Coffee, and God forbid if it isn't Black Coffee.

[aachannet]

Thanks for the video, Steve!

[klarinetta]

The main reason for 95% of auto-drip machines to produce crappy coffee is not because it uses filter that filters out the oils and flavor. The main reason is they don't heat the water enough and the start to drip the water over the grounds before it even reaches the temperature they can get to that still isn't high enough. Plus they don't saturate all the grounds evenly and might only drip coffee at one corner or so. For auto-drip you should try the Technivorm Moccamaster machine.

[AbstractComfortKX]

Hm, I learned something new :D

This will be vital for when I move out later. I love both tea/coffee.