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Americans have had a long and intense love affair with coffee. Over half of American adults drink coffee every day, which translates to 100 million coffee lovers. Thirty million adult Americans drink specialty coffee every day, such as frozen / iced coffee beverages, cappuccino, cafe mocha, espresso, and latte. The most popular method worldwide for making great coffee is the French Press method, a simple process that is well over a century old.
The typical American coffee fan drinks 3.1 cups on average per day. This would add up to a nearly $15 per day habit if those cups of coffee are obtained at Starbucks or other fancy coffee stands! Coffee is mostly a breakfast drink for Americans, with 65% of coffee being consumed during morning hours. While 35% of coffee drinkers take it straight-up, 60% add sugar and / or cream. But coffee is loved the world over, as can be seen from the size of the global coffee industry. Worldwide, coffee is an $80 billion a year industry – the second most valuable commodity traded next to oil.
While there are a number of ways to brew coffee and each technique has its own devotees, one of the favorite ways to make coffee worldwide is using a French press for making coffee. It is believed to be the most common technique for making coffee in the world. Other names are used for French press coffee makers: coffee press, cafetieres, press pot, and cafeolette are just a few. Coffee press coffee preserves the flavors in the oils on the coffee beans and generally has a rich, smooth taste. The technique is the same regardless of what its called, and both French and Italians claim to have invented it.
The first French press machines were recorded in France in the mid-19th century. These coffee pots were made of metal and were fitted with a simple metal screen with a rod attached. The purpose of the metal screen and rod is to plunge the screen down, forcing the grounds down to the bottom of the pot and the coffee to the top. It’s a very simple idea, and when done well, with good coffee, the results are outstanding.
Legend has it that an old man in Provence created the first coffee press. He took a long walk and had coffee made over an outdoor fire every morning to get away from a nagging wife, so the story goes. One day after forgetting to add coffee before heating the water, he added the coffee afterwards to see what might happen. He then bought a small metal screen from an Italian peddler who happened by, used a stick to push the screen down over the coffee grounds, and wound up with a very good cup of coffee.
The first patent for this type of coffee maker was obtained in 1929 by an Italian from Milan. Another version patented in Italy in 1958 by Faliero Bondanini became hugely popular in France and became the must-have kitchen item of the early 1960s in France. It was the British, however, who started calling their French press coffee pots “cafetieres’” and this name evolved into a generic term for this type of coffee maker.
Coffee lovers who prefer French press coffee know that there are several factors that go into making superior coffee. Because coffee press machines have a metal screen rather than a paper filter, the coffee must be ground coarsely so as not to go through the screen into the coffee that is drunk. Coffee must not only be ground coarsely, but it must be ground uniformly. One of the main complaints that French press coffee fans have is that too many coffee grinders produce a combination of coffee “dust” and coffee chunks with little uniformity in size. Finding a grinder that produces a uniform, coarse grind is important to using a French press machine.
A typical 8-cup French press is a good size for the typical kitchen. Even if only half a pot is made (enough for two having breakfast) the extra room in the pot is not a problem. The French press consists of a cylindrical container with a handle, into which you measure ground coffee and pour hot water, and a top with a mesh screen plunger.
Most people use one level scoop of coffee per cup to be brewed, and sometimes one more scoop “for the pot.” Once the coffee is measured into the cylinder, hot water that has just been boiled, but has cooled to around 200 degrees Fahrenheit is poured into the cylinder.
Using a wooden implement (chopsticks work well), the person making the coffee gives it a few stirs and waits for about two or three minutes. After another quick stir with a wooden stick, the plunger top is placed on the cylinder and the mesh screen is steadily plunged until it has pushed the coffee grounds to the bottom of the pot. Holding the plunger on top of the grounds, the coffee is then poured into cups.
Since the water is in constant contact with the grounds, you should only make as much French press coffee as will be consumed, or at least poured within 20 minutes or so. The longer the coffee sits in the carafe, the more bitter and “overextracted” it becomes.
Bodum is the most popular name in French press coffee makers, but there are many other brands, like LaCafetiere, Primula, Bonjour, Thermos, and Frieling.
Coffee lovers have their own favorite brewing method, whether it’s steam pressed through powdery fine ground coffee for espresso, French press coffee, or drip coffee. Some love the accessories like milk frothers and others just want a classic cup of coffee with no frills. And some people like to change it up frequently. The one common thread for making great coffee is using beans that are fresh, but not too fresh (three to seven days after roasting is considered by some to be ideal for grinding), grinding the coffee beans properly for the type of coffee wanted, getting water to the proper temperature, and brewing accordingly.
In the U.S. alone, more than $4 billion of coffee is imported every year. The average American coffee stand sells between 250 and 500 cups of various coffees a day. But whether its espresso or brewed coffee, the love affair between Americans and coffee shows no sign of cooling off any time soon.
