Got a french press
A year or two ago Rangerman over at SHTF blog made a post about a french press. I'd never heard of one but the concept made sense so ever since then I've always had the idea to get one in the back of my mind. It's never been a priority but I promised myself that if I ever saw one and the price wasn't ridiculous that I'd snatch it up. Last week I was Christmas shopping and I saw one for $4. There were actually two of them. One was big enough for one cup of coffee. The other was big enough for maybe three for $2 more. I bought the smaller one. I wanted it for camping so the smaller one looked like it would fit my needs better.
For those of you not familiar with a french press it's a pretty cool little gadget. It's just a cup with a lid/plunger contraption. The bottom of the plunger has a filter. You put the coffee in the cup. Then you add hot water and let it steep for a few minutes. Push down on the plunger and the filter pushes the coffee grounds to the bottom. Voila. You have coffee. Since you only need about 1 tablespoon per cup I've come to like it a lot more than my coffee maker. The coffee is more potent and I use less grounds. I also don't have to waste a filter. When I go camping I can only imagine how much better it will be than a percolator. It packs down to a much smaller size. I'll be able to store enough coffee for an entire weekend inside of it. I won't have to worry about boil overs or weak coffee that's loaded with grounds.
Coffee makers are less work and make more coffee at once and percolators are probably more robust but the french press that I picked up seems pretty sturdy and it doesn't take any longer to brew than a coffee maker. In fact, if you're like me then you get your coffee going in the morning and it could be a couple of hours before you drink your last cup. By then it's been sitting on the burner for a while and it starts to taste a bit off. With the french press you just make it at your convenience. I'm in love with mine. They're pretty cheap and handy to have around. Especially, if you like coffee.
For those of you not familiar with a french press it's a pretty cool little gadget. It's just a cup with a lid/plunger contraption. The bottom of the plunger has a filter. You put the coffee in the cup. Then you add hot water and let it steep for a few minutes. Push down on the plunger and the filter pushes the coffee grounds to the bottom. Voila. You have coffee. Since you only need about 1 tablespoon per cup I've come to like it a lot more than my coffee maker. The coffee is more potent and I use less grounds. I also don't have to waste a filter. When I go camping I can only imagine how much better it will be than a percolator. It packs down to a much smaller size. I'll be able to store enough coffee for an entire weekend inside of it. I won't have to worry about boil overs or weak coffee that's loaded with grounds.
Coffee makers are less work and make more coffee at once and percolators are probably more robust but the french press that I picked up seems pretty sturdy and it doesn't take any longer to brew than a coffee maker. In fact, if you're like me then you get your coffee going in the morning and it could be a couple of hours before you drink your last cup. By then it's been sitting on the burner for a while and it starts to taste a bit off. With the french press you just make it at your convenience. I'm in love with mine. They're pretty cheap and handy to have around. Especially, if you like coffee.
Comments
Everyone should have one. I am sure if I thought about it, I could use it for multiple functions too, not just coffee.
Right now, we have two - the large size, which makes several cups of coffee and a small one for just one cup.