How to Make Coffee at Home – French Press and Peet’s

Ahh, the French Press. Agreeably one of the best coffee makers. You get all the delicious oils that a drip brew catches in its filters, which is good. However, research has proved that one of the oils in French Pressed coffe raises one’s LDL levels. LDL is the bad cholesterol, in case you didn’t know.

PS. 204 F is 95 C, for those who use Metric.

I do like proper coffee and I will used proper coffee beans with a french press but I like my coffee quick so it’s Kenco’s instant and hot water from the kettle, milk and one sugar.

Cream is a treat!

I agree with your method. Would add one comment. Let the water boil a few minutes and then COOL down to the temp you want (203). Reason,even though you are using filter water, boiling removes dissolved gases, especially oxygen, which might affect the flavor and/or quickly degrade the brew.

I really can’t stand drinking super expensive coffee such as Starbucks! I prefer Folgers Coffee with milk and LOTS of sugar. Although, I recently found out how great Dunkin Donut’s lattes and iced coffees are. Blueberry iced coffee with extra cream and sugar is so good. Mcdonald’s carries the Newman’s Own coffee which is also excellent. Those are my two on-the-go choices for sure.

just buy a coffee machine thn u get 12 cups in 8-10 mins

why not reheat coffee in a microwave? It’s convenient!

I buy Starbucks, but it isnt the same when you make it at home. I am going to try Pete’s as I’ve heard from others that this is the best. I heard Dunkin Donuts coffee is good as well. Anyone try making this at home?

I realy like this article. I have never realy been a fan of coffee. But, I am so fascinated by the whole french press thing. Looks soooo fancy LOL. I recently went to check out the Peet’s coffee website. I am SOOO gonna get some of those Chocolate Toffee Almonds. Man those looks good.
http://www.peets.com/shop/essentials_detail.asp?id=323&cid=1000103

the trick to making good coffee at home is a quality coffee machine. i have a Saeco brand Espresso maker, and it makes very good tasting coffee. also grinding the beans yourself just before you make it enhances the taste as well :)

If you do not like the sediment in your French Press coffee, try the Aeropress. It makes coffee one cup at a time but it is great stuff. I think it’s even better than French Press coffed.

Can’t live without a cup of a coffee in the morning. Though I just use the regular brands out there. Extra suger of course.

I drink Tea….. :D

I have never really cared much for coffee, but I watched this video and soon found myself drinking coffee(French and Peets to be known). My wife likes coffe and she loved it.

I love coffee, and so does everybody I make it for, great tips.

I now want to buy my own press so I can start drinking real coffee enough of this drip stuff.

wow i can smell the coffee from here! thanks Chris for tip i was on vacation and a friend made me a cup i was speechless when i had a sip.

lol.!

wow 8.17 r u invisible

sorry chris, im a starbucks fan

ive never had petes though

It’s PEET’S not Pete’s.

i agree with u actually.. it does smell good, but (for me) i hate the taste. and i dont agree with “pepsi ftw” lol. pepsi and coke are very unhealthy. :P

2 questions
how much does a cup of Peets cost
and when Chris goes on a coffee run does he pick up more than one cup?

You can also ROAST YOUR OWN green coffee beans. They are economical, stay fresh longer and you can make you own blends on the fly.

I purchase green coffee beans in bulk bags of 5#(2.27kg) each all the time. I have Honduran SHG, El Salvador Santa Rita, and Ethiopian Fair Trade Yirgaffeffe at the moment, but I’ve had literally dozens of others.

There are high dollar home coffee roasters available, but I chose to use an old electric hot air popcorn popper that I picked up at a yard sale for $3. Alternatively, you can also roast them in your oven at 450′F. Stir them around every 3 minutes until you achieve the roast you want. The aroma is much better than that of a local coffee house.

I roast the green coffee beans until they are a light medium or classic roast. It takes only a few minutes and when I hear that second crack and the beans are a nice cocoa brown I know they are ready. Color is everything. Take them out just before they get to the color you want.

Now they need to be cooled off in a hurry because coffee beans continue to roast after removal from their heat source, so I put them in a baking pan and plunge them in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Now the best grind method is with a burr mill as Chris states. Trial and error will give you the results that work best for you.

Some beans are harder than others. In the case of HB or SHB, you need a burr grinder for certain. The beans are like rocks! For all others, if you PULSE your whirly type coffee grinder or count to around 10 seconds, you should come close. Check your grind and whirl it more if needed. Just remember that you will get significantly more fines with this type of grinder.

Never use municipal water straight from the tap. That defeats the whole purpose of an exceptional brew.

Then it is a matter of heating your filtered water to 203′ and finishing with your press pot.

Enjoy!

I have a French press at work and home, along with espresso makers and bean grinders. I like my coffee! I haven’t tried anything from Peet’s yet, but my favorite so far is Sanchez Gran Reserva from Costa Rica. When brewed correctly it’s much better than anything Starbucks offers.
For those of you wanting a caffeine kick, but can’t have the sugars you find in energy drinks, or don’t like black coffee, I recommend Water Joe. Filtered, caffeinated water. And yes, I have made coffee with it!

I don’t have a French Press but after Chris’ demonstration, I asked for one for Christmas. Thanks for the actual demonstration.

uber uber fatty cream. what brand of french press do u guys use?

how come we cant make chris’s videos fullscreen?

For an 8 cup press, you need .12 oz of coffee ground for a french press. Hopes that out for your measuring!

Didn’t you stop drinking coffee a while back?

I like Louisiana coffee with chicory, straight. My old fashioned
drip pot has a metal filter, so it does a good job of letting all
the flavor through. But the French Press is nice. I can enjoy
the French roast at La Madeleine, but most of the rest is just
something to help me keep awake on a long drive at night.

I vote for the Aeropress.
Watch the video and know that the filter can be recycled for days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiFP4Rb55s4

Chuck has summed it up beautifully
http://madprofessor.net/2006/05/aerobie-aeropress-1.html#comments
I heat my water on the stove and reuse the filters. It performs pressure extraction through a disk of 2 inch micro-filter paper. It extracts at 2x potency and then you dilute the liquor when serving. Combine with a milk foamer for cappacino. It produces no sediment so the liquor does not become bitter if used later. It is easy to clean and dry for reuse. There is no residue or flavor imparted by the press if you clean, wipe and let it dry. The plunger is air tight like a syringe and allows complete pressing leaving a small puck of grounds, however it does not require much force to express the coffee liquor. The unit elegantly organizes the neccesary procedures required to make a smooth non-bitter coffee extraction

French press would be great. Drip coffee is so much faster to make.Yes, Peet’s is very good.

I tried coffee made in a French Press for the first time about a year ago. When I tasted it, it was like having coffee for the first time! Now, I can’t hardly stand coffee made in a drip pot. The only thing better is espresso.

What are your thoughts on Seattle’s Best Coffee?
I just purchased the Tassimo from Braun and it uses the pod system. The cool thing is that the pods have a barcode on it and tells the machine what your going to brew. Thus it set’s the amount of water, Duration of Brew Very High tech. The French press is two old fashion for me :-) The Tassimo would look great on your desk

Chris,

Thank you so very much for answering my question in a video. I have learned so much about making Coffee in a French Press. I will be purchasing my French Press ASAP..

Thanks again,

Wirelesspacket

I love coffee but are you saying that manually making the coffee is better than having an automatic coffee maker because I think the fact that I don’t have to make it myself would be better rather than if I made it and it tasted better…ok yea I’m going to rephrase that in case my question didn’t come out clear…Is the taste of manually made the coffee better than the ease of not having to make it?

Being relatively new to coffee, this will be an awesome alternative to the coffee machine at work. I’ll go buy one tomorrow I think.

I was going to buy a french press a long time ago, but never did. After watching Chris enjoy his coffee on the video, I took the french press plunge and finally ordered one. Now on to find the beans, a good grinder (important), and maybe a water heater (convenience).

Important note which I’m pretty sure Chris mentioned, at one time or another. When you buy a 8 cup french press, that’s 8 – 4 ounce cups. So buy a little bigger if you like more coffee from a pot. Some pots are insulated such as a stainless steel one, or others may have double wall glass which helps trap the heat and keep the coffee hot longer. Whatever, just get one if you feel the urge to try something a bit time consuming, but sure to be tasty.

The coffee Chris is fond of is called PEET’s, not Pete’s. There’s a nice bit of history there and an association with Starbucks, even.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peet’s_Coffee_&_Tea

awesome! yayy for peets.. i work there! try Ethiopian supernatural its coming out real soon!

Chris, I recently moved from Starbucks to Peet’s. Wow, what a difference. This video rocks… and i’m going to use your suggestions for making Peet’s the right way including temperature. Never thought about the temperature. And I’m going to try cream instead of half/half as well.
Thanks!
Here is the video I did about Peets as well:
http://www.vimeo.com/601408

learned a lot from this! thanks! i was doing it wrong all along!

For me, nothing compares to Peet’s “Sulawesi-Kalosi”, made with a gold foil filter. The gold filters are also relatively inexpensive, and with care can last forever. Sulawesi-Kalosi costs a bit more, but is worth it… Complex but never bitter.

I just had my first cup of Peet’s Major Dickason blend and all I can say is “Wow.”

Simply amazing…a bold, earthy flavour with a nice clean finish.

ummm… Why don’t you get a decent burr grinder and grind the coffee 1 minute before brewing. That makes the biggest difference in flavor instead of buying preground “stale” coffee.

Oh yeah. This video was unnecessarily long too. All can be explained in less than 1 minute.

i would like to drink your milk

I think what i am making is much moree better!

Peet’s is hands down the best coffee one can get. Starsucks is just that compared. RIP Al
Peet.

wasn’t this guy on tv back in the day?…. lol

holy NERD

yes he was check blooper chris pirillo.. you can see he did tv ;)

Raise a glass in memory of Alfred Peet, the Father of Specialty Coffee.

And isn’t that a shame! every st. corner…

…ruining the landscape of America.

I agree..we need more Peet’s but it takes a while to build a biz. They are not in debt and they work with their own capital so they can only expand at a certain rate.

Peace.

cg555

Here is some more info on french press brewing for those who want to learn more:
http://presspotcafe.com/stepByStep.html