Guest post: Learning to experiment with the Cafètiere

A few months ago, I borrowed my brother's French press. I wanted to see if I could make good coffee with it. And I did!

How to make French press coffee

Before I made my first French press coffee, I did a lot of googling. I discovered it's actually very simple. You pour boiling water over the coffee and stir vigorously for a few minutes. Before pressing down the plunger, let it steep for several minutes. Then you can taste it.

Experimentation is key

But actually, I'm not really the type for a French press. I prefer to make my — nice and strong — coffee quickly. And a quick cup isn't really possible with a French press. That's precisely what's so great about it. With slow coffee, you can control everything yourself. And that's how you make the coffee you like best. After all, you have everything in your hands: the ratio of water to coffee, the brewing time, and — for the home grinders among you — also the fineness of the coffee grounds.

A whole new world opened up for me

I mainly use the French press on weekends. Then I can take my time and often experiment. For this blog, I got to try Kaldi's Bright Colourful Guatemala. It's completely different coffee than I'm used to. So, I had to get used to the refined taste of this coffee. By the third pot, I had perfected the recipe, and a whole new world opened up for me.

Bright Colourful Guatemala

Especially if you brew the Bright Colourful Guatemala a bit stronger, you can really taste the different flavours. Because of that, I didn't miss the strong aftertaste at all, which was a small revelation for me. This is excellent coffee to start the day deliciously. I'll be treating the next Sunday afternoon visitor to a pot of this coffee.

Bjorn Franke blogs about coffee at Kwart over Koffie (www.kwart-over-koffie.nl)