First Coffee...Coffee Press

The other day there was a thread here about trying exotic coffees. I was green with envy because I love, love, LOVE coffee, but I can't really drink leaded coffee anymore because of the caffeine (causes irregular heart rhythms for me). So, unleaded only for me. As most specialty coffee threads evolve, the discussion inevitably turns to brewing methods, and more specifically the 'coffee press' (is it a 'French coffee press', or is just 'coffee press' okay phraseology?).

Well, I got to thinking...(dangerous sometimes). I really wanted some good coffee. Instant decaf just wasn't cutting it for me anymore. So, I went out and bought a coffee press and picked up some decent decaf from the market. Nothing too exotic, just Starbucks decaf. (Hey, it was on sale).

In the other referenced threads there is usually the statement..."You haven't really had 'coffee' until you've tried coffee from a coffee press!"

Well, I have to admit, some pretty damn good coffee comes out of this thing when you're done! I'm still a neophyte / noob to the coffee press, but my first batch came out awesome! And, they were right...it's some of the best coffee I've had on a long, long, time!

Now, I'm sure that drinking decaf out of a coffee press is some kind of sacrilegious and blasphemous thing, but it's all I got. So, I'm happy.

I wonder, is there a such thing as a decaf coffee bean, or does the decaf process take place after the bean has been ground?? I wondered this when I was looking at coffee. I could find decaf ground, but none in bean form where I could grind my own.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Man, decaf coffee sucks even more than diet soda and turkey bacon. If coffee is not good for you try oolong tea.

www.wholelattelove.com...


WARNING : It ain't cheap.

a reply to: Trueman

It's come a long way since the old stuff. Some of the new kinds you can't even tell apart.

Even this Starbucks I had this morning was delicious! Best cup of coffee I've had in a while.

Oh, and tee is fine, but I don't like tea in the morning at all. There's nothing appetizing about it at all at the start of a day. In the evenings I love decaf teas, but not in the morning.

ETA - I'd rather eat cow pies over turkey bacon!!

a reply to: DAVID64

Man, you ain't kiddin' either!!

Might have to try some though!

I have drank some pretty good decaf on occasion, it is more expensive. I am not into that instant coffee crap at all. I think the coop has decaf beans here that you can grind yourself, just because it is organic does not mean it is safer than a commercial process though.

Decaf coffee is like eating a soy substitute steak. Makes zero sense...

I'm a straight up coffee crackhead. Seriously, I love coffee and I get caffeine withdrawal headaches if I don't have at least one cup first thing in the morning. I usually drink decaf in the evening as I have a hard time sleeping otherwise with coffee after about 6pm.

French press makes the best coffee in my experience.

This is me when I run out late a night to get some beans when I realize I wont have coffee in the morning. Wife asking me why I really need to go get coffee... she just don't understand.

a reply to: Edumakated

Decaf coffee is like eating a soy substitute steak. Makes zero sense...

Well, it's that or NOTHING!! When you can't drink the regular stuff, but you still love coffee...what other choice do you have???????

I have never found better. The owner still...... drives a 1964 21 window VW bus.

The aroma inside the Café is quite remarkable

Highlander Grog is a great start. There are no lesser types, just like there are no plain Victoria Secret girls.

You simply can not go wrong.

caffeibis.com...

Deltiazem might just counteract the Tachycardia ......

a reply to: Plotus

I am already prescribed a med for it, metroprolol. (and yes, I realize deltiazem is a calcium blocker, not a beta blocker).

It worked for me for rhythm. It has a couple uses, pressure and rhythm. I had no pressure issues, maybe one tachycardia episode in a timespan of about 8 years.

Notice also, the De-caf that the Ibis has. Sumatran is exquisite. (you might have to ask for that)

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: Plotus

My browser and security does not like that website at all...unfortunately.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Best coffee? Home roast, grind fresh, the coldest water you can get (oxygenated), French press.

I buy my green beans from Sweet Maria's.

I’ve been a coffee afficianado (some would say “snob”) for about the last 50 of my 70+ years on the planet, and I would like to think I’ve learned a few things about the subject. The two main things about making really good coffee is to start with really good beans, and use roasting and brewing processes that don’t do any damage. (Like the motto of doctors, “First, do no harm”.)

The first and most serious way of doing damage to the brew is to cook it. The classic American percolator from the 1950s and 1960s is probably the biggest offender in this regard. A percolator works by flashing a little bit of coffee that’s in contact with the bottom of the coffee pot into steam. That steam drives a little column of hot water up the percolator tube and distributes it over the ground coffee, where it extracts the soluble components from the grounds. The problem is that when the coffee at the bottom surface of the pot flashes into steam, the soluble components in the liquid momentarily dry out and scorch. The scorched solids then get re-dissolved into the liquid and this process continues as long as the pot percolates. This ends up driving off many of the volatile aromatic compounds in the coffee and introducing a godawful mix of random, long chain hydrocarbons into the brew. Coffee pots like Mr. Coffee and others that keep reheating the brewed coffee for long periods of time also do the same thing, just more slowly. Ideally, coffee should never be re-boiled after it has passed once over the grounds.

The brewing methods that do the least damage to the brew are those that boil the water BEFORE (not while) bringing it into contact with the grounds and keep it in contact only long enough to extract the readily soluble flavor and aroma content of the grounds. (Caffeine is a relatively poorly water soluble alkaloid, so the longer you keep the hot water in contact with the grounds, the more caffeine you will probably extract). A simple filter cone pretty much fits this description EXCEPT that the filter paper can selectively remove some of the flavor and aroma content and also impart some paper taste, itself. A coffee press (French, or otherwise) is basically a good choice because it doesn’t necessarily impart any off flavors during the brewing process. Another, equally good choice is the little stove top espresso coffee makers that are everywhere in Europe. They have a chamber at the bottom that contains only water. When heated, the water builds up steam pressure and forces the hot water up through a stainless steel mesh and through the grounds, and then collects the coffee in a pot on the top. The whole process only takes a couple of minutes and is usually the way I spend my first two minutes of the day, after I stagger out of bed.

Another important factor is the roasting process. When green coffee beans are roasted, the steadily increasing temperature creates increasing concentrations of flavor and aroma compounds through organic chemical processes known as Maillard reactions. I remember reading somewhere that if you take high quality wine and put it through a gas chromatograph, you can detect something like 300 different organic molecule species that contribute to the flavor and aroma. Fresh roasted coffee can have twice as many identifiable species, so the possibilities for subtlety and complexity are actually greater for coffee than for wine. However, if you roast the beans beyond a certain level of darkness, you start oxidizing the flavor and aroma content that you created in the early part of the roasting. If you take the roasting process to the extreme, you basically end up with a bunch of tiny little charcoal briquets which, in my opinion, don’t taste very good. When the gourmet coffee craze started taking off in the US in the late 60s and 70s, gourmet coffee (produced with commercial espresso machines) became associated with the Italian and Viennese dark roasted beans that were common in Europe at the time. In my opinion, that was unfortunate, because the method used to brew coffee is entirely independent of the darkness of the roast of the beans. Yet, to this day, if you go to one of the megachain houses like Starbucks and order an espresso drink you will get a drink that is much less flavorful than it could be because it’s made from highly carbonized beans. (Although, Starbucks has started to see the light and is offering espresso drinks with “Blonde” coffee roasts at some locations. “Blonde” simply means that the beans are not roasted as dark).

About 5 or 6 years ago I became so ticked off about the general lack of lighter roasted coffee that I bought a little table top roaster and started roasting green beans to my own tastes. It’s worked out quite well, and it makes a fun little hobby. In the modern age of the interweb, it is easy to get high quality, single variety green beans from practically any coffee growing region of the planet. I frequently use CoffeeAM, a specialty supplier based in Canton, Georgia.

About decaffeinated coffee: All varieties of coffee beans start out with caffeine in them; some varieties more than others. Decaf coffee is produced by solvent extraction of the caffeine from the green beans, before they are roasted and ground. The trick is to extract the caffeine molecules without extracting the flavor elements. The first commercially successful process (invented in the 1800s) used Benzene as a solvent. It worked OK but after Benzene was generally recognized to be a carcinogen, there was high demand for a process that didn’t use dangerous chemicals. The most common process today is the so-called Swiss water extraction method. The way it works is that they take a batch of green coffee beans and soak them in water until the water has absorbed more than 97% of the caffeine. That water will also have extracted most of the organic compounds that will end up creating the flavor and aroma of the coffee after it is roasted, so they throw that batch of beans away. They then soak another, equal sized batch of beans in the same water. The water cannot extract any more flavor compounds from the new beans, because the water is saturated with those compounds, but it can continue to extract caffeine, which is present in much lower concentration. So, you end up with a batch of beans from which almost all of the caffeine has been extracted and practically none of the flavor compounds have been extracted. You can then roast the beans in the usual way. However, the cost of this is that you have to discard half of the beans you started with. This is why good decaf is about twice as expensive as the same caffeinated beans. The company I mentioned—CoffeeAM—supplies both regular and decaf high quality beans, pre-roasted and green. There’s another company based in Colorado called Blue Spruce Decaf Coffee Co. that specializes in supplying only high quality decaf beans; you might give them a try.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Go to Amazon and type in coffee beans decafe there is a s#it ton on there.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I love the bean. If I had to make a choice of coffee, or beer, I believe I'd become a teetotaler! Anyway, I have picked up a few things along the way of my obsession. Started while in Europe, and, continued though college (I have created my own coffee drink as a barista)... to this very day... many moons later.

Like 1947Boomer said, French Press is the best method for flavor. Cold pressing is good too (aids in acid levels), and those little Italian Espresso brewers really pack a punch...

Allow me to add my two cents.

Cold pressing is soaking ground beans overnight in cold water, and then letting it drain out slowly. It gives a real mellow cup, very low acid, and a wicked little caffeine jolt gently delivered. You can do a whole can of pretty bad bean, extend the soak longer, and use the super brew as an ad-hoc instant even... Just add a few tablespoons to hot water in the cup... However, you just have to make it way in advance for use as you go, so, not very practical

French pressing is about the same, except, the water is hot. It is a faster -way- then cold pressing. It's a real caffeine machine. Other than the Espresso way, the French Press, has the second best caffeine leeching capability (not counting bean variety, or, roasting method), but, just taking brewing methods.

A little rule of thumb... The lighter the bean, the greater the caffeine. Roasting alters caffeine as it darkens. The dark roasted beans only taste stronger, but, the caffeine is in fact, weaker.

Like Guinness Ale... it only tastes strong, but, as far as alcohol content... it is very light. Same with dark roasts... taste strong but the caffeine weakens in the process.

The biggest caffeine jolt comes from taking a light bean, grinding it to the perfect grind (almost a powder), and popping it through one of those little Italian Espresso Stove Top Brewers.

1947Boomer knows.... Boomer I think you may be a greater caffeine fiend then me!

Gosh, I'm sorry.

So many great comments (as I expected), but honestly, I just can't drink coffee with caffeine in it. I'm sorry.

I feel weird apologizing for this, but I just can't drink coffee with caffeine. I really just can't...seriously, honestly and sincerely. I cannot drink caffeinated coffee. I just can't.

I envy all your cool guys who can brew all these neat coffees, but sadly I am restricted to "DECAF ONLY". (seriously)

I simply have NO other choice! I don't know how else to say it. I just don't.

I'm sorry for even posting this thread now. I feel like tossing my coffee press out in the yard. My sorry coffee sucks, and the notion of using a French press on my sub-standard garbage coffee is a travesty to all coffee drinkers...and I'm sorry.

I will refrain from any expectations of good coffee, and just give my stupid little press to some one at work.

I'm really sorry.

ETA - I drink one single cup of coffee per day (because even decaf has caffeine). That's all I get. Just one.

I'm really sorry for posting such a silly and stupid thread.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Midnight typing!! I am the one to blame... I didn't mean to rub in my caffeine sodded ability/need/habit... I just wanted to point out a few things to aid in your decaf quest.

How french pressing adds to higher levels of caffeine in the cup just by its 'method'.

If I had to keep the caffeine low. I'd find a good, medium roasted, decaf. If I had the time, I would cold press it. French Pressing is the second best method of brewing.

Thats more to what I meant to say, just got caught up in my own shiznit/hubris/love me-look/mommies special little soldier.

Ok, I swallowed a bug.. cough... ahemm... Cheers!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Pressed coffee is the best.
It doesn't matter what kind of coffee, it all tastes good that way.


I drink way to much coffee at home to use a press but the chef at work bought me one that we use there at least one a day. Sorry you have to deal with decaf but if you gotta, a press would at least give the illusion of a strong cup.