French press versus vacuum coffee brewer

[stevenzaat]

Dear all,

I am just in the phase to change from my drip method (typical Dutch) to improve my coffee in the morning. Can anyone tell if there is a quality difference between french press coffee or coffee made with a vacuum brewer. And how much will be the improvement compared to my ordiairy Braun drip machine.

Thanks in advance,

Steven

[phil]

Personally I'm a vac-pot devotee.

French press gives a fuller bodied but muddier tasting brew IMO. The contrast with a vac pot is quite startling - the flavours are much clearer in the vac pot brew.

I find the Cona vac pot gives the clearest tasting results of those vac pots I've tried. The Bodum Santos is in flavour terms something of a half-way house between vac pot and press pot.

It's been a long time since I willingly tried drip coffee as such, but unless the Braun is really good on brewing temperature (most such machines aren't I understand, unless you pay shedloads for something like a Technivorm) I think you'll find either a vac pot or a press pot an interesting taste upgrade from your Braun filter.

My suggestion would be to buy a Bodum press pot first. They can be had quite cheaply (especially compared to the vac pots), are easy to use and clean and will give you an interesting insight into the flavour variations between brewing methods.

Phil

[alans]

Personally I found Vac pots to be a huge improvment over other filter methods, so many more flavours I was amazed when I first tried it! But then I never liked paper filters and I've only ever tried the 60s Bodum santos and the new version so can't compare to a Cona.

Phil's right though, a press pot will only cost you €10 or so and will give you a good insight of what's to come.

[wang]

I heartily recommend a french press. It's less costly and easier to control the brewing time and temperature than a vacpot. Then again I've only ever had one vacpot brew, so I can't vouch for taste, but it's most definitely easier to try out as its a lot more cheap. You can get a bodum brazil 8cup for ~16 euro, and a 3 cup for ~8 euro. I use my 3 cup the most as I don't have time to drink and manually grind more in the morning.

[edraket]

A household appliances store near my house is selling the Bodum Brasil 8 cup for 3 euro's.

I told the lady at the cash register that the price was probably wrong. She scanned it, looked at the screen, than looked me straight in the face and said in an aggrevated tone "They're 3 euro's."

I bought two.

They have been selling them for that price for over a year now.

[Raf]

Hmm, I paid nearly 30 euros for my 'Chambord' Bodum. Must have been ripped off.

[phil]

You were.

[wang]

I actually don't like bodums as much as cheaper ones in terms of the pour. The bodum's filter mesh is better though. They have an annoying plastic filter at the top which just robs the cup of any foamy 'crema-like' bloom which a fresh roast will give in large amounts! It's a purely cosmetic reason - the fake-crema only lasts a few sips anyway

[stevenzaat]

Ed Raket,

Can you please tell me where this terrific price can be achieved. I have only seen the price that Raf has paid, approximately EURO 30.

Furthermore I would like to thank everybody for their response! I definetely will buy a press pot very soon.

Best regards,

Steven

[stevenzaat]

Just bought the French Press, the Chambord Bodum, the same as RAF . I now understand the price difference. The 'Chambord' Bodum of RAF is made of glass and the Brazil is made of plastic. So RAF you are definetely not ripped off, I paid the same price. The Brazil ones were also EURO 12 in the store.

The coffee is great. The first cup was a bit underextracted because I followed Bodum's manual in which they stated to use 7 gram coffee per 0,15 liter water and my grinder was set too coarse (on the drip dot of the Solis Maestro). I set my grinder 2 dots finer and use less water with the same amount of coffee coffee (7 gram per 0.12 liter water). This is 10% stronger than SCAA recommends (7 gram per 0.13 liter), but this recommendation is taken into account how the American likes their coffee, I assume. I hope that 10% more taste than the Americans will be enough .

Besides I had the wind fall that my mother in law just had a Cona at home and it was in the closet for probably 5-10 years, so she will give it to me at Christmas (not as a present, we have Sinterklaas!).

OK thanks everybody for another progression in the coffee experience.

Best regards,

Steven

[pault]

I've been Vac-potting for a while whenever, to paraphrase P.G. Wodehouse, my stomach hears the call of the doughnut like a mastedon bellowing across the primeval swamp ...

anyway (obviously one shot too many already today) - the cafetiere was in the back of the cupboard and I hadn't used it for ages - did some New Guinea Peaberry in it and was very impressed with the extra body Phil mentioned - I'd forgotten how different it was to the Cona brew, and let's face it - in the context of all the faffing about with coffee we do it must win hands down in terms of the quality-of-brew/least hassle & expense ratio - especially when I can use the Spazio boiler as a glorified instant kettle

My New Year's resolution is to cafetiere (if I can use it as a verb) more often because I reckon there's a danger we get too used to a particular way of doing things and lose a useful frame of reference. It's also why I tend to drink all but the most undrinkable of my failed espresso shots - a) it's a form of masochistic punishment (I went to a school famous for its excessive use of corporal punishment and obviously it's had more of an effect than I thought, twitch, twitch - "bad barista, bad barista - must try harder" and b) it makes you appreciate/understand the good shots that little bit more ... or is that the sound of the ambulance sirens I hear coming down my street again ??

best,

Paul.

[Steve]

Very good point there paul about variety being the spice of life and all that. Different methods make coffee fun, now wheres my french press

[pault]

strewth ...

just made some Burmese beans in the cafetiere. I messed up the grind - too coarse and underextracted but because of the lighter roast, boy do you get some caffeine input!!!!!

I hope I come back down off the ceiling before Liverpool play tonight!!!

best,

Paul.

[Steve]

Ouch you didnt watch that did you, it hurt my ryes

[pault]

nope, it did not happen, in my world it is still Monday ...