Bodum French Press
14.10.11
The French press is, for me and I’m sure for many others, the first foray into making “culinary coffee.” What I mean when I say Culinary Coffee is coffee brewed with careful consideration and in such a way as to bring out the maximum flavor while minimizing harsh, bitter notes. The French Press makes it easy (some might even say fun) to brew a great cup of coffee with minimal fuss, and what I think is even more important, without a significant upfront cash outlay for the purchase of a coffee maker.
I purchased my first French Press when I was living in San Francisco. It was a Bodum, and the large 8 cup version. I’ll be honest: I was cheap and was looking for the least expensive way possible to brew some coffee which I purchased from a local roaster (Graffeo Brothers). I bought the French press, threw in way too little coffee (in retrospect the coffee was also ground far too finely for the French press) and let it steep for about 10 minutes. It was undrinkable.
In time I learned how course a grind a needed to use, how long to let it steep, and can now make a pretty great cup of coffee quickly and easily. I now use a Hario hand grinder to grind my beans right before brewing. I use an OXO kitchen scale to weigh out my beans (in grams) and how hot water (in oz) and use a timer to make sure I get all the details right.
Source: ROASTe (blog)
bodum shot glasses
26.09.11
Bodum shot glasses are they worth it?
I bought a pair of Bodum insulated shot glasses thinking I would love them since they look great, will keep the shot warm, and have a good size lip on them. In truth I failed to fall in love with them. I think it may be that my reservation is that the espresso stays too hot too long. The flavor of espresso changes with time and this is probably not justa function of temperature. Thus you want the shot to hit its peak for taste at the same time as it hits its ideal temperature. For me this happens better with thick walled ceramic than with these glasses.
I do have uses that I love them for. They are my favorite glasses for sipping tequila from (this is not something I do very often, but if you are going to sip a good tequila the glass really matters as it does with other high end drinks like wine, coffee, scotch and so on.
Another obvious use for them is any form of photography of shots of espresso. You may notice that many of the best looking shots of espresso are taken in little glass cups from Illy called “naked” glasses, but if you have ever looked at their price it si crazy – even used I have never seen them for less than a hundred dollars. It sure makes the Bodum glasses look like a bargain.
Source: ROASTe (blog)
