Starting to get more and more into nicer cups of coffee. What are y'all drinking? Any advice on what I am doing wrong when using a French press? It always comes out super weak.

I just rotate around from the whole bean medium to dark roasts available from the grocery store. Grind and store in an empty Folgers tub. Brewed on an old Braun with a few dashes of cinnamon on top of the coffee grounds.

If your French press is too weak, you arent using enough beans.

Get a scale, a thermometer and learn how to make a decent cup of coffee. Get a vacuum pot and make a great cup of coffee. Get a good espresso machine and a great grinder and learn how to make a fantastic cup of coffee.

This assumes you are buying decent beans.

Agree. It would also be fun to take the same same bean, same roast batch but do it across preparations...Pour Over, French Press, espresso

Sooner Born said:

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Agree. It would also be fun to take the same same bean, same roast batch but do it across preparations...Pour Over, French Press, espresso

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I can already do that. I was looking for something ntouch could sell me.

Todays coffee delivery...

Yum

Duncan Idaho said:

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In the event that ntouch reads this....
You know what I would love to be able to buy? A coffee flight.

I'd love to get a collection of different roast from the same bean. So I can show people how important a proper roast is. Similarly a flight of different beans with the same roast to demonstrate how much beans vary from type to type.

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I've had the opportunity to do this multiple times with different roasters. It was really fun "cupping" the same bean at different roasts and different beans from around the world at the same roast. I would highly recommend if you appreciate all the different complexities a coffee bean has.

Duncan Idaho said:

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If your French press is too weak, you arent using enough beans.

Get a scale, a thermometer and learn how to make a decent cup of coffee. Get a vacuum pot and make a great cup of coffee. Get a good espresso machine and a great grinder and learn how to make a fantastic cup of coffee.

This assumes you are buying decent beans.

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I got the Hario Next syphon after your rec on the GB. It's incredible with some beans, but with my favorite Ethiopian from Ascension roasters, it's almost undrinkable. Weirdest thing; the same batch in a drip brewer or in a pour over is great.

No idea what I'm doing wrong. I let it steep for 1 minute and give a final stir, get the nice dome they say indicates a proper drawdown. And it's just terrible.

Literally every other bean I've tried has been fantastic. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Currently drinking the Black Rifle blends.. I like some of them. Black Beards Delight is my favorite.

Howdy Duncan hit me up through the site contact and we will put something together for ya.

I have and use a french press, siphon, v60, chemex, aeropress, moka pot, and a beehouse dripper. Right now I'm loving my chemex, it's just such a dang nice, clean cup. Also recommend Espro french presses, they have a double screen so you get waaay less sludge in your cup compared to other presses. Basically just get the best/freshest beans you can, a good grinder, and make sure your water is getting to the correct temp. Everything else will work itself out.

Best guess i can think of is maybe cut your steep down. Try it for 45 seconds instead of a minute and see if it's just over-extracting at 1 minute

Change your grind size as well. Is the coffee bitter?

1) what were you thinking taking ANYTHING I post on those board seriously.

2) but I do love mine. And I am glad it worked out for you
3) no clue. Only suggestion for is what others have made. You may be over extracting. So try a larger grind, or a shorter steeping time.

My Baratza Encore bit the dust yesterday. I'm sure it can be repaired, but I don't feel like ripping it open and I wanted to upgrade anyway. The Virtuoso came today and already gave it a whirl with some Chemex this morning. The biggest negative about the Virtuoso from reviews seems to be the amount of grinds left behind. Those people are obviously crazy... it leaves behind way less than my Encore ever did.

You may also want to play with the water temp. Lighter roasts work better with higher temps up to 205 and darker roasts work better with lower temps closer to 195.

You can't really change the temps with a vacuum pot. The water enters the brewing chamber at boiling but rapidly cools down due to the glass and beans.

Ordinarily I'd know better, but it was consistent with what you've said on other coffee discussions, so I rolled with it.

I'll try messing with the brew time & grind and report back.

Did you upgrade to a butane heater?

Lots of people recommend against it (and probably for solid, glass shard and lava avoidance reasons) but sometimes I'll stick a pot holder in the freezer when i start the water, and then when i take it off the heat I'll put it on there to accelerate the draw down. Obviously this only works if you have a stovetop siphon.

Where do I go in Houston to get good beans? Central Market has like a thousand different options. Are those not good? This is coming from a complete coffee rookie looking to learn

Collard Greens said:

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Where do I go in Houston to get good beans? Central Market has like a thousand different options. Are those not good? This is coming from a complete coffee rookie looking to learn

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Find a local roaster and buy them directly from them. I have always liked Katz coffee.

I make cold brew coffee at home.

Here is my equipment:

Cold Brew Coffee Maker

Krupps Grinder

Coffee Pitcher

and a very nice flavor of coffee, Jose's Whole Bean Coffee Vanilla Nut.

This produces just enough for me to have a large cold brew coffee in my travel mug to drink on the way to work.

jah003 said:

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My Baratza Encore bit the dust yesterday. I'm sure it can be repaired, but I don't feel like ripping it open and I wanted to upgrade anyway. The Virtuoso came today and already gave it a whirl with some Chemex this morning. The biggest negative about the Virtuoso from reviews seems to be the amount of grinds left behind. Those people are obviously crazy... it leaves behind way less than my Encore ever did.

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How long did your Encore last? All I ever brew is french press and the Encore seems perfect. Had mine just over a year and was curious as to the life expectancy.

Mine has been running 6+ years now. It is only used for French press and Chemex so it is not my daily grinder.

Slicer97 said:

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jah003 said:

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My Baratza Encore bit the dust yesterday. I'm sure it can be repaired, but I don't feel like ripping it open and I wanted to upgrade anyway. The Virtuoso came today and already gave it a whirl with some Chemex this morning. The biggest negative about the Virtuoso from reviews seems to be the amount of grinds left behind. Those people are obviously crazy... it leaves behind way less than my Encore ever did.

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How long did your Encore last? All I ever brew is french press and the Encore seems perfect. Had mine just over a year and was curious as to the life expectancy.

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2 years to the day pretty much. I don't think it's completely dead. It works when the grinder is in the wrong position (meaning I can't get the hopper on). As soon as I install everything correctly it stops working... I've been emailing customer support for a couple of days now.