French Press Bitterness Myth (redux): Be Your Own Expert

[Mister Moo]

Roasters Running Amok has dragged me away from my beloved bean blending and espresso machine for these past several months and kept me nailed in front of the vacpot, presspot and mokapot. Its not been all bad - got me back in touch with my roots - you know, remembering how the poor people drink. So, slumming around with the press has been good. While it doesn't demand a lot of technique to make a good pot, it does put you in touch with the brewed nuances that are less obvious than might be the case with espresso. I listen much, much closer to the coffee.

This whole thing about french press coffee going bitter if it sits too long is part of the background noise of coffee conventional wisdom. I mentioned my take on it elsewhere but, since then, have been doing some non-scientific evaluations. I am not sure if anyone ever let a lot of press coffee sit around before concluding it goes bitter from extended contact with water (rapidly COOLING water) with grounds (mostly EXTRACTED grounds).

I'll be the first to admit I barely have taste in my mouth or anywhere else - look at my shirts and shoes to see for yourself. I'll also concede that smoking pipes and cigars isn't the way to hone tastebuds into a delicate tasting mechanism with a razor's sharp edge. Nonetheless, I have brewed and allowed coffee to sit in full and partial pots for as long as 40-minutes before drinking it. Yeah - it goes a hair off but not like the cup is devastated, ruined. I think most of the "off-ness" is just from the coffee having cooled and lost its' share of aroma. Bitter has not once been an operative term for what coffee becomes after sitting in a press pot.

I have two presspots. One is small (20-oz) and it makes so little coffee that you have to work at letting it sit around. What I'm saying is, a 20-oz pot sitting around isn't very relevant to my coffee prep- and drinking style. The other, 48-oz insulated, pot might be bigger, but it only gets pulled out when there are more than two people wanting coffee. It doesn't last long, either.

Bottom line: I can't make a presspot full of coffee go bitter by allowing it to sit around for an extended (up to forty-minutes) period of time.

Since you are your own expert, don't take my word for it. Test stuff out for yourself - conventional wisdom isn't always so wise. I'm just a low-cred wide-eyed radical who thinks a grinder is the most important piece of coffee making gear you'll ever buy (it is, of course). Trust your own taste and experience - mine calls BS on the bitter-sitter press theory.

[muziq]

I'll be honest here: I got into french presses about five years ago, exclusively for loose-leaf tea. I much prefer 'em over regular teapots and crap--easier to use, and in no way, shape, or form does the placement of my pinky in the process raise any eyebrows.

It's only been within the last year, as I've hit the slope like a first-time blackjack player, that I've played around with my various french presses with coffee. Actually, only within the last two months, since acquiring a wonderful Rocky, giving me total control over the grind for hours of hopped-up experimentation. Oh it's been fun. My pot of choice is a Bodum Columbia 7-cup/34 oz. model, works like a charm. Its very design (solid steel polished finish) makes the entire process a fun mystery, coffee magically coming from a shiny metal objet d'art.

While I default for my daily coffee to a Mukka Express, I know I'll always get a unique cuppa from the Columbia--and no, I've not come across any bitterness as I work my way through that fifth cup. The Columbia is nicely insulated, so while the aroma dissipates, the flavor itself seems nearly in tact. I'm with you, Moo...no bitterness here.

[mhortsch]

I always thought the water being to hot assisted in the bitterness... could be wrong I guess.

I've actually left my press sitting a bit longer when I know my coffee is substandard... to thicken it up or mellow it out (those might not go hand in hand).

Like this morning for instance. I ran out of coffee because I miscalculated the time it would take me to get my first roasted batch (well into next week). So I had to get some storebought stuff from the Grocer, it's called North Shore Blend (North shore is our lake superior shoreline near duluth)... no way can this stuff be that good. So I let it sit a bit longer.

We'll see if my experiment worked in a few minutes.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by muziq

I'll be honest here: ...My pot of choice is a Bodum Columbia 7-cup/34 oz. model... ...is nicely insulated, so while the aroma dissipates, the flavor itself seems nearly in tact. I'm with you, Moo...no bitterness here.

10-4 on that, good coffee buddy. My large press is the larger Columbia insulated model and it is la presse de toute presses. I followed Bigwaved's way-favorable advice on this press. This is the pot that could have coffee sitting around in it for more than 5-10 minutes before it's poured and, when that happens, never a curled lip from bitter coffee.

It sounds like you're as happy with the improved grinder as you are with the not-bitter press coffee. Heh heh heh. Grinder upgrade bitterness is also uncommon.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by mhortsch

I always thought the water being to hot assisted in the bitterness...

Overly hot water is one of the best ways to make bitter coffee, if you like it that way. Overextraction does it, too. If you prefer bitter coffee then try a percolator. Run the water way hotter than needed to just barely perc and let it go until the water is runs clear through the tube for an extra four or five minutes. THAT'S how to make bitter coffee with the least amount of effort. My mother was expert at the technique of sliding down the percolator razorblade - she could make great coffee with a Pyrex perker about two times out of three.

It is oft' repeated by coffee mavens that letting coffee sit for extra moments (let alone minutes) in a press makes the coffee bitter. Supposedly this is due to the unnecessarily long water/grounds contact at (and through) the filter, creating an overextraction. While this barely makes theoretical sense, my experience sez it is not the case in practical application.

YMMV... report.

[raisin]

Originally Posted by mhortsch

I always thought the water being to hot assisted in the bitterness... could be wrong I guess.

I've been thinking that myself, time to break out the thermometer!

[jkim05]

Personally, I'm with Moo on this. My introduction to the press pot was in elementary school when my dad used to use one...he got away from it and used a drip pot for a while b/c of convenience, but I got him back on the french press bandwagon as of late (btw, anyone remember coffee prices in the early-mid 90's for jamaican blue mountain and kona...man I wish I could find those prices today...)

Anyways, I started using the press regularly when I was in Australia, where I found them everywhere and I didn't have access to any other way of making coffee, but I had plenty of access to hot water. I didn't even consider that the coffee would get bitter if left in the pot as that was common practice there, as it was at home with my dad, and I never experienced any real bitterness. I came back home, ended up here and first heard about this "bitter brew" and began pouring it into a thermos after it was brewed. Got lazy and went back to my old ways, and I've decided that there is little or no difference...if I wait long enough for there to probably be any effect, the coffee is already too cool to drink anyways.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by jkim05

...Got lazy and went back to my old ways, and I've decided that there is little or no difference...

I'm all for lazy. This french press bitter brew thing has been tossed around at know-all coffee forums for years. I was taken in by the authoritato-geeks and parroted this poppycock at one time or another.
Now? I'm a happy convert to laziness. Let it sit. It doesn't go bitter at all. Club Stogie once again leads the way in practical applications of laziness and iconclastic coffee posts.

The same thing happened with articles and posts mentioning that center-screen type popcorn poppers start fires. After I used a center screen popper for a year (no fires) I couldn't figure out how they could be dangerous so I contacted producers of several posts and articles who issued the danger warning. Each said he had heard such a warning (or read it) "somewhere" and reproduced it as a matter of fact. None had first hand knowledge of a fire being started by any kind of popper nor could they say where the warning originally stemmed from.

[mhortsch]

Just to clarify, are we talking about letting it sit after it's plunged, or before it's plunged.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by mhortsch

Just to clarify, are we talking about letting it sit after it's plunged, or before it's plunged.

After.

[mhortsch]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

After.

Well Ill be damned, I thought you were talking before.

I always abide to the 3:30 rule when pressing real beans.

But let them sit a little longer when pressing fake beans (store bought).

I've always tranferred to a thermos for no other reason then heat loss, but I don't think letting it sit after would cause bitterness. Otherwise some of the coffee I drink from my thermos 6 hours later would be a puckering cup of coffee.

[novasurf]

Let it sit over nite. Still smooove.

[raisin]

Originally Posted by mhortsch

Just to clarify, are we talking about letting it sit after it's plunged, or before it's plunged.

before I plunge, bitterness doesn't bother me so much - but the coffee is awfully gritty...

[tazziedevil]

well i'm no coffee snob but i know how i like my coffee:

In a 6.95 grocery store plunger.

slightly chewy. Ratios? Water temp? pfft.

2 scoops for me, 3 if i'm sharing.

Coffee Wisdom.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by tazziedevil

well i'm no coffee snob but i know how i like my coffee:

In a 6.95 grocery store plunger.

slightly chewy. Ratios? Water temp? pfft.

2 scoops for me, 3 if i'm sharing.

Coffee Wisdom.

Coffee haiku, Pablo?