I asked the question, What is your favorite brewing method?, to my coffee-drinking friends several times before considering my own answer. Isn't that how it always works? Sometimes I ask of others things I do not even know how to answer myself. Me? Favorite brewing method? I confess, it is the french press.
Why confess? you ask. For some reason I feel like I should move on, or advance, from my early coffee drinking days. Back then, but not so long ago, it was sipping on 16oz of cold coffee that had been steeping all day in my travel french press out in some wilderness setting that led me to appreciate the experience of drinking coffee. [Since then, I have grown to love the taste of coffee as well.] Besides the excitement that comes with drinking a beverage that isn't good ol' H-two-O out in the woods, I was drawn to the sounds and steps of preparing coffee in that setting. Sitting around a campfire, grinding the beans with a hand crank, and waiting for the water pot to steam over before one attaches the clamp to the side of the pot and fills the metal press with boiling water until the coffee grounds rise to the top. Wait a while, anticipate, smell the coffee, wait a bit longer, and then push - pressing the grounds firmly and yet gently down to the bottom of the thermos. Now sip, and enjoy. How could one say no to coffee with an introduction like this?
Since those days, I have learned of many other coffee brewing methods. Being process-oriented like I am sometimes means that the more steps something requires increases my attraction to doing it. I like how the steps in a process require you to fully participate in it because you are involved in every aspect along the way, as I said, participating. It slows things down, makes you aware, and then leads to a different understanding and more appreciation. It usually brings about a better result at the end too, even if it is just in our heads because we were a part of making it ourselves. So, I am all about the process.
Which brings me back to coffee brewing options. I am aware that there are more process-oriented brewing methods out there compared to the french press, and I really am interested in the challenge of timing a pour over coffee just right, and the beauty of watching a coffee siphon bubble and drip through perfectly ground beans. So someday I may change my answer to being one of the more sophisticated methods. But, when I really think about it, I am in the french press season of my life.
It offers enough steps to keep me interested and involved, and also provides a 4-minute window in time during which I smell the delicious steam of coffee brewing and allow the beans to steep and do their magic. A 4-minute window during which I also pour orange juice for the kiddos, find spoons for their cereal bowls and dig through the clean dish rack to find and prep a thermos to house my morning drink.
But I guess that is the point of seasons anyway, to remind us that this is only for a time - for the good and the bad of it, and to remind us to pay attention, be aware, and know what this is. To be familiar, to appreciate what we can, and even enjoy it while we can, because it is bound to change. That is how seasons work.
So, let me say it loud and proud. Hi, my name is Becky, and the french press is my favorite brewing method.
Why confess? you ask. For some reason I feel like I should move on, or advance, from my early coffee drinking days. Back then, but not so long ago, it was sipping on 16oz of cold coffee that had been steeping all day in my travel french press out in some wilderness setting that led me to appreciate the experience of drinking coffee. [Since then, I have grown to love the taste of coffee as well.] Besides the excitement that comes with drinking a beverage that isn't good ol' H-two-O out in the woods, I was drawn to the sounds and steps of preparing coffee in that setting. Sitting around a campfire, grinding the beans with a hand crank, and waiting for the water pot to steam over before one attaches the clamp to the side of the pot and fills the metal press with boiling water until the coffee grounds rise to the top. Wait a while, anticipate, smell the coffee, wait a bit longer, and then push - pressing the grounds firmly and yet gently down to the bottom of the thermos. Now sip, and enjoy. How could one say no to coffee with an introduction like this?
Since those days, I have learned of many other coffee brewing methods. Being process-oriented like I am sometimes means that the more steps something requires increases my attraction to doing it. I like how the steps in a process require you to fully participate in it because you are involved in every aspect along the way, as I said, participating. It slows things down, makes you aware, and then leads to a different understanding and more appreciation. It usually brings about a better result at the end too, even if it is just in our heads because we were a part of making it ourselves. So, I am all about the process.
Which brings me back to coffee brewing options. I am aware that there are more process-oriented brewing methods out there compared to the french press, and I really am interested in the challenge of timing a pour over coffee just right, and the beauty of watching a coffee siphon bubble and drip through perfectly ground beans. So someday I may change my answer to being one of the more sophisticated methods. But, when I really think about it, I am in the french press season of my life.
It offers enough steps to keep me interested and involved, and also provides a 4-minute window in time during which I smell the delicious steam of coffee brewing and allow the beans to steep and do their magic. A 4-minute window during which I also pour orange juice for the kiddos, find spoons for their cereal bowls and dig through the clean dish rack to find and prep a thermos to house my morning drink.
But I guess that is the point of seasons anyway, to remind us that this is only for a time - for the good and the bad of it, and to remind us to pay attention, be aware, and know what this is. To be familiar, to appreciate what we can, and even enjoy it while we can, because it is bound to change. That is how seasons work.
So, let me say it loud and proud. Hi, my name is Becky, and the french press is my favorite brewing method.
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