Community Forums

codgerbill · 07-20-2008, 04:28 PM

I was reading something about coffee makers and I read about a coffee maker called a "french press". I am wondering if anyone has used one of these and if so, what are the good and bad points (if any) about the coffee maker and about the taste of the coffee?

codgerbill · 07-20-2008, 04:28 PM

I was reading something about coffee makers and I read about a coffee maker called a "french press". I am wondering if anyone has used one of these and if so, what are the good and bad points (if any) about the coffee maker and about the taste of the coffee?

Driveby · 07-20-2008, 07:53 PM

Every day. At home and in the MH. Worth the clean up

Rick Long · 07-21-2008, 12:59 AM

Excellent coffee... Hard to get rid of the grounds with no garbage disposal. Makes only a small amount of coffee at a time, about 2 cups for most. Great for making an early morning cup when you can't turn on the generator, just boil some water

brucemcdou · 08-07-2008, 11:32 AM

Codger - a French Press allows the coffee to steep in the hot water for five or so minutes, at which point you literally press the spent coffee grounds down to the bottom of the pot with a screen. The taste is, IMHO, the best of any method of making coffee. It would be an ideal way to make coffee in a MH as you just need to pour boiling water on top of the coffee and then insert the press, EXCEPT for the cleanup mentioned by Driveby. Whereas at home we can fill the press with water, swish it and dump the grounds down the garbage disposer a few times, in our motorhome we had to use a paper town to sort of scoop the grounds out. Never got it fully clean.

We finally reverted to a drip coffee maker (Chemex) which allows you to pour boiling water through a paper cone. Cleanup is just removing the paper cone and throwing it in the trash. We like to camp without hookups, so no need for a generator in the morning.

Hope that helps!

rurallady · 08-07-2008, 05:15 PM

We have an insulated stainless steel french press from Starbucks. It make six cups of coffee -- and keeps it warm without getting bitter.
We would not use anything else -- though I must admit I was glad to find the unbreakable one as the first ones I had were glass and I broke a few over the years!
I usually use a paper towel to wipe out the grounds after leaving it upside down to drain and cool. (It's my job to clean as Forry's hands are too big...!)
Rurallady

BryanL · 08-08-2008, 08:07 AM

A good alternative to a French Press is the Aerobie. It works in a similar manner but does a better job at keeping the grounds where they belong. You can find quite a discussion on this over at coffee geek

For some more about making coffee, see Coffee

Happymi · 08-25-2008, 06:03 AM

I have owned several of the french pressed coffee makers. My opinion is that it makes a great strong cup of coffee. I admit it's not used every day but when you want a great special cup of coffee I use it. Just this week my son brought some Kona from Hawaii, and I know what pot I will be using when it's time.

emurphy · 08-27-2008, 08:55 AM

Bought a French press cheap from Amazon. Tried it. Yes, the result was slightly more full-flavored than what I get from my Melita filter coffee maker. But only slightly.

But way more cleanup required. Not so if you have an electric dishwasher, but this is an RV forum, right? Anybody who has a dishwasher in their RV probably can have the help make the coffee.

I gave away the French press and am sticking with the Melita filter. I use the one-cup size, and make only one cup at a time. Least amount of fuss, excellent cup of coffee, always fresh.