French press fuck you

to: coffee experts

Why the fuck does my coffee taste like bitter dirt

I grind it coarse, pour in about a quarter cup, pour pre-boiling water (turn off heat right when the little bubbles start surfacing), first a little bit, stir with spoon, then the rest, let sit for 4 minutes, and it comes out just awful, really really awful. its hot and vaguely coffee like, but its nothing like a regular coffee maker, and of course way way worse than an americano.
it feels like im cutting my grounds with plain old dirt. what am i doing wrong?

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krupsusa.com/BREAKFAST-APPLIANCES/COFFEE-GRINDERS/Burr-Mill-Grinder-GVX212-/p/1500813240
ncausa.org/About-Coffee/How-to-Brew-Coffee
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

Did you buy a $500+ grinder?

checked

no i think its a regular grinder from target.

try only three tablespoons of whole beans, boil the water and then cool it, sit only three minutes

Maybe your grind is too coarse? Are you using ancient beans

will try it.
i honestly cant tell if its too coarse, how does one tell?

If it was too coarse it wouldn't have much flavor after a 4 minute brew. Maybe its actually too fine, and it's over brewing. is there a lot of grit at the bottom?

What beans are you using? What kind of grinder did you use, burr or blade?

I'm not sure what you mean by grit. a thin layer of grounds stay afloat but i think most of the crap stays on the bottom.

never thought of this. is this bad?
ive tried all kinds of beans. gourmet to starbucks. none were memorable. im pretty sure im doing something wrong, not up to the beans. but a solid question.
krupsusa.com/BREAKFAST-APPLIANCES/COFFEE-GRINDERS/Burr-Mill-Grinder-GVX212-/p/1500813240
this is the grinder.

a little is normal at the end of a cup but you shouldn't see a thin layer on the top. try going a little coarser if possible, unless you already have your grinder on the coarsest setting. only other thing I could think would make it taste bad is if the water is too hot, but you already mentioned you don't pour it in boiling.

>cup
oh god no i thought you meant in the press. the cup has a little bit of grit.

i feel so fucking retarded.

Maybe you don't like french press?
Maybe you don't like coffee?
Watch a youtube video.

>3 minutes

Why are Americans immune to all subtle flavours, but think 3 mins is acceptable for cafetiere coffee?

7 minutes minimum for me.

>Americans
You butthurt?
Insulting americans at every turn only enforces their dominance over your life.

Brewing Time

The amount of time that the water is in contact with the coffee grounds is another important flavor factor.

In a drip system, the contact time should be approximately 5 minutes. If you are making your coffee using a French Press, the contact time should be 2-4 minutes. Espresso has an especially brief brew time — the coffee is in contact with the water for only 20-30 seconds. Cold brew, on the other hand, should steep overnight (about 12 hours).

If you’re not happy with the taste of the final product, you're likely either:

Over-extracting - the brew time is too long
Under-extracting - the brew time is too short

ncausa.org/About-Coffee/How-to-Brew-Coffee

Please post your country's source.

Pretty bitter there in more than one observation.

Bitterness comes from over-steeping/over-extraction (just like with tea). Since 4 minutes is about the optimal steeping time in a French press for most people, and you say you're coarsely grinding your beans, I can only assume you're getting fines from your grinder. I'm going to give you two hacks:
1. If you are using a cheap blade grinder, pulse in half-second intervals, rather than holding down the button. This reduces the amount of fine grounds and also prevents the beans from getting heat from the friction. Blade grinders on pulse get pretty consistent medium grinds, but they inherently kind of suck at coarse grinds. Do what you gotta do though. I use a shitty blade grinder and with care can get 90% of the quality of an expensive burr grinder doing this.

2. Get rid of those shitty super fine grounds. You can use the mesh of the strainer of the press pot itself do do this. Put the grounds in the dry pot, put the plunger and lid in with the plunger halfway depressed, turn it upside down and shake the dust out. You can also sieve your grounds with a slightly coarser mesh like one of those splatter guards if you've got one. It'll get rid of the fine and super fine grounds.

ok this js good. good enough to warrant making another pot.

gonna try the sieving thing. if not this, im done with french press.

update. i thinj coming to you guys was the right idea.

i tried the other anons idea about checking for fine dust and noticed something fucky with my grinds. it wasnt consistent. threw it out, tried the other anons suggestion for pulsing the grinder. was great, got a consistent looking grind. didnt look like granola no more. did the upside down sieving and poured the water in, and i am greeted by a smell foreign to me. it smells so... right. this must be what its like to get a girl to orgasm the first time.

tasted it. no more essence of dirt, its a proper beverage. wow, its actually energizing me rather than depressing me... this is perfect

Glad I could help you make better coffee.

Lesson learned, kids: blade grinders fucking suck.
Get a conical burr grinder if you want properly consistent grinds.

You waited too long. With medium-coarse grinds, it's a seven minute max give or take a minute. 10 minutes would be too long.
Alternatively you might have used too coarse of a grind.

They need to be finer but not too fine. The water needs to be 84 degrees C and at a ratio of 1:4 grinds:water. Shorter steep times are less bitter so just try find your sweet spot between 1-3 minutes. Then add hot water later in the cup to dilute.

An aeropress is just a french press with a paper filter and a better approach to forcing the liquid out quick, cut out a circle of filter paper and see if you can put it over the plunger before you plunge. That should take away the bitter notes.

I use a blade grinder for some of my very light roasts that would break most burr grinders.

Don't stir it. The grounds will fall to the bottom and leaves nothing to PRESS. I let it boil all the way then wait 30-60 seconds. Teaspoon and half of coffee per cup. Add sugar into the cup first and then pour it. Tastes way different don't know why

>7 minutes minimum
Kek. Enjoy that bitter garbage

Yeah, I guess that's a lesson you could have learned if you're a rich idiot or a snob. I'm hoping OP learned that making good coffee can be done anytime, anywhere using humble equipment if he has good technique.

most coffee tastes like hot piss to me so i switched to cold brew. it makes for a much less bitter and much more smooth velvety coffee.

only good hot coffee i can get is espresso based

I maximize my coffee efficiency by putting whole beans in the blender with stuff :D

stir the coffee after the four minutes

if you're using a blade grinder just pulse it, never let it get to full speed

>owning the right equipment for the given task is being a rich idiot


Nah go jump on a rake.

Oh, I'm sorry. I must have missed the part where you helped someone make a good cup of coffee today.

Now that we've solved OP's problem, does anyone else find the first 3 sips of their french press coffee to be more bitter than the rest?

either you need to clean your press or you need to buy better quality beans

>French press
found the problem
try a method that isn't trash

What you're missing is the fact that there is zero correlation between "owning a tool suitable for the task at hand" and "being a rich idiot", lashing out and trying to redirect to unrelated bullshit won't make you right.

Well, I'm sorry again for missing the point of the thread. You could just be a snob, or have autism. I never maligned burr grinders. They're great. I said cheap blade grinders are inherently bad at coarse grinds, but you can make up for that with resourcefulness. Not every problem is a nail, my man. Sometimes you already do have the right tool, but you're not using it right.

>You could just be a snob, or have autism
Ah, the good old name-calling argument.
Really convinced me there my man.

My invitation to jump on a rake stands.

Have a nice day.

Grind coarse
Heat water to 200 (cooler will be weak, hotter will be bitter)
Extract after 4 mins

Grind it to a consistency of sea salt