Ala: http://www.blissbat.net/coffee_press.html
I kind of dont like the idea of coffee being soaked in the water. Seems like your overextracting the beans.
To summarize what you do with a French Press-
I tried making coffee via a french press, too much work for me. But I must say that my friends hubby whose french press I was using really likes it and swears by it. His reasoning is that he is the only one drinking coffee so this is easier for him to make one cup.
Coffee via a french press is actually damn good in my opinion, if more labor intensive. As for overextracting the beans, this isn’t a problem if you transfer the coffee to a thermal carafe after you’ve pressed it. Actually, this is the advised way to go, since most french presses aren’t electrically heated (some are, though) and the coffee will get cold pretty quickly.
I usually prefer coffee from a french press, as it seems more flavorful to me, but others disagree. Buy a cheap mini-press that makes 1 or 2 cups at Target and give it a shot.
I like it. It doesn’t seem much more labor intensive than using a coffee pot. For me, the advantage is that I can make a stronger cup of coffee.
I like it. How is it labor intensive? You grind beans, dump them in, boil water, add it, wait, push a plunger, drink? We finally got a drip maker thinking it would be faster and easier-- I think we planned to set the timer but never remember to set things up before bed. Eh. I should get a new French press (the breaking of the last caraffe was the impetus for the drip machine purchase).
Too much work and I don’t like the way it makes the coffee taste.
Works for me, but it’s more work. It helps if you use a grinder where the beans fall through the crushing part in one pass, rather than the type where the beans sit in a cup and get shredded by whirling blades. That kind of grinder gives you a grind that varies all the way from powder to the level of grind you want, and the powder will go through the french press’s filter, rending your coffee more Turkish than French…
In my opinion, the French press is only second to the moka pot when it comes to home use. Drip? no thank you, no brown water for me.
I used a French press through college and for some reason I really enjoy pressing down the filter, my morning wouldn’t be complete without that little ritual. I’m a man of simple pleasures, what can I say…
Before I pretty much quit drinking coffee in January, I LOVED mine. One advantage is that given a source of hot water, they can be used anywhere, such as during a power outage but with a gas stove around.
I love my french press. I really do not think they are a lot of work and the taste of the coffee is much better.
You do want to make sure you have a coarser grind of coffee though, as mentioned above. That makes a big difference too.
I am a decaf drinker - the only one in the family - so I can have my one cup and everyone else can have their caffine.
I used to have one at work, where we had “free but institutional” coffee.
I’d bring ground up coffee. Real half and half (we had a fridge) and brew my own in the press pot.
They aren’t any work at all. Put grounds in, add hot water, press and pour, rinse out press pot. It can take a little practice to figure out how much coffee to add and how long to let it sit before pressing and pouring. Sit too long and the beans do overextract, in my opinion (4 to 5 minutes would be way too long for my taste). Don’t let it sit long enough, and you might as well be drinking the communal institutional coffee.
They can be found quite cheap in the single cup size. I don’t think I paid $10 for mine.
Honestly, I think that this is one of those things that people do to seem more sophisticated but that is actually inferior. I have tried many (many) ways to get my morning java, and the French press is pretty much a delivery system for coffee grounds to your mouth. I much prefer something filtered.
I love mine and I think it is just an easier way to make coffee. I hate cleaning out my drip coffee pot, and it is much easier to just wash out the french press (or put it in the dishwasher). If I just need just a cup or so of coffee I will definately use the french press. I lived alone when I got it, so it made more sense for me to just make a cup this way rather than an entire pot of drip.
I liked the french press coffee. Mrs. Jim and I used one for years until I broke it. We went back to a drip maker for ease of clean up and that nifty timer option.
I found the coffee had a deeper flavor. Since there is no paper filter most of the coffee oils a passed directly on. I did find that it was best drunk as soon as it was made. It seemed to sweat in the thermal caraffe and that ruined the flavor. One - four cup models are your best bet.
I got the impression that cleanup was more difficult with a french press, you have the screen, and the springy thing, and the plate, and grounds get all throughout the 3 pieces… Maybe I went overboard the couple of times i used one since took apart the whole thing to clean. I also found the coffee a bit cooler than other methods, perhaps just because the water I used wasn’t hot enough… I did find the coffee tasty though.
I now use a small Cuisinart drip unit that brews directly into the insulated cups. I think this is the easiest of all. One small filter to throw away, a small filter cup to rinse and a drinking cup that I’d need to use in any case. Completely useless for a party, but great for that one cup in the am.
We have a french press and use it exclusively on the weekends. It is great and I think that it makes better coffee than our drip machine. It is a little more labor intensive but nothing terrible. The only reason we don’t use it during the week is that it only makes six cups at a time and Mrs. Gaffer and I need a bit more than that to get going and time can be somewhat of an issue.
I own a french press and personally enjoy using it for myself on weekends or when guests come for lunch.
I find it simple to use and something just a little different than a typical carafe to bring to the table. I love my coffees and enjoy the difference in flavor with the press.
Incidentally, I also enjoy my tea press. 
is nice.
yum yum
and better for you than filter (less caffeine)
I own a small one (makes 2 mugs worth).
I like the coffee it produces a lot.
Not that much more labor intensive than other methods that I have tried.
Although I have no cite, I recall that the press is the method used by the blenders at the coffee company.
It was said that they do this to know what the coffee “realy” tastes like.
I had a French Press, and I don’t think the coffee they make is particularly good. As others have mentioned, the coffee tends to be gritty as the filter is never fine enough to get out all the grounds. Also, I think the coffee suffers from not having a heating element; the water cools down too quickly as it’s brewing, and even if you put it into a thermos asap after brewing it, it doesn’t stay hot enough. You certainly don’t want to boil your coffee (ack!) but you do want the water pretty hot.
I’ll stick with my Capresso cone drip machine, thank you very much.