Coffee Information

How to Make Restaurant Quality Coffee At Home


Have you ever wondered how restaurants get their coffee to taste so good?

First of all, restaurants are in the business of pampering you so they devote much more time to the perfection of a good cup of coffee. Sometimes I'll remember a restaurant just because of their excellent coffee.

So what are their secrets and how can you duplicate this recipe at home? It may surprise you to find out that the French Press brewing method could be the secret in achieving that restaurant quality taste.

Most fine restaurants use a press pot, also known as the French Press, which produces an extremely rich cup of coffee.

Press pot coffee is coffee steeped for 3-4 minutes between 195 to 205 degrees F. It produces a thicker and much richer taste than an auto-drip machine can produce.

A disadvantage of the French Press is it may leave trace amounts of coffee sediment. But the rich taste more than makes up for the small amount of sediment at the bottom of your cup.

So first, start off with a quality medium roast coffee, which is what most restaurants use. I can give you a couple of good recommendations.

Seattle's Best Breakfast Blend, Starbucks Breakfast Blend or Starbucks Sulawesi Coffee is 3 excellent choices. These are full-bodied coffees yet very smooth tasting. They are some of our best sellers at PerfectCoffees.com and work well for French Press brewing.

You want to grind the coffee slightly larger than you would for drip coffee. Too fine of a grind will produce a bitter cup of coffee. If your grind is too coarse, the coffee will taste weak. A quality grinder is the best thing you can do to improve the taste of French press coffee.

Remove the plunger from the press pot and put 1 rounded tablespoon of coarse ground coffee per each 6oz. of water into the pot. You can adjust this to your own taste.

Coffee is 99% water so use clean filtered or bottled water free from chlorine and other minerals that affect the taste of coffee.

Boil the water and remove it from the heat for five minutes before you pour it. This will give you the 195 to 205 degree water that is ideal to brew with. Now pour the 195 to 205 degree water over the ground coffee.

Stir the coffee to get total saturation of the grounds then place the plunger on top of the pot and let the coffee steep for 3 to 4 minutes.

Depress the plunger slowly to push the grounds to the bottom of the pot.

Serve all the coffee in the pot after the 3 to 4 minutes of steeping. Otherwise the coffee will keep getting stronger.

If you have any left, you can always transfer it to a clean, preheated air pot or a stainless steel Thermos. This will keep the coffee hot about an hour without hurting the flavor.

The French press brewing method definitely takes more time but gives us the result we are looking for. Restaurant quality coffee in the comfort of your own home.

Copyright © 2004 PerfectCoffees.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article may be re-published "as is" (unedited) as long as the author's bio paragraph (resource box) and copyright information is included. The URLs in the resource box should be set as hyperlinks if used on a web page.

About The Author

Gary Gresham is the webmaster for www.perfectcoffees.com where you can purchase quality coffee, tea, cups & mugs, coffee gifts and delicious desserts online. He offers a free monthly coffee newsletter at www.perfectcoffees.com/newsletter.html.

Gary@perfectcoffees.com


MORE RESOURCES:

ABC News

Waking up and smelling the coffee? RICHARD L. CONNOR OPINION
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA - 1 hour ago
One day they love a clothing line or a style of automobile or even a brand of coffee and the next they switch to something else. ...
Coffee shop owners upbeat despite economic slowdown Sunday Business Post
A bitter-tasting jolt for Starbucks Boston Globe
Retail Changes Key To Starbucks Closings NPR
Dispatch Online - Economist
all 1,365 news articles


Import-duty cut on beans may benefit coffee consumers
Economic Times, India - 11 hours ago
BANGALORE: With domestic coffee brands increasing prices by as much as 20% over the last 12 months and with further hikes anticipated in the wake of a ...


Oregon coffee stand man missing 3 months
KTVZ, OR - 7 hours ago
The owner of a coffee stand near Roseburg has not been seen since. The weekend receipts from his Gotta Hava Java business were gone and the truck was not on ...
Oregon coffee stand man missing 3 months The Oregonian - OregonLive.com
all 4 news articles


Troubles for Starbucks: Can we survive on less pricey coffee a day?
Vallejo Times-Herald, CA - 16 hours ago
The wildly successful chain of coffee houses made some venti-sized strategic errors recently as it expanded and stumbled around trying to define itself. ...


Proposed Change in Global Trading Rule Raises Risks
Washington Post, United States - 14 hours ago
On paper, the rules may look the same, but enforcement isn't, said John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School in New York. ...
Accounting Plan Would Allow Use of Foreign Rules New York Times
all 13 news articles


Local coffee houses buzzing
Fox 28, IN - 8 hours ago
Lagging sales have one national coffee chain shaken, but for independent coffee houses it's business as usual. "Look around the place it's full, ...


Man accused of trying to poison co-worker's coffee
Boston Globe, United States - Jul 4, 2008
PORTSMOUTH, NH—Police say a Rochester man tried several times to pour poison into a co-worker's coffee but couldn't get the cap off the liquid he was using. ...


Javno.hr

PHOTO: Coffee Harvest Season Starts In Brazil
Javno.hr, Croatia - 14 hours ago
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world and it is made from roasted seeds. Its consumption began in the 9 th century, when the coffee plant ...


Must-have coffee-table books shed light on Texas art exhibits and ...
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX - 3 hours ago
Here are four must-have coffee-table books that'll enlighten you a bit more on the local scene. by Lisa Germany, photos by Grant Mudford (Abrams, $50, ...


ABC News

Coffee Shop Owners Reflect on Tobacco Ban and Starting 'Drug ...
ABC News - Jul 1, 2008
A tourist, who wants to remain anonymous, smokes cannabis at the Dampkring, or Atmosphere, coffee shop in Amsterdam in this 2004 file photo. ...
Video: Marijuana survives Dutch smoking ban - 1 July 2008 AlJazeeraEnglish
Netherlands smoke ban puts coffee shops in a spin ABC Online
Amsterdam's coffee shop owners see law as a threat to marijuana Houston Chronicle
Reuters - Telegraph.co.uk
all 430 news articles

Coffee - Google News

home | site map
© 2006