The French Press Coffee Maker

A morning without coffee is a morning to stay in bed. Do not give me a decaffinated substitute, only a delicious, dark, organic, fair trade, caffeine loaded coffee will do.

My day begins early, around six, and one of the first things that I do after the alarm goes off, is to head downstairs to the kitchen to make our morning coffee. The first step is tot turn on the stove, and place the kettle, that I filled last night with water, on the burner, and then decide which bean to use, We always have French roast, Italian Roast and Espresso beans.

Once that decision is made, it is time to grind them. I enjoy this morning ritual and the grinding is an important part.

I am still using a Braun grinder that we bough nearly 20 years ago and have used almost every day since, except when we are away. It is light and could be placed in my backpack for travel, sure would be better than the hotel and motel coffee that I have consumed far too many times.

It only takes a few seconds to grind the beans, and when you grind your own you have some control over the strength of your morning brew. Grinding the beans and brewing your own coffee, not only, makes for a better cup of coffee, but will save you a few bucks each month.

Of course I do not add anything to my coffee, been drinking it that way since my university days.

The coffee we but comes from Halifax, Nova Scotia company called JustUs. They sell organic, fair trade coffees that make some of the best coffee I have tasted. I figure if I am going to get up a bit earlier each morning just to make a good cup of coffee for us then I am going to use the best coffee I can get, at a price that I am willing and can afford to pay. The fair trade is also a strong selling point.

I feel good knowing that the coffee producer, the Grower I mean, is getting a fair price for the product that brings that morning smile.

As important as the choice of bean is, the selection of a machine to make our morning coffee is just as vital.

For the past 25 years, maybe more we have been using a French press. A French press is a round glass container that is equipped with a lid and a "plunger". The plunger and lid are made from plastic or metal and fits tightly in the cylinder and which has a fine wire or nylon mesh acting as a filter.

You brew the coffee by adding the ground coffee into the cylinder, pouring in the water, waiting for I usually wait 5-8 minutes and then depressing the plunger to trap the coffee grinds at the bottom of the jug.

Next pour and enjoy. This process does not take than the auto drip methodbut hey process is everything. Usually I listen to the morning news during this time and do a few stretching exercises.

Our first and second French presses were Bodums. We bough the second because I broke the first after three years of use, when I banged the bottom of the pot on the kitchen sink.

Our third model is also a Bodum. One thing that has change over the years since we purchased our first French press is the ability to find them. The first one was bought in Torontoand when we moved north it was very difficult to find another after this one broke. During that period I checked out a few other machinesand while they may have produced the end result, coffee, quicker, the quality just was not there.

For us, there is no other way to make that oh so important first coffee of the day.