[Last Knight]

Ran into this on ThinkGeek:

ThinkGeek :: Softbrew Coffee Maker

Originally Posted by ThinkGeek

To get the maximum possible extraction from coffee, you need the French Press method. It makes very rich coffee, with flavor at the extreme end of the spectrum. Many coffee nuts swear by the French Press, and will accept no substitutes. However, not everybody is enamored with that brewing method. Some call the resulting brew harsh, strong, too powerful, with too much sediment.

To those folks, we say - okay, you've got us there. French press coffee is pretty strong, and you either like it, or you don't. If you want to get the maximum flavor out of your beans, try a new brewing method that's like the French Press, but eliminates the bitterness, harsh flavors, and minimizes the sediment.

It's called the Softbrew method. We take a beautiful ceramic pot, and insert a cylindrical brewing chamber with a steel mesh so fine, you can barely see the mesh itself! Dump out your coarsely ground coffee, pour in water just off the boil, wait about 4 minutes, and serve! By not pressing and squeezing the grounds, like you do with the French press, you keep a lot of the bitter compounds out of the resulting brew, and the microfine mesh does a better job of filtering the sediment out of your cup.

Can't say I've ever noticed too much bitterness in my French Press coffee, but the sediment does get to be a bit much. Anyone have any experience with this method, or this product?

[Austin]

Never.

It would be nice to get all the grounds out. At times I get it stuck in a tooth and it can be bothersome.

At the same time, aside from an increased steeping time and not heating a pot, it seems the same results could be attained from a pour over or drip with a disabled plate.

[havasu]

Originally Posted by Austin

At times I get it stuck in a tooth and it can be bothersome.

Pull those unneeded teeth!

[Austin]

Wish I could, they are in there pretty good.

[bigmike787]

I'm telling you guys, before you plunge, take two spoons and skim the grounds off the top of the pot. Take as much as you can out, then plunge. The resulting cup doesn't have as much sediment and it has a slightly different flavor. Try it!

[billtzk]

I will try that next time I make French press coffee in my cafetière à piston. I haven't done it in a while. The craving for French press coffee takes me by spells. For some reason I like it best when the weather is very cold. Maybe it is for the same reason that I prefer a stout over a pilsner when it is cold; the heavy body seems to add warmth.

My grandmother called her French press coffee maker "the Melior", but I don't recall if it was actually that brand. But in any case, I'd like to see how skimming the grounds affects the flavor and other qualities of the cup.

All forms of coffee I make have sediment, since no matter the brewing method, I don't use paper (or cloth) filters. The amount of sediment varies according to the type of coffee I'm making. Paper (or cloth) filters are the only type that effectively remove all sediment.

Don't you all use gold plated filter baskets when you brew drip coffee? You will get sediment. Don't you use a permanent metal filter in your Aeropress? The sediment is unavoidable. Your espresso machine doesn't filter your coffee. But it's very fine, and you just drink it. What about Turkish coffee? It isn't filtered at all. And the glass filter in your vacuum pot lets some grounds through too.

I don't mind the sediment. It sits at the bottom of the cup. I avoid drinking it.

[KevinM]

Thinkgeek has a lot of what I think of as unnecessary, but nice looking, products.

I just don't drink the sediment at the bottom, but if it really bothered me, I'd pass it through a filter after brewing.

It's possible that what they say about squeezing the grounds is true, but I generally don't get to the point where I'm pressing the grounds between the bottom of the press and the filter of the press. But at the same time, the aeropress and espresso use pressure.

For sediment, I'd expect that the last cup in the thinkgeek item would still have fine sediment. The only issue I've had with sediment in a french press, is when the mesh isn't fine enough, or that the edges of the press let large grounds through. This is more of an issue for me with the silicone edged press, and less so with the spring and metal mesh. Yes, there's still sediment, but I don't expect it to be different.

If the unit was in the range of 10-15 dollars, I'd consider getting one if I didn't have anything else to buy.

Personally, I'd go for all the coffee mugs, the chemistry cocktail set (which I undoubtedly could get beakers at a lower price, but they wouldn't be labeled), and the labeled pint glasses.