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

---

Buy Only Fresh Gourmet Coffee Beans if You are Looking to Brew Flavorful Gourmet Coffee

Most coffee beans are grown in sub-tropical climates all over... Read More

History of Arabian Coffee

Arabian coffee is the quintessential coffee of the world. Arabia... Read More

Coffee Roasting De-mystified

How many different names have you run across for different... Read More

Coffee Club Membership Is A Joy For Coffee Lovers

Coffee club membership is a joy for coffee lovers The... Read More

Tea at Sea

Marylyn Monroe famed amongst other things for her love of... Read More

Caffeine - I Bet You Didnt Know This! Health and Nutrition!

What exactly is caffeine? It is a colorless, somewhat bitter... Read More

Gano Coffee - Can Coffee Be Good For You?

Coffee, in all sorts, could be a "pick me up... Read More

Try the Tradition of Turkish Coffee and Taste the Difference

The Europeans got their first taste of Turkish Coffee, and... Read More

La Minita Coffee ? It?s in the Green Beans

La Minita; Spanish for "The Little Gold Mine" says it... Read More

10 Timeless Tips to a Perfect Cup of Coffee

Few quests in human history have so captivated men and... Read More

Mocha Coffee: Learn About the Source and Try Our Recipes for Making Great Mochas

Depending on how we look at it, mocha coffee may... Read More

Coffees of India

India produces two fine coffees, but even among coffee devotees... Read More

Campfire Coffee Recipes

Want to know a few secrets to making a good... Read More

Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee

Do you remember your first experience with coffee? I'm sorry... Read More

Russian Tea drinking - The beginning

It is believed history of Russian tea drinking tradition have... Read More

Coffee and Depression: Coffee as an Antidepressant?

When you grab that morning cup of java, you're probably... Read More

Coffee from Guatemala

In Guatemala coffee grows in the heart of what was... Read More

Gourmet Coffee Beans

You can be a coffee lover without knowing much about... Read More

Coffee Drink Basics

When you enter a coffee house, you have a multitude... Read More

Heating Vegetable Oil to Frying Temps Forms Toxic Compound

New research by a University of Minnesota professor and a... Read More

Choosing A Coffee Maker - Tips On Finding The Right Features

Choosing a good coffee maker is not a decision to... Read More

Italian Roast Coffee For An Authentic Espresso

One of the things people think of with Italy is... Read More

Getting Fat These Days; Is it Starbucks

Starbucks has seen tremendous growth in our cities and the... Read More

Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 by three businessmen... Read More

Does Your Morning Coffee Cause You Pain or Discomfort?

Does your morning coffee cause you pain? Are you frustrated... Read More