French Press - Suitable pre-ground coffee on a budget?

ChewyLouie

I've had some of my favourite cups of coffee from French press and I've picked up a French press to try make a good brew at home.

Having tried a few different bags of ground coffee, getting OK but limited results. Quiet bitter, tastes over extracted and silting up the filter so needs to be forced down. Following 1:17 ratio and 4min steep but also experimenting with longer/shorter times (45sec - 6min).

I understand you're meant to use a coarse grind, but every bag of ground coffee I've bought has been a fine grind and I think that's the main problem. Admittedly I'm picking up the lower end supermarket bags from Tesco/Aldi/Lidl.

I know the quick answer is getting a custom grind of expensive coffee and/or a high-end grinder. But how good can I get on a tight budget?

Any cheap Tesco/Dunnes/Aldi/Lidl/etc coffee available that's suitably ground for French Press?

Or should I look at picking up a cheap burr grinder (De'longhi KG79) and whole beans in the likes of Lidl?

Wildsurfer

Have you tried the Velo Tandem ground from Aldi? Not sure what its like from a French press but had a cup lately from the cafè and it was very nice

ChewyLouie

I haven't but I see from their website that "Velo Tandem Ground is most suitable for brewing in a French Press or a V60 pour over brewer".... will give it a try tomorrow, thanks!

0lddog

ChewyLouie wrote: »

...... but every bag of ground coffee I've bought has been a fine grind ......

So suited to making filter coffee

In the short term, some Supervalu shops ( most of the old Superquin ones so far as I can make out ) have an 'open access' grinder so that you can grind whatever beans you buy there to whatever level in fineness you want to try.

ChewyLouie

Just to update the thread...

Ended up getting the entry-level burr grinder (De'longhi KG79), it was on offer in Argos. Triend with a range of cheap supermarket own-brand beans and was better but still getting harsh bitter coffee.

Upped the spend on coffee to around €4-5 for 200-250g bag to reach the likes of Lavazza, Frank & Honest, Starbucks and high quality beans that are on offer.

Now with the better quality coffee ground on the coarsest grind with a well measured and timed brewing technique and I'm getting great consistent coffee from the French press!

Day Lewin

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Just to update the thread...

Ended up getting the entry-level burr grinder (De'longhi KG79), it was on offer in Argos. Triend with a range of cheap supermarket own-brand beans and was better but still getting harsh bitter coffee.

Make sure that the water you use has cooled down a few degrees from actually boiling.
Using water that is still too near boiling is a very common cause of bitterness in coffee.
I don't test with a thermometer, but I draw the boiled water and wait a few seconds, maybe even stir it, before sprinkling on the coffee grounds.
Let the grounds bloom on top of the hot water before stirring them into the water, leave to brew a couple of minutes. Then proceed as usual.

ChewyLouie

Yeah I allow the water to cool and the grounds to bloom. Watched endless technique videos. Anyway getting great brews now and was worth paying the bit extra for better quality beans. Drinking a bit less but higher quality coffee now.

Muahahaha

Do you find with the french press that some of the grinds get into the bottom of your cup? I always had that problem before with (admittedly cheap) french presses- after a couple of months use the seal on them gets loose with the heat and grinds escape. I found that the grinds at the bottom of your cup make the coffee ever stronger if youre drinking it over a 10-15 minute period. The aeropress solved that problem, you get a lovely clean cup of coffee from them with no grinds ever getting into the cup.

Goldengirl

Day Lewin wrote: »

Make sure that the water you use has cooled down a few degrees from actually boiling.
Using water that is still too near boiling is a very common cause of bitterness in coffee.
I don't test with a thermometer, but I draw the boiled water and wait a few seconds, maybe even stir it, before sprinkling on the coffee grounds.
Let the grounds bloom on top of the hot water before stirring them into the water, leave to brew a couple of minutes. Then proceed as usual.

Good advice there ...the best way to get a good round flavour without spending a fortune.
I have an old Judge stainless steel vacuum press and brew a lovely large mug of coffee with it using Aldi's Alcafe House Roast no.3 . Tried lots of others from different ranges and prices but this one suits me. Leave to sit for 3 to 4 mins before plunging and voila, c'st parfait !

Fantacoffee

Muahahaha wrote: »

Do you find with the french press that some of the grinds get into the bottom of your cup? I always had that problem before with (admittedly cheap) french presses- after a couple of months use the seal on them gets loose with the heat and grinds escape. I found that the grinds at the bottom of your cup make the coffee ever stronger if youre drinking it over a 10-15 minute period. The aeropress solved that problem, you get a lovely clean cup of coffee from them with no grinds ever getting into the cup.

YES! The Aeropress all the way. Such a strange invention, but such awesome coffee results!

Fantacoffee

ChewyLouie wrote: »

I haven't but I see from their website that "Velo Tandem Ground is most suitable for brewing in a French Press or a V60 pour over brewer".... will give it a try tomorrow, thanks!

Roasters say this as diffferent grinds are better suited for particular methods. All coffee would work in all methods, in reality, but the different grind sizes etc is really quite varied and does certainly impact on the easability for one coffee being used in espresso and another in filter, visa versa