Imagine a coffee plunger when you think of a French press. You may have one at home, or you may have used it while staying in a hotel room overnight. It’s a small coffee pot with a plunger-filter contraption inside. The French press has evolved progressively since the first patent was filed for it in 1929.
To make coffee, you fill the container with some ground coffee, pour hot water, stir it, and shut the lid to let it brew for some time. Then, you push down the combination plunger-filter slowly, so that the grounds collect at the bottom and the brewed coffee stays on top. Voila, your French press coffee is ready. The coffee may not taste great the first time you make it, but with practice and patience you will get better, that’s a promise.
Coffee Maker vs French Press
A drip coffee maker is a modern device which works on electricity. You pour in your ground coffee and turn the coffee maker on. Within minutes, your coffee is brewed and ready. A coffee maker keeps the coffee hot, making it ideal for workplaces where people are thirsting for a cup of coffee at all times of the day.The whole process of filtering and brewing is automated, leaving nothing for you to do, other than drink the coffee.
So, how do the two compare?
In the debate between French press vs coffee maker, one thing is common. They can both give you any coffee you want. It all depends on the ground coffee you feed in. The French press needs coarsely ground beans whereas the coffee maker needs a medium grind. As long as the beans are consistently ground, you should get good results. For that, you have to ensure that you have a good quality grinder.
The brewing process
In a French press, you are the master of the brew, so there is manual skill involved. If you know what you are doing, you can get a delicious, full bodied brew with sediments at the bottom. Brewing time can vary between 5 and 8 minutes.
On the other hand, with the coffee maker, you are completely at its mercy. If the machine is good, you will get flavorful, aromatic coffee, if not, be prepared for a weak, flat brew which does nothing to tickle your senses. Coffee makers take 4 to 10 minutes to get the job done.
Sizes and prices
A French press varies in size depending on the weight of ground coffee it can hold. 8 oz, 16 oz, 23 oz, and 36 oz are different options available. A coffee maker measures its capacity differently, with the number of cups of coffee, which can go from 4 to 12.
You can get a French press for 10 to 70 bucks whereas a coffee maker will set you back by 20 to 300 dollars, depending on the quality and size you go for.
Easy to use or not?
Getting a French press to work exactly like you want is an achievement, one which comes after long practice. The coffee grind should be perfect, your water should be hot but not boiling, you should get the brewing time right, and you should pump the plunger at the correct rate. On the positive side, if you get it right, you know you have become a master coffee maker.
A coffee maker is super-easy to use. You just measure out the coffee ground and put it in the machine. Check that there is enough water and start the machine. The only effort you have to take later is to come back with a cup to drink.
Large servings
Both the French press and the drip coffee maker give you one to ten cups of coffee, depending on the size you use. The advantage of the coffee maker is that it keeps coffee hot even after it is done brewing. This has its advantages when you have occasions where people may walk up at any moment for a hot cuppa.
The resulting coffee
With the French press, you are in control every minute, meaning you are responsible for the richness of the coffee. As there are no filters in the French press, all the flavor, aroma and oils are retained to give you the best possible coffee experience. This is not the case with the coffee maker which have at least a paper filter. Also, to keep the coffee hot, the coffee maker redoes the boiling, which saps the flavor from the coffee.
In a nutshell
It all depends on what is important for you. If ease of operation and time are your constraints, go for a coffee maker. On the contrary, if you are a coffee connoisseur who wants to take the effort to get it right, the French press is for you. It’s as simple as that. Click below to get the best deals on the product of your choice!
