Ok, maybe not perfect, but pretty close to perfect. I use a French Press, one of those cool little glass dodads with a mess plunger on the end. You start by grinding your own coffee, fresher is always better. About a tablespoon for a cup of coffee, or two if your a junkie like me. Give it a few small grinds in a kind of pulsing buzz-stop-buzz-stop until it is a nice coarse ground, about four to six seconds should do it.
Run some hot water from the tap and rinse the insdie of the French Press. Put the fresh ground coffee inside. Heat some water until it just starts to boil, but doesn’t really get going yet. Fill to near the top. Give it a stir (chopsticks are good for this step). Then place the lid on the press and lower the plunger just enough to touch the top of the water.
Now the hard part, you have to wait. You steep the coffee for about three minutes. Gently push the plunger down. Be careful to go straight and easy, you don’t want any grounds making it past the filter. Take a moment to savor the look of that dark, amazing beverage. Then pour out, holding onto the top as they are loose fitting. And viola!
Of course, I then add enough sugar and milk to make mine the color of an old cardboard box. Ah how sweet that all those places selling caffeinated milkshakes have made my kind of coffee acceptable in polite company. To top it off, froth the milk, either in a niffy electric machine made for such things, or using something that looks very much like a skinny French Press.
Then enjoy. . .
