Nice video. It's good to see others actually experimenting rather than just taking other peoples word for what is or isn't best! That's really the best way! A few observations of mine from my own french press experiments that might be worth further experimentation: 1) For the non-plunge method, I find less fines end up in the cup if I push the plunger down right to the surface of the water but no further, and pour very slowly. If I leave the plunger up near the top of the french press then it seems like more grinds get through. Might just be my pour technique but I could never get a fully clean cup with the plunger that high. It needed to at least be close to the surface of the water. 2) You should definitely try go quite a bit finer with James' method. You'd think you'd be over-extracting with the same brew time, but weirdly enough I haven't found that to be the case. As an example of my ideal grind setting after a bunch of testing, I have a different grinder, but if on your grinder medium fine was 12, and medium was 18, I'd find myself somewhere between 13 and 18 depending on the coffee, with lighter roasts closer to 13-15, and darker closer to 16-18. 3) Finer might actually mean _less_ fines in the cup? (with no plunge). A couple times I accidentally went too fine (like, almost espresso level) and I actually noticed even less fines in my cup! It seems the finer you grind, the more you get all the grounds forming that clumpy mud at the bottom of the press - and so if you avoid agitating them with a plunge or by pouring too fast, they stay together and fewer get up through the mesh and into your cup. When I went _that_ fine though it tasted over-extracted, so I suspect below a 13 a lower brew time would be necessary to compensate for increased extraction. 4) With James' method I also find you can drop the ratio down. I'm not a fan of anything as high as 1:10, so you might want to experiment as my preferred ratios might be a bit weak for you, but I find I usually do about 1:13 with the plunge method, whereas I prefer 1:15 or 1:16 with James' no-plunge method. I'm guessing this is because the finer grind allows for extracting more flavour from the same amount of coffee, but I'm not sure, there might be more going on with the method that I'm not fully understanding. You've earned a new subscriber. Looking forward to watching your future videos!
Thank you so much for watching and thanks for the comment! Sounds like you've done a lot of experimenting with this too! Interesting about the grind size. I'll definitely have to try that out, because that is super unexpected. Good call playing around with ratios too! Since making this video I've gotten pretty heavily into Chemex brews, so it's been a good long time from my last French Press.i wonder if digging the clean Chemex so much will make me feel differently about FP?
Hey there Riley. Really been enjoying your videos. I have a question if you don't mind. I recently replaced the plastic burr holder in my Encore because the plastic pieces on the sides had broken off over the years and I was starting to get inconsistent grinds. I had been grinding on a 12 setting for my V60 pour overs. Since I installed the new part I'm grinding on a 17 to achieve a similar grind. This morning I ground 27 grams of beans and it seemed a little coarser than yesterday's on the same setting (17). What number do you tend to grind at on your Encore for pour overs? Thanks in advance. 😊☕
Hey there! Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words. Of course I don't mind! Strange it's a different number now, though your burrs might just be wearing a bit. It's been a while since I've used my Encore for pourovers (I've designated it solely to espresso now, and I use a Timemore C2 to grind for everything else), but I had good luck with 12-15. For Chemex I found a recommendation online for 21, but I didn't actually try that (I bought the C2 before I had a chance to grind for Chemex with my Encore). TL;DR 12-15 should do it, but it can vary with each coffee. If you stick with the same coffee:water ratio and the same recipe every time (that's relatively consistent), start with 12 and play around with grind settings until you get the desired brew time. Hope that helps!
You made a really critical mistake in this video that was quite disappointing. The James Hoffman method NEEDS a finer grind than you would usually use for a french press. On the Encore, you would use setting 13-14/40 at a lower ratio (15:1 - 16:1). Using the Hoffman Method with the coarser pressing grind is why it was such an easy decision. You made weak coffee because the hoffman extraction is much more delicate than the press method despite the stirring. (Edit: The higher coffee ratio is still not enough to compensate for the weak coffee because you just arent extracting the same quantities of acids and soluables with the coarse grind despite using more. This is where finer grind makes a big difference. All those nasty fine sediments you got when you went that fine is why you need to wait so long.) 🙁
Aw darn, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to give it a try with the finer grind sometime and see if I like it. I suspect the texture would still be different, but that's a good point about the strength. Thanks for watching!
Never tried it! Seems like they have a pretty good rep for being serious about coffee though. I try to buy coffee from local places wherever possible, because coffee degrades very quickly after it's been roasted - especially after you've opened the bag and exposed it to outside air - and because there are a surprising number of roasters doing interesting things (even in Manitoba, I can think of 4 off the top of my head). Buying local coffee is a win-win: I get to support a local business and I get extremely freshly roasted coffee. What's not to love? For what it's worth, it seems Lavazza does a good job of attempting to keep their coffee from staling, including flushing the bags with nitrogen to prevent oxidization (source: new.seattlecoffeegear.com/blog/2016/06/26/long-coffee-beans-last/). That's great, so it's probably better than some of the other stuff you might get in a grocery store. But I couldn't tell you what I think of it because I've never had it. How do YOU feel about Lavazza coffee?
"Since I have a degree in communications, it's illegal for me to do math" 🤣
I don't make the rules, man
I thought the same thinking :))
Nice video. It's good to see others actually experimenting rather than just taking other peoples word for what is or isn't best! That's really the best way!
A few observations of mine from my own french press experiments that might be worth further experimentation:
1) For the non-plunge method, I find less fines end up in the cup if I push the plunger down right to the surface of the water but no further, and pour very slowly. If I leave the plunger up near the top of the french press then it seems like more grinds get through. Might just be my pour technique but I could never get a fully clean cup with the plunger that high. It needed to at least be close to the surface of the water.
2) You should definitely try go quite a bit finer with James' method. You'd think you'd be over-extracting with the same brew time, but weirdly enough I haven't found that to be the case. As an example of my ideal grind setting after a bunch of testing, I have a different grinder, but if on your grinder medium fine was 12, and medium was 18, I'd find myself somewhere between 13 and 18 depending on the coffee, with lighter roasts closer to 13-15, and darker closer to 16-18.
3) Finer might actually mean _less_ fines in the cup? (with no plunge). A couple times I accidentally went too fine (like, almost espresso level) and I actually noticed even less fines in my cup! It seems the finer you grind, the more you get all the grounds forming that clumpy mud at the bottom of the press - and so if you avoid agitating them with a plunge or by pouring too fast, they stay together and fewer get up through the mesh and into your cup. When I went _that_ fine though it tasted over-extracted, so I suspect below a 13 a lower brew time would be necessary to compensate for increased extraction.
4) With James' method I also find you can drop the ratio down. I'm not a fan of anything as high as 1:10, so you might want to experiment as my preferred ratios might be a bit weak for you, but I find I usually do about 1:13 with the plunge method, whereas I prefer 1:15 or 1:16 with James' no-plunge method. I'm guessing this is because the finer grind allows for extracting more flavour from the same amount of coffee, but I'm not sure, there might be more going on with the method that I'm not fully understanding.
You've earned a new subscriber. Looking forward to watching your future videos!
Thank you so much for watching and thanks for the comment! Sounds like you've done a lot of experimenting with this too!
Interesting about the grind size. I'll definitely have to try that out, because that is super unexpected. Good call playing around with ratios too!
Since making this video I've gotten pretty heavily into Chemex brews, so it's been a good long time from my last French Press.i wonder if digging the clean Chemex so much will make me feel differently about FP?
Love this!! Way to go, Riley.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed 😊
Hey there Riley. Really been enjoying your videos. I have a question if you don't mind. I recently replaced the plastic burr holder in my Encore because the plastic pieces on the sides had broken off over the years and I was starting to get inconsistent grinds. I had been grinding on a 12 setting for my V60 pour overs. Since I installed the new part I'm grinding on a 17 to achieve a similar grind. This morning I ground 27 grams of beans and it seemed a little coarser than yesterday's on the same setting (17). What number do you tend to grind at on your Encore for pour overs? Thanks in advance. 😊☕
Hey there! Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words. Of course I don't mind!
Strange it's a different number now, though your burrs might just be wearing a bit. It's been a while since I've used my Encore for pourovers (I've designated it solely to espresso now, and I use a Timemore C2 to grind for everything else), but I had good luck with 12-15. For Chemex I found a recommendation online for 21, but I didn't actually try that (I bought the C2 before I had a chance to grind for Chemex with my Encore).
TL;DR 12-15 should do it, but it can vary with each coffee. If you stick with the same coffee:water ratio and the same recipe every time (that's relatively consistent), start with 12 and play around with grind settings until you get the desired brew time.
Hope that helps!
@@rileydmcdonald Thanks so much for the feedback. I guess I'll keep tinkering away. Have a good weekend!
You made a really critical mistake in this video that was quite disappointing. The James Hoffman method NEEDS a finer grind than you would usually use for a french press. On the Encore, you would use setting 13-14/40 at a lower ratio (15:1 - 16:1). Using the Hoffman Method with the coarser pressing grind is why it was such an easy decision. You made weak coffee because the hoffman extraction is much more delicate than the press method despite the stirring.
(Edit: The higher coffee ratio is still not enough to compensate for the weak coffee because you just arent extracting the same quantities of acids and soluables with the coarse grind despite using more. This is where finer grind makes a big difference. All those nasty fine sediments you got when you went that fine is why you need to wait so long.)
🙁
Aw darn, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to give it a try with the finer grind sometime and see if I like it. I suspect the texture would still be different, but that's a good point about the strength.
Thanks for watching!
@@rileydmcdonald Thanks for replying. If you do try it, try 13/40 at 16:1 to start.
Nueva suscripción! Desde México saludos
¡Hola! Gracias por ver.
How do you feel about Lavazza coffee?
Never tried it! Seems like they have a pretty good rep for being serious about coffee though.
I try to buy coffee from local places wherever possible, because coffee degrades very quickly after it's been roasted - especially after you've opened the bag and exposed it to outside air - and because there are a surprising number of roasters doing interesting things (even in Manitoba, I can think of 4 off the top of my head). Buying local coffee is a win-win: I get to support a local business and I get extremely freshly roasted coffee. What's not to love?
For what it's worth, it seems Lavazza does a good job of attempting to keep their coffee from staling, including flushing the bags with nitrogen to prevent oxidization (source: new.seattlecoffeegear.com/blog/2016/06/26/long-coffee-beans-last/). That's great, so it's probably better than some of the other stuff you might get in a grocery store. But I couldn't tell you what I think of it because I've never had it.
How do YOU feel about Lavazza coffee?