The making secret and brewing principle of the pressure filter pot in the teaching of coffee making process.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange more coffee bean information please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

Since the 11th century, coffee has been brewed and drunk as a cup of drink. After a long period of invention and improvement, today, there are many ways to make coffee by hand. The process of drinking a cup of hand coffee can be as complicated as a siphon coffee pot or as simple as a pressure filter pot. The brewing process of siphon coffee pot or filter coffee cup is interesting, and it takes a lot of skill to make the coffee taste pleasant. But please don't think too much about coffee. If you want to cook coffee with your own hands and enjoy the fun, you don't have to exercise for three or five or seven years before you are qualified. In this article, the author would like to introduce a very easy to use, but can fully reflect the original flavor of coffee brewing tool-French pressure filter pot (French Press).

The debut of French pressure filter kettle

Pressure filter pot (hereinafter referred to as pressure pot), also known as filter kettle (press pot) or coffee filter kettle (coffee plunger). The French kettle first appeared in France in 1850. Of course, all inventions, such as cars and computers, were in a crude form compared with what they are now. The French kettle was no exception, of course. At that time, it was not a special tool for brewing coffee. It was also a simple tool composed of a glass or plastic container and a metal filter with a pressure bar. At that time, more people used the pressure pot to make black tea than to make coffee.

"Piston filter coffee device"

As we can imagine, the prototype pressure kettle will soon be found defective. Because the metal filter is not completely separated from the coffee grounds, it is of little effect, and the coffee brewed out is also inadequate in taste and taste. In March 1852, there was a breakthrough in the form of the French kettle. At that time, a horsepower metalworking man and a businessman got a patent for the "piston filter coffee device". This patent mainly states that a metal can connected to a movable rod has a hole in the bottom of the rod and is sandwiched with a layer of flannel. If you pull the movable rod, it can move in a cylindrical container. If you press the lever to the bottom, the filtered coffee is left above the lever, isolating most of the coffee grounds. This patent has made great progress in the form of the French kettle.

Although the French kettle originated in France, it is still thanks to the Italians that this method of cooking is known. In the late 1920s, around 1929, Attilio Calimani, a designer from a Milan company, officially registered a patent for a modified version of the French press, and filter coffee became more and more popular.

French kettle = lazybones pot?

For those who like to drink coffee, and even those who are used to making coffee at home, what is your impression of the French kettle? Easy to operate? For lazy people? No technology to speak of? Whether you have a good or bad impression of it, indeed, the cooking skills it requires can be said to be quite easy to operate compared to other tools, as shown in the picture. Since the coffee extraction principle of the pressure pot is soaking rather than filtering, it does not pay much attention to water injection gestures and speed, as long as according to the appropriate proportion of brown water, water temperature, time, it is not difficult to make a pot of delicious coffee.

However, the mere use of the word "lazy pot" to describe pressing the pot seems to have hastily overlooked its advantages. The author believes that the French kettle is not only easy to operate, but also very light in shape, easy to carry and easy to use. It doesn't matter at home or in the office, even if you leave it in your suitcase when you travel. In addition, the use of the pressure kettle does not need filter paper, just press the pull rod when the extraction is completed, it can be separated by the coffee grounds, while environmental protection, there is no need to prepare a variety of tools. The multi-use of one pot is another advantage of pressing the pot. As mentioned earlier, at first the French used it to make black tea. Even if the pressure kettle has been improved, it can still be used for making tea, coffee, or even hot and cold. Therefore, there are friends who do not drink coffee, but still use French kettles.

Taste the original coffee with a different taste

The author also has many friends who have said that the French kettle is very convenient to use, but the coffee brewed is not "clean" and tastes dregs. Is it because you didn't use the filter paper? No, no.

Florence Fabricant (a famous food critic of the New York Times) once introduced the French kettle to readers in the New York Times as a favorite device for coffee connoisseurs. This is not a false name. The French kettle is indeed a brewing tool to present the original flavor of coffee in the simplest way. Because the kettle is soaked, coffee powder can be separated from coffee without filter paper. But it causes oil and other larger aromatic particles in coffee to pass through the filter and enter a cup of coffee. Therefore, the coffee brewed in the pressure pot will be more round and thick in taste and consistency, and it also increases the feeling of roundness. Therefore, there are also many coffee lovers who like to brew deep-roasted coffee in a French press to fully enjoy the sweetness and richness of deep-roasted beans.

As for dregs to drink, this is absolutely avoidable. First of all, with a tool without filter paper, the grinding degree should be medium to coarse, and if you press the kettle, it is best to grind the coffee beans like coarse salt. Moreover, after soaking, when pressing down the lever, you must press it to the end. If you pull it up and down repeatedly, the coffee powder will come out easily, resulting in dregs.

The evolution of the pressure kettle

I wonder if you have ever heard of Bodum? This coffee utensils brand from Copenhagen, Denmark, is sold all over the world. French Press Coffee Maker, launched in 1970, is so popular that Bodum seems to be another name for a French kettle.

Today, the French kettle is no longer limited to shape (whether it is made of glass, equipped with handles, etc.), Bodum has even launched a "Travel Press" without handles. The smart filter cup (Clever Coffee Dripper) developed in Taiwan is the product of the combination of the design of the hand filter cup and the principle of the pressure pot. It can be seen that the merits of the French kettle have been appreciated and continued in the coffee industry.

Thank you for reading.