10 Steps to great coffee

I used to have a glass one until I broke it. Now I have a stainless steel one. Steel because I am clumsy. It does impart a slight metallic taste to the coffee but I don't mind. This taste is disappearing as I either get used to it or it wears off of the French press. The steel French press is also much better at retaining heat.

I have found that I prefer the Amazon basics beans that are sold in the United States. I keep trying other ones and more exotic beans but I keep coming back to this one.

I recently upgraded from a spinning blade grinder to a burr grinder. The burr grinder makes a very consistent size. This makes a much bigger difference than I imagined it would. My coffee has a very smooth, consistent taste now. I bought my machine on Amazon for about $35. You can spend thousands on these machines but I don't really see the value.

With trial and error, I have found that 45 g of coffee is what I prefer. I use a digital scale every day because the beans can weigh different amounts depending on how moist they are, so doing it by eye or volume is not as accurate.

You can boil water anyway that you want, but a kettle is very convenient and inexpensive. It will stay hot for 20 minutes before shutting off.

This is something simple that kicks your coffee up half a notch. After you have measured your beans and boiled water, pour enough water to cover them, and then stir or shake them so they get wet. Let it sit for about 30 seconds. The theory is that this allows the beans to release some of the gases that cause bitterness into the air. This seems to work.

After you fill the French press, use the plunger to push all the beans under the top of the water. Don't press all the way down yet.

This is enough time to do the extraction. Leaving it longer does not seem to change the taste much: I drink my coffee throughout the morning from the same press.

You can congratulate yourself for a job well done at this point, and enjoy the sensation of slowly pushing the plunger down. Also, be careful if you're using glass and don't push too hard. I don't know why but sometimes the plunger goes down easily and sometimes it had more resistance 

This is optional, but I have found that when I use the same cup I am used to the size. My cup is about 8 ounces. When I use larger cups the heat profile is different and it has a different mouth feel.