My wife has been out of town the last couple of days and I pulled out the trusty American Press to make just a single cup of coffee for myself instead of using the large French Press we usually use for several cups of coffee.
The American Press is great anytime really, whether on the go like camping, van living or if you live in a tiny house (or even a standard home).
Once you have your water hot it only takes a couple of minutes to prepare and you end up with a high-quality cup of coffee. I’ll demonstrate below.
The first thing to do is pull it apart. Pull out the plunger and detach the pod. Either use preground coffee or grind your own at a medium setting. I’m grinding my own…
Next, add your ground coffee into the pod. You can fill it to the top if you like strong coffee or less if you prefer it weaker. Connect your pod to the plunger. A simple twist makes it happen. Have your water hot and ready to go to the next step.
Next, add your hot water to the press. The standard size is 12 oz. but you can put in 14 oz. if you like more and a little weaker coffee. (OPTIONAL, but recommended): Choose to Pre-Infuse? I choose to do this and there are different amounts of time you can do to get the taste you are looking for.
Press the pod down just enough to fill it with water you’ll see a little coffee emerging from the pod, which is your cue to stop pressing and start enjoying the sight of freshly ground coffee bubbling and foaming out of the pod as it off-gases, and the sight of the grounds expanding as they soak up water. I let mine sit for two minutes but you can do it as little as 30 seconds.
I then take 90 seconds to slowly push down on the plunger and enjoy watching as the water turns into a beautiful coffee color. Again you can adjust this time to your liking and do it as little as 30 seconds. I guess I like my coffee strong!
It is now ready to pour into your coffee cup. I added additional hot water to my cup so it will not be a cold cup to pour the hot coffee into, so be sure and empty it.
The coffee is now ready to enjoy. You can add what you like to make it your own or just drink it this way.
Clean up is very easy:
Carefully remove the plunger. There will be a bit of a vacuum as you pull the plunger assembly out of the carafe, which will help pull any standing water/coffee out of the pod and separate it into the bottom of the carafe (it’s normal for there to be some residual coffee left in the bottom of the carafe after this step, which helps dry the grounds for easy cleanup, kind of like a spin cycle on your washing machine – just dump this residual coffee out).
Carefully detach the pod by grasping the pod top with your thumb and forefinger and the bottom of the pod with the other hand, then twist counterclockwise and shake the used grounds in the trash or compost, then rinse off any residual grounds stuck in the pod or on the filter screen inside the pod top (note, the filter screen is held in place only by friction and can easily be removed for more thorough cleaning).
Get all the details here: https://www.itsamericanpress.com and purchase on Amazon here.
Sit down and enjoy your coffee…