Careful, Lucille. It's a slippery slope ;-) I bought a French Press for my DH about 5 years ago. He actually didn't even drink coffee at the time. I just knew he liked gadgets and thought we should be able to make coffee for guests. Fast forward, and we have another French Press, 3 different grinders, 2 pour over coffee systems (an Origami and a Chemex), and order coffee from a vendor that ensures the beans have not been roasted more than a week previous. I'm pretty sure we'd have an espresso machine if our kitchen wasn't miniscule.

I have been making coffee solely in a French press for the last 25 years or so. Currently on my 4th FP but still hang on to the previous for back up :-) IMO, the easiest and fastest and best tasting coffee around comes from an FP!! It only takes as long as the kettle needs to boil so from start to a finished cup, less than 10 minutes (would be less time if I had an electric kettle).

Would never own another type of coffee maker after using an FP!!

I make mine quite strong. Let it sit for 10 minutes (pot wrapped inside a tea towel!) then press. Pour into a cup with a dash of cinnamon and a nice dallop of FRESH whipped cream on top. It's the absolute best.

Whipped cream on top of coffee is heavenly.

Seattle Coffee Gear has great review videos you may find useful when thinking about a grinder.

Daisy, I love the iconic look of the Chemex.

I can't post a link again today. Do Google Seattle Coffee grinder reviews and see what Gail has to say in general.

I like french press coffee but I find my ceramic pour-over Hario cones take less manual manipulation at a time in the morning when I'm foggy. I suspect more coffee needs to be used since the water contact time is less. Removing the filter paper after use and tossing it in the trash is neat and hassle free.

For french press users, how's the cleanup - how do you remove the grounds?

(A new state law here mandates separation of food waste from other trash starting this year. I think the intent will be processing this type of waste by composting, to keep it out of landfills. It's to be phased in by each refuse district. Coffee grounds in paper filters will be accepted as is as food waste)

I've seen studies that suggest that unfiltered coffee can raise LDL vs. filtered coffee. Also with the french press, cleaning the pot is more cumbersome with all the loose grounds. So I have switched to pour over. Though now with my tummy issues, I'm not drinking coffee at all. :(

https://www.eatthis.com/the-most-dangerous-way-to-drink-your-coffee-according-to-science/

In our house the grounds are tipped into the compost collection pot, or, in summer, directly on the garden. No organic waste ever goes in the trash because we’ve always had a compost heap but nowadays there is food waste collection too.

btw I would not rely on the above mentioned website for sound nutritional advice

Here’s why https://www.acsh.org/news/2021/12/14/eat-not-should-be-read-not-15990

@Elmer J Fudd don't get mad at me (my dad OWNED his plumbing business for 40 years so don't school me either...) my grinds go down the kitchen sink for ALL my coffee makers (Keruig, French Press, Pour Over, Electric Drip). I just give it a good rinse when I'm done. No plugged drains here ever (knocking on wood). BUT, all can go into the compost bin. when I'm done making my coffee I *can* just pour them into my compost bin and take that out to the main compost bin the city picks up. Sometimes I will toss them directly into my garden too. Just depends on my mood that day.

I wouldn't pour coffee grounds down the drain - perhaps just my personal preference, to avoid a problem. I found a Youtube video just now about filling the vessel with water and then pouring it through a fine strainer to separate the grounds for disposal. Fair enough to keep it out of the plumbing but that's far too much work just to make coffee.

bored, no issue, do as you wish.

We don't do composting (neither of us has a gardening hobby) and never have.

I like my French press coffee maker. It's not as pretty as the previous glass one I had but at least I don't have to worry about it breaking, ever. It's stainless steel. Elmer, I use a spoon to scoop out the grounds into a compost container. The filter gets rinsed under the tap in the sink. When I bought it a few years ago, I also bought a few replacement filters. So far, I haven't had to use them.

I have a small handheld grinder. I've become weaker as I've gotten older and it was one way for me to use my arm/hands instead of using an electric one. Doesn't take long to grind them, less than a minute because I only make one cup at a time. This is it but I sure don't remember paying that much for it. Amazon.com: JavaPresse Manual Coffee Bean Grinder with Adjustable Settings - Patented Conical Burr Grinder for Coffee Beans, Stainless Steel Burr Coffee Grinder for Aeropress, Drip Coffee, Espresso, French Press : Home & Kitchen

@Elmer J Fudd We have three big bins for garbage pick up: Black for trash. Blue for recycling. Green for food and garden waste. We also have our own composter which I prefer to use for fruit and vegetable waste. The city charges us for all three bins every month whether or not we use them, so I use them. There was a while there with my reusable Keurig pods that I was putting the grounds in my composter, but it just because a pain the butt and too messy. As for the French Press, it's actually easy to give the pot a good shake and the grounds go into the bin easily. I'm again: lazy.... ;) I really should get back to using the composter.

Do y'all whip your whip cream every few days or fresh each time?

I really should get back to using the composter.

Or you could have one of those earthworm boxes with really wide awake worms....

floral, I just pulled the article as it referenced the study, but it's not a site I visit regularly. I originally read about it in the Nutrition Action Letter which is reasonably reliable.

Also re coffee grounds, if you have an issue with slugs eating your plants, you can put the coffee grounds around them...apparently they are abrasive and the slugs won't cross them.

Sorry to say slugs and snails don’t give a toss about coffee grounds. They’ll cross them without problems to get at food.

Re cream, I rarely use cream and never in coffee. I find it makes me feel sick.

Lucille I use ultra pateurized heavy cream (so no worries over expiration date) inside one of those CO2 whipped cream dispensers and have fresh whipped cream at the ready.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/best-whipped-cream-dispensers-4153397

Nice to be able to cross up the slugs plans so easily and effectivrly- it is rather difficult to slug 'em!

o j

"to keep muck out of the kitchen bin and to keep organics out of landfill."

Many roads lead to Rome. As far as earth friendly practices go, I'm not sure what's worse, organics in landfills or burning trash as is practiced to a surprising extent in the UK and parts of Continental Europe.

In our house, non-stringy vegetable waste and most soft food waste (as from dishes) goes down the drain, through the garbage disposal, and into the sewage stream. What remains of food waste, besides coffee grounds, would be things like orange peels, apple cores, meat waste, etc, and for vermin and insect reasons, I wouldn't want these out in my yard. Maybe I don't know enough about composting to understand but ants, rats, and larger animals have enough of a presence without attracting more with food smells.

Yard waste in my area is supposedly composted on a community-sized scale and the soon to be separated food waste is expected to be added to this stream. The guy who maintains the vermin traps around my house has one of the local trash "processing" centers as a customer. He told me he spends a day a week there emptying and resetting rodent traps (for both mice and rats) and says that if they'd pay for more time, he could keep busy.

Where we live, everybody gets a small bin for garbage, a bigger blue bin for recyclables, and an optional green bin for organics (we share and split the cost of the latter with one of our neighbors). The green bin was originally limited to garden waste but the Council has recently expanded it to include most food waste. It all goes into their composting program, which, given the amount of food waste in modern society, is something to support.  We've got a small tumbler composter as well, and I just bought a combination worm farm/raised garden bed to grow herbs and lettuce.  I am not much of a gardener  and our garden is miniscule, but I do like my herbs. Coffee grounds go everywhere: composter, worm farm, green bin, garden.

I soooo disagree, it is waaay too much time, mess and rigmarole for a cup of coffee. The grounds would go right into my garden to keep slugs away and enrich the soil so that's the easy part. For those with the time go for it. Me,? I will suffer through w/o.

An espresso machine involves a bit of rigmarole but a French press isn't much more complicated or time- consuming than making instant coffee, while producing a far superior product.  Life is too short to waste a minute of it drinking mediocre coffee. ;)

and have fresh whipped cream at the ready.

Thank you for the link, I did not know those existed for the home, will be ordering one soon!

I soooo disagree, it is waaay too much time, mess and rigmarole for a cup of coffee.

That is what is so wonderful about time spent on things you like. And, conversely, how little time you can spend on things you dislike.

Trash collection and coffee, an interesting combo.

Life IS too short for bad coffee. It doesn't "take" time I'd rather or need to be doing something else with but rather it's the opposite - there's nothing more important to us to do in the morning, than to take the time needed for a great cup of coffee.

I don't get teary eyed thinking about the outcome of collected trash in the disposal stream. I try to make environmentally thoughtful choices but I don't sweat the small stuff. The recycling stream is one to consider - most of what's segregated for those bins has the same final destination these days as regular garbage. It doesn't stop me from trying to sort it but on the occasion when I accidentally toss something in the wrong bin, I know it's usually of no consequence.

I’ve been drinking French press coffee for 20 years or more. Takes about three minutes to boil the kettle and three minutes to steep the coffee. The grounds get rinsed down the drain in about one minute. All done.

This is one of my favourite ways to drink coffee: make a pot of STRONG coffee. Top with whipped cream. I also use a CO2 dispenser but I use 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1tsp splenda (I think regular sugar can be used) and 1 tsp instant espresso powder.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZIGg3NhsOimm_aLticQUhrGnTNKLdTH9wbRnM0/

Since i closed my cafe I’ve been missing my daily espresso with a ton of milk. We have a french press and chemex but i prefer the less acidic espresso. i also have a small kitchen so chose an aeropress. It’s as quick as french press, easier to clean, but best for 1 or maybe 2 servings only. Not truly espresso but nice smooth flavor.