Tea or Coffee? Or Both?

[diggitydot]

Grind is *immensely* important.

[MsSassyBaskets]

Ditto to this. You'll have to experiment a bit to find your personal preference.

I have a Cuisinart Burr grinder that I'm a huge fan of. You need a pretty coarse, consistent grind for a good French press (similar in size to something like pre-cooked couscous--the small stuff, not the Israeli kind).

I've always found the 2Tbsp to 6oz water to be a bit much for me. I use 5 rounded Tbsp per 8-cup French press (but that's 8 coffee cups, which are 4 oz, because coffee pot measurements makes no sense), which I think comes out to something like 1.5 Tbsp per 6 oz. Then I heat filtered water in a kettle on the stove, pour it over the coffee so that it mixes well, and let it steep for 4 minutes before straining.

Also, the kind of coffee you use makes a big difference. The closer you can get to freshly-roasted the better. From the grocery store, Caribou and Equal Exchange are my two favorites that I can find consistently. The best are from the local coffee shops that roast them themselves.

+1 to all of this. We have a Cuisinart burr grinder and I also think the "rules" make French press a little too strong for me, and coffee pot measurements are crazy. I used to work down the hall from a fair-trade nonprofit with their own coffee roaster. Heaven.

[LadyFoot]

I used to work down the hall from a fair-trade nonprofit with their own coffee roaster. Heaven.

Oh my gosh that would be amazing. Jealous!

[corn poffi]

Got it...thanks! I don't love our current grinder, but it was a gift and I am too cheap to buy a new one. I'll ask for a new one for my bday...

I think my average grind is too uneven. A new grinder would probably solve my problem.