What am I missing here, are you guys storing with the grounds inside all week? I see many reviews here stating that they use the concentrate all week long, but after pressing down your grounds are at the bottom... so are you pouring the coffee into a separate container after brewing or are you leaving the grounds in all week? I'm concerned if I leave them in the coffee will get super concentrated and bitter? Also, I see many reviewers saying to only use 12 scoops of course ground.. but my box says to use double what I would normally use for hot, so instead of 12 I used 24 scoops for a full pot, hopefully that just means I'll have an extra strong concentrate and will mix with more water. Love any feedback/responses on how you're handling the coffee after it's done brewing overnight! What am I missing here, are you guys storing with the grounds inside all week? I see many reviews here stating that they use the concentrate all week long, but after pressing down your grounds are... » Read More What am I missing here, are you guys storing with the grounds inside all week? I see many reviews here stating that they use the concentrate all week long, but after pressing down your grounds are at the bottom... so are you pouring the coffee into a separate container after brewing or are you leaving the grounds in all week? I'm concerned if I leave them in the coffee will get super concentrated and bitter? Also, I see many reviewers saying to only use 12 scoops of course ground.. but my box says to use double what I would normally use for hot, so instead of 12 I used 24 scoops for a full pot, hopefully that just means I'll have an extra strong concentrate and will mix with more water. Love any feedback/responses on how you're handling the coffee after it's done brewing overnight! « Show Less
640491
Once you press it, pour the coffee out onto another container. Leave it in there for more than 12 hours and it will develop off flavors. That being said, if you have good quality beans you could re-brew for a second run using more water. Just remember to take the filter apart and clean it profusely between every press.
640492
I pour mine into a separate container after pressing. Then I clean out the press and start another one. The wife and I drink a lot of coffee so it doesn't last long for the two of us. I bought a glass pitcher with a sealable lid here on Amazon for storing the concentrate. 24 scoops sounds like way too much to me. I guess it depends on how much water you add to the cup to dilute it. I use 8-12 and don't dilute it much depending on how each batch tastes.
73960
Press down the grounds after brewing overnight. They won't be swimming around in the coffee because they will be pressed to the bottom and trapped under the filter. As for using 24 scoops, that sounds extremely strong to me; however, you will need to experiment until you fin the perfect taste for yourself. I found 15-16 scoops to be perfect and i like my brew on the stronger side, yet not overwhelmingly so. Hope this helps & I'm sorry no one else has bothered to take 2 minutes to respond.
2066141
I agree!! I wanna buy one of these but have NO CLUE how to use the thing. I love coffee from my drip maker. I just think they look good and have heard they make better coffee. I'm also wondering if this would suit my coffee drinking habits. I get up, make 4 cups of coffee in my drip maker and drink it over a period of 2 hours. Then in the evening I make 4 more cups and drink it for 2 hours. If you make this coffee on a stove top, does it stay warm after being done for a couple of hours or no? I'm sure the electric ones would but with those you chance them going bad and not working plus I've heard they are harder to clean. Also, do I need paper filters with these? I agree!! I wanna buy one of these but have NO CLUE how to use the thing. I love coffee from my drip maker. I just think they look good and have heard they make better coffee. I'm also wondering if this would suit my coffee drinking habits. I get up, make 4 cups of coffee in my drip maker and drink it over a period of 2 hours. Then in the evening I make 4 more cups and drink it for 2 hours. If you make this coffee on a stove top, does it stay warm after being done for a couple of hours or no? I'm sure the electric ones would but with those you chance them going bad and not working plus I've... » Read More I agree!! I wanna buy one of these but have NO CLUE how to use the thing. I love coffee from my drip maker. I just think they look good and have heard they make better coffee. I'm also wondering if this would suit my coffee drinking habits. I get up, make 4 cups of coffee in my drip maker and drink it over a period of 2 hours. Then in the evening I make 4 more cups and drink it for 2 hours. If you make this coffee on a stove top, does it stay warm after being done for a couple of hours or no? I'm sure the electric ones would but with those you chance them going bad and not working plus I've heard they are harder to clean. Also, do I need paper filters with these? « Show Less
1199017
I'm using an all purpose grind (Starb_cks C_f_ V_r_na), 6 coffee measures (old C-F-Nuts measure) for an 8 cup pot. Using M-L_tt_ #4 paper filters, and coffee is very good. Found that some St_rb_ks stores grind coffee coarser than others, even when you specify conical filter. Like the pot; makes cosistently good brew.
1692946
I have been frequenting the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf retail stores for years. I like my coffee to taste like it does when I place an order at the stores. When I add milk to my coffee for a latte' I use 2 heaping tablespoons. When I add the powder to black coffee I use 3 sometimes 4 heaping tablespoons. (This is for a 16 ounce cup of coffee) It really is preference! I would play with the taste until you find what works for you. Make sure you mix it good or it will be lumpy and will also become gummy at the bottom. I use a frother which works great! You can get one on amazon. Bonjour makes a great one! This powder is not only great in hot coffee but I love to blend it with cold, strong coffee or coffee extract and ice in the blender ( sometimes with milk) and blend it, it is also great in tea and the powder adds amazing flavor to smoothies! I hope this helps you?????????
428005
Ahh. the magic question. Depends on how strong you like your coffee, how fine your grounds are, how long you let it steep, even the brand of coffee. Personally, I use a scale to measure both grounds and water. I use a ratio of 1.25 grams to 1 oz of water. I know is sounds complicated but with the kg/lb toggle button it is real easy. so for a 18oz cup of coffee, I put in 24g of grounds. I let mine steep for 5 minutes then pour it all out into my cup and/or thermos. This prevents bitterness and maintains the same flavor throughout the whole pot. That is my preference. My suggestion is to start with your preferred brand of coffee, ground course, and start with your usual measure of coffee and water you would put in your regular coffee maker. Then adjust up or down depending on what you get till you figure out your magic formula.
1610517
It sounds like the coffee will be very stale by the time you are done with it. Unless you plan on transfering the coffee into smaller bags and removing all the air to store, I would recommend buying a smaller bag, say a pound at a time.
793573
I normally make a 12 cup brew, and it takes about the same time, so I'm not sure why your 2 cup brew would be as long?? My theory is to make 12 cups at one time, and microwave the coffee in my cup for the next couple days, but if you have an aversion to that, it actually doesn't change the flavor! I can't imagine that a 2 cup brew would take as long as a 12 cup brew, but maybe it's inherent in the brewing process??
173499
I fill it with fine ground fresh beans ( ground 16 seconds) I slightly fill half..mash it down some, fill up, mash it down some more, place the top on and push it down. I get a good cup of coffee that way, that taste likely coffee and not watered down coffee. I also make my own filters..top and bottom cut to size, out of large coffee filters. Saves a fortune on filters. I use two old K-cups to mash them down with to make the filters. Works great!
277970
I concur with all comments so far, except I find it too messy to use. Coffee grounds fly out in every direction between the grinder and the receptacle, because of a loose fit which creates a gap between the two. If you work out a solution to that, it is a great grinder, especially for coarse ground French Press brew. You have to measure the amount of ground coffee to use, though. depending on brew method, and store any excess grounds. Final note: mine was not that quiet, rather noisy, compared to a Cuisinart, which I use far more regularly.
762919
I am sure the process would scale up and down as long as you kept the proportions correct. My only hesitation is that the process itself seems to be VERY sensitive to order and layering... e.g., you put in a cup of water, then the first round of ground beans to create kind of a mash (which seems to help keep the filter from clogging). Then you add more beans, more water, etc. I would ANTICIPATE if you kept that first layer consistent, the size of the subsequent layers and amounts of water wouldn't matter so much. All that said, having made five batches now, I think still think the whole system is pretty rickety, and I probably wouldn't buy it again. The concentrate I get out of it seems good, but not sensational. I probably should try a few different types of beans (been using Trader Joe's AA Kenyan and French Roast Decaf the last two batches). It also seems to use a lot of coffee (13 oz.) for a pot of concentrate -- which I end up using full strength over ice with just a splash of light cream (so, a lot of beans for a relatively few cups of iced coffee). I am inclined to go back to brewing a small thing of half-caf espresso in my Krups espresso maker, pouring it over ice, and sticking with an iced Americano. Good luck!
602041
Everyone has their own preference for their coffee. I like mine pretty strong so I use a good amount of coffee and set the grinder for seven . You can start at about three or four and see how that works. Then if there are still remaining beans, just add a couple of minutes until you know how long. Mine is very consistent in the time required. You won't hurt anything by experimenting. And you will enjoy a great cup of coffee!
2007715
The instructions say change after 10 uses, however I have a neighbor who has used the same one for 5 years!!! She rinses it out real well after each use, but her coffee takes 18-24 hours to filter through. She does a pound of Folgers in each batch. My husband has only done 3 batches, but he thinks the filter will last 30+ times. At $2.50 each, I wouldn't change it after only 10 batches, but we figure we will just play it by ear, for now. We use Starbucks beans, ground very coarsely and the taste is so much better using the Toddy Cold Brew System. Not bitter at all!!! Good luck and remember not to use soap on the filter.
118630
I do - a caveat though: I had to mod the thermostat to get higher temps for darker roasts in a reasonable time. It's not hard to do.I've roasted with this model for 6-8 months, actually I just did about 1/2 lb through mine in several (4?) batches this evening I encourage everyone to try. It isn't hard at all. Just watch and listen. Sweetmarias.com has a guide that is helpfull.Doesn't make very much in each roast session but that means you usually have coffee at most 2 days old. I glued a piece of nylon screen across the intakes on the bottom to stop the chaff from sucking through and burning.Some people make a chaff catcher, but I just roast in the garage and sweep it up.Drew - I do - a caveat though: I had to mod the thermostat to get higher temps for darker roasts in a reasonable time. It's not hard to do.I've roasted with this model for 6-8 months, actually I just did about 1/2 lb through mine in several (4?) batches this evening I encourage everyone to try. It isn't hard at all. Just watch and listen. Sweetmarias.com has a guide that is helpfull.Doesn't make very much in each roast session but that means you usually have coffee at most 2 days old. I glued a piece of nylon screen across the intakes on the bottom to stop the chaff from... » Read More I do - a caveat though: I had to mod the thermostat to get higher temps for darker roasts in a reasonable time. It's not hard to do.I've roasted with this model for 6-8 months, actually I just did about 1/2 lb through mine in several (4?) batches this evening I encourage everyone to try. It isn't hard at all. Just watch and listen. Sweetmarias.com has a guide that is helpfull.Doesn't make very much in each roast session but that means you usually have coffee at most 2 days old. I glued a piece of nylon screen across the intakes on the bottom to stop the chaff from sucking through and burning.Some people make a chaff catcher, but I just roast in the garage and sweep it up.Drew - « Show Less
1048234
I suspect that you're not putting enough coffee grounds in. First, grind very fine, espresso grind (powder, as fine as you get get it). Then put 2+ heaping Tablespoons of grounds for every 6oz of water you pour through. This means, when I make a cup of coffee, normal mug, I use 4 heaping Tablespoons of grounds -- my mug comfortably holds about 12 oz of coffee with a bit of room at the top. When I make two cups, one for my wife and one for myself, I use 5 heaping Tablespoons of grounds. It nearly fills up the #2 filter, but I pour the water slowly and keep the water topped up throughout the pouring process. If you let it go down and fill again, the filter tends to get clogged and it takes *forever* for it to brew and flow through. My wife likes a slightly weaker cup of coffee, so the second cup is hers. If you are looking for strong, add more grounds. Hope that helps!
277966
No it does not; I base my amounts on timing and volume from experience; if I grind too much, I put the remaining ground coffee in a container in the freezer after I measure out the coffee into my coffee maker and then use the ground coffee within a day (I store my beans in the freezer). Over the last 30 years I have had about 4 coffee grinders and at least one had settings; however, these settings are not accurate depending upon the size of the bean, how packed the hopper is, how often the grinding wheels are cleaned (buildup of coffee oils can slow grinding down), etc. so I don't rely on settings for bean grinding. No it does not; I base my amounts on timing and volume from experience; if I grind too much, I put the remaining ground coffee in a container in the freezer after I measure out the coffee into my coffee maker and then use the ground coffee within a day (I store my beans in the freezer). Over the last 30 years I have had about 4 coffee grinders and at least one had settings; however, these settings are not accurate depending upon the size of the bean, how packed the hopper is, how often the grinding wheels are cleaned (buildup of coffee oils can slow grinding down), etc. so I don't rely on... » Read More No it does not; I base my amounts on timing and volume from experience; if I grind too much, I put the remaining ground coffee in a container in the freezer after I measure out the coffee into my coffee maker and then use the ground coffee within a day (I store my beans in the freezer). Over the last 30 years I have had about 4 coffee grinders and at least one had settings; however, these settings are not accurate depending upon the size of the bean, how packed the hopper is, how often the grinding wheels are cleaned (buildup of coffee oils can slow grinding down), etc. so I don't rely on settings for bean grinding. « Show Less
401990
I get a good strong brew. I grind my own, coarser than normal drip filter, but normal filter grind will do. You need to use a lot of coffee; one of the supplied scoops per European sized cup, which means two for a mug. To make a whole pot you need eight level scoops. For half a pot you need four generous scoops. Once most of the water is in the top part with the coffee, give it a good stir to make sure it is well mixed. Let it bubble vigorously for a few minutes, longer will make it stronger but more bitter, and then remove it from the heat. Hope this helps, Rob
1297778
I haven't had the grounds come up into the coffee. It is a mess to clean up but that's part of the French press thing I'm guessing!!!! You don't grind the coffee very fine so check that out too....good luck!!!!