Using French Press for a long time, you may have run into several problems with this machine. So how to deal with them yourself without having to bring it to a mechanic or investing in a new brewer? My complete review today will address some of the most common problems with the machine and the solutions for them. Keep reading, it will helpful to you once day.
1. Problem: Sour Coffee Flavor
Causes: Under Extraction
Normally, coffee tastes sour because it hasn’t properly been extracted, I mean short extracting time. Such lack of extraction causes not only weak, but also sour flavor. The clear evidence is that your feel something hollow and sour, instead of the natural sweetness and well-rounded flavor that you often have with your properly-brewed coffee.
Solutions
To deal with this problem, simply check the grind and brewing time to make sure that your coffee will be extracted in proper amount of time later. In addition to this, if you want to get more soluble coffee particles extracted, then you should let them steep in longer time. Particle size is the key factor determining the way your coffee will be extracted, so the grind of larger size will need longer extracting time that that of the finer size. For longer extracting time, simply let your coffee steep longer. Alternatively, set your grind down a bit and repeat the grinding.
2. Problem: Bitter Flavor
Causes: Over Extraction
Yeah, on the contrary with the problem of sour flavor, bitter flavor happens because you make too much ground extraction. And the common mistakes of over extraction is to let your coffee steep in the press for hours. In fact, as long as you let the water or the coffee contact with the grounds, the extraction process continues happening and after about an hour, you will get a brew of bitter jittery-making sludge.
Solutions
Similar to the problem of sour flavor, bitter flavor is also related to grind and extracting time. So the solution to this problem is also to adjust the grind and extraction time, in more details, simply attenuate your grind. In this situation, coarsening grind will slow down the extraction process and give you chance to identify the right flavor balance. For more exact result, try extracting within shorter and shorter time.
3. Problem: Stale And Flat Taste
Causes: Under Extraction Or Too Low Brewing Temperature
Yeah, stale taste coffee is basically caused by either under extraction or too low brewing temperature. So for the best result, check both of the possible causes. Ask yourself when you grinded the coffee: once before brew or some days before? And then, are there any the-whole-form- beans in the grounds? As the time passes and being exposed to oxygen, coffee gradually loses its origin flavor. So if you keep coffee for a long time, or grind it too long before brewing, you will increase the possibility of stale and flat flavor.
Solutions
Ok, let’s start with the causes of the problem to have it solved. So now, be more careful when it comes to grinding and storing the coffee. Once you grind the coffee beans, use them to make a brew. Do not let the ground wait too long before you brew. And then, once you open the fresh bags of coffee beans, use them within no more than 10 days letter, and store them as well-sealed as possible.
4. Problem: Other Flavors
Causes
The causes of bad tasting coffee are various, and some of the most common ones are poor-quality coffee, poor-quality water, improper particle size, dirty coffee-making equipment and strong taste remained either from the paper or other coffee filters. Of which, the mistakes from the coffee are occasional, but it doesn’t mean that they cannot happen.
Solutions
Yeah, there are no alternative than check the possible caused mentioned above. Check the most suspicious things first then move to the less doubtful ones. Once you find the mistakes, correct it. If not, try again and again. Do not start any brew until you are sure that all the elements are in good condition for nice-tasting coffee.
Ok, have you ever run into any of problems above? And what did you do to solve them? Yeah, with the proven solution recommended here, I believe that you will have one more better secret to deal with problem when using a French Press.