How do You Make Coffee?
THE FARMHOUSE
A few months ago Garrett and I gave up our electronic coffee maker. It was a perfectly good, functioning machine that spit out gobs of delicious coffee every morning, but we boxed it up and took it downstairs. I wanted something simpler. So in it’s stead, we brought out the insulated French press we had sitting in our camp trailer. A completely manual machine that spits out equally as delicious (better?) coffee in smaller quantities. Coffee simplified.
Today I wanted to share how we make coffee now, in case anyone was thinking about a similar simplification. And because I’m nosy, I’d love to hear how do you make coffee, too!
French press, lilac crock, heart mugs, other kitchen sources here
It’s been more than a decade since Garrett and I relied on a French press for our morning coffee. And two months into this resurgence of the power-less machine, I have to say that I’m a FAN! Not only does it make great coffee, but means that I no longer have to have a big black box box sitting on our counter. There’s one less machine in my life to set the clock on and program and worry about the warranty. Less beeps, less electricity, less flashing lights to ponder. Life feels just a smidge simpler.
I know that there are a ton of other, fancier ways to manually make coffee. But what drew us to the French press was that it’s easy, requires very little time and effort, and we already had one. So the decision was easy.
Our routine
Every morning we fill our kettle and put it on to boil. We grind whole beans (we buy from Costco or our local D&M) and place the grounds in the bottom of the French press. Once the water boils, we pour water over the grounds until it reaches the very tippy top of the container. After a couple of minutes we press the coffee halfway, add a smidge more hot water if we’re feeling extra groggy, and then press the grinds all the way to the bottom. Our French press yield about 1 1/2 mugs of coffee for each of us, which is basically the minimum coffee required to get us going.
Garrett takes his coffee black and I take mine with a splash of whole milk. I’ve tried to switch to black coffee, but I just can’t. Milk is so delicious in coffee.
Another simplification we’ve made to our coffee routine: paring down to just 6 fabulous mugs (well we broke one, so now 5). These mugs are handmade in Vermont at Farmhouse Pottery, and while they’re a splurge they’re insanely pleasurable to drink coffee from. They make the whole coffee process feel more intentional. The two heart mugs on the countertop were a recent gift from the company and 50% of the profits go to the American Heart Association.
We do keep some hand-me-down mugs around for big gatherings like our Labor Day house party and Thanksgiving, and we’ll likely borrow my in-law’s camping percolator to fill those extra mugs.
Our morning coffee isn’t as quiet as it once was (3 young kids and all) but it’s still one of my favorite parts of the day.
Don’t worry, Daphne doesn’t drink coffee, yet 😉 And I’m curious…how do you make coffee?
