<p>Not a big coffee drinker but I have fallen in love with an occasional latte from Coffee Bean. Would like to make at home, but using my regular coffee maker ended with disappointing results. Googling has led me to the opinion that using a french press coffee maker is best.
Any opinions on the brands I have listed? I’m only looking to use it about once a month.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I have an Aeropress. And in the cabinet is at least one French press. </p>
<p>The Aeropress makes significantly better coffee. It can, if you pay attention, make coffee as good as you can get from that bean or at least as good as from a well run coffee bar. </p>
<p>There are Aeropress user sites with tips. I suggest spending a few moments with a search engine but otherwise it’s really easy to use and works extremely well.</p>
<p>My only warning is that you need to be careful with the amount of water because it’s easier to overfill a cup than you think.</p>
<p>I dont think the french press pots vary that much.
If you want a latte you need an espresso machine. ( I am not familiar with the aeropress, but my french press experiments involved grounds in the cup/needed more filtering)
A French press wont make lattes.
[Videos</a> | How Much Time to Make 4 Lattes? | Seattle Coffee Gear](<a href=“http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/learn/videos-home/ask-the-experts/how-much-time-to-make-4-lattes]Videos”>http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/learn/videos-home/ask-the-experts/how-much-time-to-make-4-lattes)</p>
<p>To get the best tasting coffee, invest in a burr grinder and grind your own beans as needed.
Some people think brewing methods that use paper filters make the best coffee.</p>
<p>[Chemex</a> - Stumptown Coffee Roasters](<a href=“http://stumptowncoffee.com/brew-guides/chemex/]Chemex”>Brewing Guide: Learn To Brew the Best Coffee | Stumptown)</p>
<p>^^^Have to laugh! My parents only ever used a Chemex – one of my first memories of my Dad pouring water through the Chemex in the morning. When my mother died this spring there were four Chemex’s in her cupboard – a hugh one, 2 eight cup ones and single cup one. Both of my kids grabbed one because they tell me they are the “hot” way to brew coffee right now.</p>
<p>I did not tell them that if he forgot to get filters my father was known to wash out old filters to use or to even use a paper napkin!</p>
<p>An Aeropress uses filters. Tiny round filters. This also removes any fear, warranted or not, of raising cholesterol from a French press. The thing comes with enough filters to last a long time and refill packages are pretty cheap. </p>
<p>It’s also very easy to clean: 3 plastic pieces. And you can eject the disk of grounds directly into the trash if you want.</p>
<p>Agree with Lergnom. You need to check out the information about french press coffee raising cholesterol before you spend the money on one. Don’t know whether there is anything to the studies or not, but if you have a decent option, I’d avoid it.</p>
<p>My cholesterol is fine. I use a French press. I heat milk in a microwave and whisk it. Close enough to a latte for me. :)</p>
<p>You can get a French press anywhere. I think my last one came from Starbucks.</p>
<p>I have a cup that has a top which makes froth, so you can heat milk, froth it and then even make coffee directly into it. Of course I don’t actually bother doing that much but I could. </p>
<p>The effect of French press coffee on cholesterol is small. Just wanted to mention it if that’s a worry. </p>
<p>The difference between the methods is the Aeropress forces the water through the grounds. You steep it for a short time and then push it through. The French press has a lesser degree of push; you steep the grounds in the water and then use the press to separate the grounds by pushing them to the bottom. You don’t force the water through them and through a filter. I find the difference is large; you can get a richer, smoother cup with the Aeropress.</p>
<p>I bought a milk frother, actually I bought 2. The first one was was glass and I loved it but it broke within a week so I bought a metal one. Makes great foamed milk.</p>
<p>I have a French press bought at ikea which works fine but is so hard to clean. I’m wondering if the aeropress is easier to clean. </p>
<p>Thinking of buying one of those stovetop espresso makers. I should just bite the bullet and buy an automatic espresso maker.</p>
<p>The Aeropress is 3 pieces of plastic. The entire process is you take a filter and stick that in the bottom part. That part screws on to the biggest round tube. You put coffee in that assembly and stick the whole thing on top of a cup. Add water. Stir. Put other tube into the bigger tube and push it all the way down. To clean, unscrew bottom part. Push the tube down until the disk of used coffee pops into the trash. Pull apart and rinse.</p>
<p>I save my coffee grounds & put it in the compost. Sometimes I will even get the big bags of grounds from Starbucks.
:)</p>
<p>This time of year we save grounds and then slowly cook eggs in them. The eggs turn a dark brown and are somewhat creamy inside.</p>