If anyone knows one thing about college students, it’s that, for the most part, we consume a lot of caffeine. Well, actually, most people know we consume a lot of alcohol. But after that, it’s caffeine. This is even more true for graduate students. In the mornings, I need to have some form of caffeine or I end up like Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Now, if I had my way, I’d have a large mocha no whip with an extra shot of espresso every morning, but that shit costs money I just don’t have. Actually, I just recently acquired an espresso machine, so I’m working on my mocha recipe, but I have not quite perfected it yet. When I do, y’all will be the first to know.

ANYWAY. Because mochas are expensive and I can’t make a decent one yet, I drink regular coffee every morning to perk me up if I have time to brew it. If not, it’s a Dr Pepper, but I really prefer the morning ritual of brewing a good cup of coffee. For most of undergrad, I’d get coffee from the dining hall or brew it in my room using my cute little 4-cup Mr. Coffee drip machine I bought for myself — it was my first dorm room purchase, and it brewed a pretty good cup of drip coffee for being a $30 machine. Of course, when you use a machine for four years every day, you get really good at using it. I had my system, and it made my coffee just fine.

But when I moved in with my boyfriend for graduate school, he kept talking about french press coffee. French press, french press, no he doesn’t want my weird drip coffee, FRENCH PRESS. “Fine!” I say. We will get a damn french press, and I will try to figure the fucker out, because you keep raaaaving about how great the coffee is. I was skeptical, but a press was only $20 at Target, and I really wanted a tea kettle anyway, so why not? I’ll give anything a shot.

Y’all. This was a day I had to tell my boyfriend was right — which, if you know me, is a pretty painful experience. When we got home, I went online and found myself french press tutorials and read all about them. The science is fascinating, by the way, but I’m not going into it here, because I’m a business major, okay? (That’s actually a bit reductive, actually, but we’re here to talk about coffee, not my degrees.) French press coffee is better than anything any ol’ drip machine can push out. It’s so rich! And smooth! And it has texture! You just won’t understand until you try it for yourself. If you think you love coffee, you will adore owning a french press. So go on, order yourself one, I’ll wait. And then I will tell you how to brew the most delicious cup of coffee you’ve ever experienced.Read More »