Love the french press. For brewed coffee it doesn't get any better, no matter what coffee gizmo seems to have momentary market popularity. With the press, you have complete control of amount, brewing (steeping) time, and temperature. And, very few commercial brewers actually get the water up to the 195F to 200F (just off boil) that you should have for proper extraction. I have often encouraged restaurants to go the french press route as a great way to present quality roasts (alas, to little avail - too labor intensive). It's good to have a grinder that will do a coarse grind, to prevent too much muddiness in your cup. I think with the press, the coarsest grind possible is the way to go. Ideally, a burr grinder does a good job, however you can use a cheap blade grinder for a coarse grind if you sort of “pulse” it when you grind. As opposed to most brewers, which only allow momentary contact with the grounds as the water passes through the filter, a french press allows for gentle steeping of the grounds until the brew is as mild or fuerte' as you like, and with much more flavor! The possibilities for exploration are endless.As far as bean storage goes, if I was told that I wouldn't be able to get more fresh beans for a year, I would be throwing large quantities into the freezer. Freezing is an "ok" method of storage, however there is a flavor premium that is paid due to moisture condensing on the beans upon removal, which "leaches" some of that fine flavor from the bean. Honestly, the very best thing in the whole world is to have a relationship with a local roaster (which you do!), so you never have to face the prospect of having to freeze your beans or, even more terrifying, having to buy some storebought "whatever / whenever" coffee. Fresh roasted beans peak about 48 hours after roast, and that peak lasts for about three weeks. The only storage conditions they require is an opaque, airtight container. During those three weeks, the coffee is heaven. For a few weeks after that it is still pretty darn good, and even for weeks more is still pretty wonderful. But, brewing within the first three weeks is the ideal, which is how one should think about it when ordering fresh roasted coffee.
Although it might go without saying, grinding your beans just before brewing is one of the most "cup improving" things you can do. While freshness of the roasted bean is measured in weeks, as mentioned above, once it is ground, freshness is measured in hours (I say minutes!).
Okay, that's all I can think of at the moment. We'd love to hear about any coffee experiences you have after grinding a few Dark Hollow beans.
John
