Shoutout to the $8 mesh sieve that turned my French press into a completely different drink
I spent about 4 months getting more and more annoyed with my French press because of all the sludge in the bottom of the cup. Everybody kept telling me to just grind coarser, so I did, and it helped a little but the last few sips still tasted like I was chewing on the beans. On a whim I grabbed a cheap mesh sieve at a restaurant supply place down on 3rd Street for 8 bucks and started pouring the brewed coffee through it into my mug. The first cup came out so clean and bright that I honestly thought I messed something up, like I'd somehow diluted it or used the wrong ratio. Turns out the sieve was catching all the fine stuff that slips past the plunger, and the flavor I thought I loved in French press was mostly just grit I'd gotten used to. I still use the press because I like the full body, but now I pour through the sieve every single time and it takes maybe 10 extra seconds. Has anyone else rigged up a cheap workaround like this, or am I the only one late to the party on filtering French press coffee?
Man, it's just coffee. If you're happy with the sieve then great, but calling it a completely different drink is a bit much. French press has always had some grit, that's kind of the deal with it, and most of us just drink it without dragging extra gear into the mix. Ten extra seconds is nothing, sure, but you also added another thing to wash every morning, and a paper filter or a finer grind does the same job without another dish. If the sludge was bugging you that bad, sounds like a pour over would've solved it months ago.