A great cup of Joe?

Ahhhh, is there a better way to start a day or end a meal than with a great cup of coffee fresh made and poured from a Chambord French Press? Yes. Hell yes. I hate coffee, but I have tremendous gadget envy over the billion dollar world that is coffee. They even have nicknames that are more popular than the original. I won't go into the history of the stuff, there are plenty of other blogs for that. What I have decided to do is to take them on at their own game. Sort of.

I was in one of my favorite kitchen gadget haunts recently and noticed the three aisles dedicated to the roasted bean. I walked slowly up and down the rows marveling and not only the inventiveness of the tools, but the price. Don't get me started on the size of coffee cups and the careful selection process one must navigate to select a suitable mug for the office. Its almost the same as a teenager selecting a t-shirt with just the proper slogan to identify and isolate them within their unique mass market demographic. Then I saw "the press", as those in the store refer to it. I still can't figure out why they wear aprons. The press comes in a boggling 17 different sizes and four finishes. I scratched my head and pondered. Simply put; coffee is hot water poured over processed plant material then strained through some medium(and here's a surprise so is tea). Sorry for being so technical. But its pretty stinking similar You can understand why I reached a state of Hēurēka. I am now the proud owner of a 3 cup Chambord French Press, retail price $19.99 plus tax.

I am wondering a bit here but as I have said before, this is my tiny slice of the internet and I am the alpha male here. My point is that I am a tea drinker, and if pressed, an emerging tea snob. About six generations ago folks with my DNA slipped out of Scotland just ahead of those who did not agree with our brand of something or another and slipped into Ireland. We hung out just long enough to drop a few descendants and catch a boat to America. This was pre-Continental Congress but slightly post-Mayflower. Tucked away in one of the pockets of of my 5th Great Grandfather was a well worn and well traveled tea strainer. Seriously, when your world is reduced to only what you can carry the possessions you select say quite a lot about you. George was a tea man. I have later discovered he was quite fond a single malt whisky, (yes that's the way you spell it) but I am still researching that subject.

I have already run on too much, there is a lot of ground to cover on the subject but what I wanted to share with all 7 of you who read this incredible blog is this... The French Press makes one hell of a great cup of Tea! I take a healthy (anti-oxidant loaded) pinch of some imported loose fermented cut tea leaves (usually called black tea, green tea is unfermented and it has nothing to do with color) and follow the instruction as if this were Kona select hand picked by virgins on a full moon and individually roasted, then ground on a microplaner to develop the perfect aroma.

Guess what? Great tea, bloody damn fine tea actually. Now I know I am not the first "savy savy" to come up this idea, but the world has changed for me just slightly. I am now able to wonder the coffee equipment aisle confidently.

SUMMARY:
Coffee: smells great - tastes like muddy water through a tube sock.
Tea: sublime and chocked full of goodness.
French Press Coffee Maker: one cool tea pot.