ALL I WANT IS A PROPER CUP OF COFFEE

[red]

I came to the French Press by way of the Aeropress. So when I first figured out how to french press, I tried using the same amount of coffee grounds per unit water as in the much smaller Aeropress. I'd add 85°C water, and let steep for 3m30s, timing I had used in the Aeropress.
I quickly found that the contents of the French Press would go quite bitter before the second mug. I found the recommendation to pour the French Press contents through a filter after the pressing, to prevent ongoing reactions what would make the coffee bitter. So I started doing that.
Eventually, I found that 90°C tasted a little better, as did a steep time reduced to 3 minutes.

So I gotta ask. 10 minutes?! 15 MINUTES!!!

The coffee I make for myself in the described manner has been found good by guests, and it tastes a good deal better than what my mother, for example, makes with a pour-over arrangement, and many great deals better than the machine-made coffee I'm usually offered when I have business at my bank.

If I may ask, @red. Would you give us the relation of coffee grounds to water, and the approximate water temperature? Would you describe how you "brew in the press"? All I do is shovel the appropriate amount of coffee grounds in there, then add the water, stir for a few seconds, and then wait for three minutes before the pressing business.

Sure, no problem. It's far from exact science.

I believe it is roughly 14-16g of coarse ground coffee (2 scoops) and 16oz of boiling water, fresh out of the screaming kettle. Mix in the press, put the lid/press assemble on but do not press. Let sit undisturbed for 15-ish minutes. This amount fills up my big Death Tarot card mug. Add a dash of sugar and drink when no longer scalding. I prefer light to medium roasts and my press has a lot of mileage on it. I'm using an old Bodum (plexi, lexan, acrylic?) travel press, with lots of scars from previous presses.

[DerGolgo]

Huh. How about that.

The French Press I got, I selected specifically because I was a clumsy oaf even before handing in my neurotypical-club membership card. So it's a big stainless steel thing I could brain someone with. Obviously, since getting the indestructible one, I have never dropped it once. Ditto for the stainless-steel 1 liter coffee jug I got after breaking my cherished previous one (which I still have, but which had glass innards that didn't take kindly to getting dropped). I like just inhaling coffee while I'm at the computer. High levels of coffee consumption correlate with lower risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, general Dementia, and various cancers. People who drink a lot of coffee actually have a 50% lower risk of melanoma. Is it because they drink so much coffee, or do they drink so much coffee while doing something else that's reducing their melanoma risk (like not stepping outside). Who knows. At least I can confidently declare that, whatever kills me - it's pretty certainly not going to be the ~1.6 to 2.4 liters of coffee I'll drink on a typical day (estimating about 200 ml of fluid lost during the preparation process).

I grind my coffee coarse, usually on the day of using it. I'll mingle it with the inevitable surplus from the previous day.
Yes, I know you're about to point out that, statistically, that should mean I have a tiny amount of coffee still in there since I had adopted the French Press method many years ago. That might be true, if I carefully measured how many beans I throw in the mill. But I don't. So every now and again, I do clean out the jar completely.
The coffee grinder I got doesn't actually have a setting for how coarse I want it, but that's not stopping me from using one to produce the other. I found a long time ago that beans sold as "Espresso" are better than those sold for "Crema", and given the choice of two types of Espresso beans from the same brand, and hence making the arbitrary "aroma" scale useful for a change, I have found I prefer the stuff that's marked as being stronger. Fair Trade, if available, UTZ-certified if not. The own-brand Fair Trade coffee from my nearest big-box beat out all the much spendier brands, but has been discontinued. I find Schümli (from Switzerland) commendable, and Dalmayr's Fair Trade and Ecological offering sold under a pretentious name that escapes me now. Lavazza brand Espressi have left me kinda meh.

To measure it out, I use the scoop that had come with my Aeropress, with 3 and 3/4 scoops per load. Add ~1 liter of water at 90°C. Stir with big spoon and, while I'm doing that, hit start on the kitchen timer that's set to three minutes. Sometimes I wait till it beeps, sometimes I get impatient when there are about 6 or 7 seconds left. That doesn't make much of a difference. But a little longer, and it does make a difference. I can taste the difference between 3 minutes and 3:30.

Time up, I press, then pour it from my French Press into the pour-over funnel sitting on my coffee jug, with a steel-mesh permanent filter (surprisingly, does a better job AND is several minutes quicker than paper filters).

There is a sweet spot at which I stop pouring, so as to keep any solid material that made it past the pressing screen from departing the French Press. I then wait for the sweet spot to stop the flow from pour-over funnel into jug. Miss it, and it appears that tiny crumbs of coffee, previously suspended near the surface in the funnel, will make it through the permanent filter and continue releasing bitter things into the coffee, rendering the last mug or two unpalatable. Which is just a waste of good coffee.

Instead of doing that, I swiftly move the pour-over funnel to the sink (next to which I was the whole time), where I hold it under the running faucet while swirling the contents of the funnel which I then pour out. That step doesn't influence the flavor of the jug I just made, but would influence future jugs of coffee. Omit this step, and the permanent filter will slowly clog up, destroying the whole calculus of this method.

As I described, I get a much more aromatic coffee that way, and the whole song-and-dance I describe really does keep the bitterness out so much so that it remains palatable down to the last mug. Not necessarily "tasty", since the more I drink, the quicker the contents of the jug start cooling down, of course.

When you let yours steep for 10 minutes, @red, or for 15. Do you maybe use the sugar to compensate for the bitterness?
I just have a little milk in mine, so I never really tested that.
Or is it maybe temperature related? Every last recipe for coffee I've read clearly states that, unless you're making an actual Espresso, or you're using one of those funky eight-sided two-level coffee makers, boiling temperature is a nono. Burns the beans, takes a way a lot of the aroma. Tea is made with boiling water, but not coffee.
Now I wonder whether some of the aroma it takes away is the bitterness I find unpalatable.

[red]

@DerGolgo Well, my beans aren't specifically an espresso roast. Just Peruvian medium roast coffee beans. Sugar is just for bit of taste. I used to have a little coffee with my sugar but now I have a little sugar with my coffee. It probably equates to a half pack per cup, maybe less. I do occasionally drink it black but not often. When the mood strikes me.

In regards to water, I've always used boiling water whether making coffee at home or camping etc.

It's not so much the bitterness as the acidity. Shit, did I say bitterness in my original post? Well, if so, I meant acidity.

Btw, it's nice to be talking about something other than the plague.

[DerGolgo]

@DerGolgo Well, my beans aren't specifically an espresso roast. Just Peruvian medium roast coffee beans.

Huh, that's funky. Because I have no clue about the sort of bean or where they come from, beyond the aforementioned Fair Trade or UTZ certificates. I just gave up on crema roasts, and other non-espresso beans.
I figure that a coffee manufacturer will have a horde of taste-testers and food chemists and other sorts of nerds (living in nerd heaven there, the lucky buggers!) to ensure quality and, crucially, characteristics of the product are maintained. If what comes out at the end is what I like, I don't care if they have to mix in Canadian beans roasted with an oxi-acetylene torch wielded an old priest and a young priest to get it.

In regards to water, I've always used boiling water whether making coffee at home or camping etc.

Camping, that makes sense. At home, though. Have you ever tried making it with not-quite boiling water?

Also, threadjack, about water quality and camping/outdoor survival (careful: GRAPHIC SHIT!)

Show

The other day, on the youtubes, I saw a video of a prepper/survivalist dude explaining "the safe way" to hydrate with "suspect water".
Basically, he figures hydration goes both ways. And with water that is likely to give you the shits, well, he's kinda out and in front of that.
By using the water to give himself the shits on purpose. He figures that he gets vital hydration that way.

No, he's not drinking so much as a drop. Not one drop goes down his gullet.

Show

As you may have guessed.

Survival freakboy lay down on the forest floor and gave himself an enema. Because he figures that, even if the water isn't fit to drink, it's still fit to shit. His logic seems to be that, if the enema is giving him the liquishits, whatever bug is in the water won't get the opportunity.

And on top of getting himself hydrated, he gets to clean out his colon. Because when civilization breaks down and you're in the woods, on your own, fighting to survive, you can't afford to be constipated.

Actually. I know that the stomach is just for breaking up stuff into a digestable paste, and the colon that comes after will do the absorbing nutrients gig. Presumably, that goes for water like it goes for anything else.
But how far up his shitter has that enema to reach so that it reaches whatever part of the colon absorbs water? And would it be at all a good idea to enema that far up the colon?

It's not so much the bitterness as the acidity. Shit, did I say bitterness in my original post? Well, if so, I meant acidity.

No, I don't believe you did.
But the bitterness that manifests from the coffee grounds being in the water for too long is what makes it unpalatable to me.
Are we maybe talking about the same thing?

Btw, it's nice to be talking about something other than the plague.

Indeed.

[red]

My beans are nothing special, they're organic Peruvian medium roast from Aldi. If they sell them over there, I recommend trying them.

[DerGolgo]

My beans are nothing special, they're organic Peruvian medium roast from Aldi. If they sell them over there, I recommend trying them.

I doubt they would have the exact same product. Unfortunately, going to an Aldi involves a tram ride, there is none near me, and they don't really have specific products that make it worthwhile for me. There is a store literally around the corner from me, they don't have the discount ethos of Aldi. But most things, they have own-brand alternatives that compete with the discount chains. The chain came out of the german CoOp organization, which was broken up when it emerged that, shocking, management was playing the same dirty tricks for obfuscating finances that many large corporations engage in.

I weighed the coffee I use earlier.
1 scoop appears to hold 12 g of coarse grounds, aka 0.4 oz. So 3.75 scoops works out at 45 g, or 1.5 oz, for 1 liter of water, which should give me ~800 cc of coffee.

You earlier mentioned 14-16g of coarse grounds, and 16 oz of boiling water. Assuming fluid ounces, that'd be about 473cc.

So my dosage is 45g per liter, while you are between 29.6 and 33.8 g/l. I'm not trying to cast aspersions, but this oddly reminds me of the "Americano" style of Espresso.
But anyone who'd suggest your coffee is weak, I must point out that I, Eurotrash, cannot handle coffee that's been steeped for 10 minutes, let alone for 15. I had to make up a whole song-and-dance to make sure I didn't get some coffee grounds in my big coffee jug, because just that will render the last mug or two in that jug unpalatable to me.

I wonder. Does the lower concentration you use compensate for unpleasant aromas coming out during that very long brewing period you recommend?

[red]

My beans are nothing special, they're organic Peruvian medium roast from Aldi. If they sell them over there, I recommend trying them.

So my dosage is 45g per liter, while you are between 29.6 and 33.8 g/l. I'm not trying to cast aspersions, but this oddly reminds me of the "Americano" style of Espresso.
But anyone who'd suggest your coffee is weak, I must point out that I, Eurotrash, cannot handle coffee that's been steeped for 10 minutes, let alone for 15. I had to make up a whole song-and-dance to make sure I didn't get some coffee grounds in my big coffee jug, because just that will render the last mug or two in that jug unpalatable to me.

I wonder. Does the lower concentration you use compensate for unpleasant aromas coming out during that very long brewing period you recommend?

Hmmm... I've had standard espresso and a few Americanos in my time. I'd say my brew sits between those and a standard cup of coffee. I think you are right, the higher concentration may be what's giving you the bitter output after long brew time. If you try less coffee and longer brew time; I'll try more coffee and shorter brew time.


It's a cooperative multinational coffee study.

[DerGolgo]

If you try less coffee and longer brew time; I'll try more coffee and shorter brew time.


It's a cooperative multinational coffee study.

Very well. I will put a post-it on my French Press, to remind me tomorrow. Today it's almost 5pm, which is a bit late for coffee for me.

EDIT: even though I've finally learned the right way to peel a post-it off of the block (the way that prevents the post it from rolling up and falling down), I still can't make post-its stick to anything. So I put the post-it into the jaws of a clothes-peg like thing that's supposed to stick to your refrigerator by magnetism, to hold up shopping lists etc. Obviously, it's not magnetically stuck on anything, rather is clamped to the basket of "stuff" I've got hanging over my tiny kitchen work-area.

MORE EDIT: As the one who suggested this research effort, @red, you should propose a name.
Caveat: I firmly and with full conviction veto "Project ACE" (A Coffee Experiment). It's just too obvious, and I believe already taken. "The ACE-Café study" would be misleading, so it also has my veto.

[red]

I tried a rough version of your process. Definitely more espresso taste and less regular coffee. Not bad, needs a bit more sugar for my taste. I'm interested in your results.

Project I.C.E. International Coffee Experiment.

[DerGolgo]

Project I.C.E. International Coffee Experiment.

I'm not sure this doesn't suggest more cold brewing than either of us should be doing as part of this.

If I may:
Project SCARE? Some Coffees Are Ripe for Experimentation?

Oh, I think I got one that's maybe a keeper:
U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S.
Unfortunately Non Invasive Caffeination Opportunity Research Nomenclature Study
(see how I put this very exchange about the name in there? )

[red]

Project I.C.E. International Coffee Experiment.

I'm not sure this doesn't suggest more cold brewing than either of us should be doing as part of this.

If I may:
Project SCARE? Some Coffees Are Ripe for Experimentation?

Oh, I think I got one that's maybe a keeper:
U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S.
Unfortunately Non Invasive Caffeination Opportunity Research Nomenclature Study
(see how I put this very exchange about the name in there? )

I dig it.

I do like cold brew as well.

[DerGolgo]

I dig it.

U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S. it is!

I do like cold brew as well.

Oh man, you should have seen my batch-processing method. I'd produce ~4 or 5 liters at once. Had a couple of huge glass jars, the sort with a hinged top with a rubber seal and a locking lever thingy. Would fill those with coffee grounds and water, and when they were done, I'd strain the contents through several stages of filtering, and into some bottles that would then live in my fridge until drinking. Usually, I'd drink it hot, mind.
I was so upset about the sheer amount of liquid that was still stuck in the coffee grounds that I couldn't easily recover by filtering, I got myself a giant screw-action pressing apparatus.
But at around the same time, I also caved in to someone's badgering and got an aeropress. And that was the last time I made cold brew, the aeropress just won hands down.

Funny story: when I started with cold brew, I bought a hand-operated coffee grinder. My logic being that electric devices go kaputt, and I'd end up buying one after the other. So I thought I'd be really clever and use my cordless drill to operate the manual grinder.

Turns out that even a very nice manual coffee grinder made in Japan, where they take everything food and drink related very seriously, won't withstand the sheer brute force of a twenty buck cordless drill.
I ended up buying an electric grinder, after all. And I had to replace it, when it failed out of warranty.

Funky thing: while I was just looking up the correct term for the cordless drill, I found that there is a cordless drill racing series.
No, it's not people and machines competing to see who can drill quickest, nor turn screws quickest.
It's for cordless drill powered vehicles.

[DerGolgo]

U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S. (potato division) preliminary report.

Abstract:
30g coffee per liter of water, brewed for 10 minutes.
Not at all like what I had expected.

Methodology:

1. prepare 15g sample of coffee grounds (ground fresh on previous day), using kitchen scales (digital, accuracy not available)
2. prepare 500 ml sample of water (tap, unfiltered), using graduation on semi-transparent window on side of kettle
3. rinse out mesh and pouring-grill of French Press to avoid confounders
4. place coffee grounds sample in otherwise empty ("empty" allowing presence of atmospheric gases) French Press
5. activate kettle and press button for 100°C (assumed boiling temperature, not corrected for ambient air pressure)
6. when kettle shows 100°C, and water is showing agitation typical for boiling water, pour water into French Press, onto present coffee grounds
7. agitate water and coffee grounds in French Press (large cooking spoon, heat resistant plastic) for approximately five seconds
8. while agitating, press "start" on kitchen timer set for 10 minutes
9. pass the time
10. upon visual and acoustic signal from kitchen timer, press both the "stop" button of kitchen timer, and the plunger of the French Press
11. upon plunger bottoming out, empty French Press into steel-mesh permanent filter situated within plastic pourover-funnel in turn situated on coffee pot
12. pourover-funnel is removed from coffee pot before draining entirely, so as to avoid presence of coffee solid and extraction of substance giving a bitter aroma beyond the 10 minute mark.
13. place sample of UHT Milk into favorite mug, and pour coffee from coffee pot into same mug.
14. once temperature of mug contents has decreased to approximate non-scalding level, sample for taste, while nibbling on a high-fiber biscuit

Results
The bitterness that I habitually seek to avoid, and that manifests if coffee grounds are present in water/coffee for too long, remained absent, or at a magnitude so limited that it did not overwhelm the other components of the overall aroma.
Magnitude of overall aroma was a little less than I am used to and that I prefer, but definitely entirely palatable.

Very interesting. I shall now try this at 15 minutes.

[DerGolgo]

U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S. (potato division) postliminary report.

Abstract:
It went downhill from there.

Methodology:
See preceding preliminary report, substituting 10 minute duration with 15 minute duration. Also, no biscuit, high-fiber or otherwise.

Results:
That bitterness that I try and avoid, it manifested here.
Not so much that I would describe the entire brew as unpalatable. The rest of the aroma, however, did not improve over the previous, 10 minute attempt.

Conclusion:
Overall, the results were better than anything I had expected from coffee prepared with boiling water, and certainly much better than I had expected from such an enormous brewing time as 10 minutes. Even the 15 minute coffee wasn't remotely as horrible as I had initially expected.
I see that your coffee preferences are indeed not a sign of inexperience, nor any kind of heresy. It >is< possible to make coffee using boiling water, and that coffee is not inherently awful.

It is not, in my personal estimation, superior to my usual method, which I will continue using.
But this was an interesting effort. Quite worth it. Thank you for suggesting it, @red.

[red]

U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S. (potato division) postliminary report.

Abstract:
It went downhill from there.

Methodology:
See preceding preliminary report, substituting 10 minute duration with 15 minute duration. Also, no biscuit, high-fiber or otherwise.

Results:
That bitterness that I try and avoid, it manifested here.
Not so much that I would describe the entire brew as unpalatable. The rest of the aroma, however, did not improve over the previous, 10 minute attempt.

Conclusion:
Overall, the results were better than anything I had expected from coffee prepared with boiling water, and certainly much better than I had expected from such an enormous brewing time as 10 minutes. Even the 15 minute coffee wasn't remotely as horrible as I had initially expected.
I see that your coffee preferences are indeed not a sign of inexperience, nor any kind of heresy. It >is< possible to make coffee using boiling water, and that coffee is not inherently awful.

It is not, in my personal estimation, superior to my usual method, which I will continue using.
But this was an interesting effort. Quite worth it. Thank you for suggesting it, @red.

There is no correct way to make coffee. It is only correct that you drink and enjoy your coffee.

This was fun! Btw, I have had the same electric grinder for over 10 years, it was my Mom's and she probably had it since the early 90s. Like this but in white: https://www.ebay.com/itm/La-Pavoni-Coff ... SwDGJdnMjf

[DerGolgo]

There is no correct way to make coffee. It is only correct that you drink and enjoy your coffee.

Indeed. But there are quite definitely wrong ways. Preparation methods that, while using the same ingredients, do not produce anything one could honestly describe as coffee.

At uni, a friend offered me a cup of hot beverage. I could smell it, and surely, I tasted it. And informed her that I'm really conditioned against tea.
Tea? she asked, shocked. That's coffee!
I had to beg to disagree. The reason for the confusion was identified. Her preparation method. Pour-over, but with boiling water, and two teaspoons of coffee. For a whole pot, two teaspoons.

Nobody had ever taught the poor girl how to make coffee. Her family was from Turkey, and they only drank tea.
She was actually quite desperate. She couldn't figure out why her coffee tasted like weak tea.
Even the swill from the vending machines on campus tasted better, and she said it.
This was before you could just go to youtube or instructables to find stuff out.
I explained her where she had erred, and lo and behold.
That's coffee! she declared giddily after tasting what I brewed up with her equipment and ingredients.

This was fun! Btw, I have had the same electric grinder for over 10 years, it was my Mom's and she probably had it since the early 90s. Like this but in white: https://www.ebay.com/itm/La-Pavoni-Coff ... SwDGJdnMjf

Hm, interesting.

The one metric that makes a coffee grinder a great coffee grinder is consistency. If the grounds you get out are made up of grains of different sizes, you get uneven extraction of aromas. Small grains giving it up much quicker than large grains, forcing you to adopt a compromise. Not getting all the deliciousness out of the big grains, while the little grains wanna start giving off bitter aromas that, for me, are not welcome.

So, that machine. How even are the grounds that come out?

[Bigshankhank]

Reading this encouraged me to grab my Hario open flame glass brewer and bring it with me on my return trip to TN. If I am going to be stuck in a RV for a few months, at least I can do better than a common drip-brewer. I scored some beans from a local brewer, I just need to find some cooking fuel for heat.

[DerGolgo]

Reading this encouraged me to grab my Hario open flame glass brewer and bring it with me on my return trip to TN. If I am going to be stuck in a RV for a few months, at least I can do better than a common drip-brewer. I scored some beans from a local brewer, I just need to find some cooking fuel for heat.

Careful. "Cooking" in an RV. Ingredients you "scored".
There might be. Misunderstandings.

[Bigshankhank]

Gotta make that money.

[red]

I saw plenty of places to cook in the foothills of eastern TN when I was there with rench. To be fair, I think they were cooking something to drink, not smoke. We saw a truck running all night, up and down the road we were camping off of. No tail lights, no plate. A legitimate business man, I'm sure.

[red]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/health/h ... index.html

Perhaps I will try s filter with my French Press like you suggested.

[DerGolgo]

Perhaps I will try s filter with my French Press like you suggested.

The filter is important, but from experience, I must caution: it alone won't do it.
Based on bitterness of prolonged extraction, and lack thereof, I seem to be getting the last bits of solid matter out of there with my technique. See above.

[red]

I've been using this method in my French Press and it's great:

Screenshot_20200424-225051~2.png

But today, I received an Aeropress in the mail from mtne. Looks interesting. I've been on the YouTubes and just watched a video from the inventor.

Looking forward to trying it out tomorrow morning.

[DerGolgo]

I've been using a permanent filter with my French Press for as long as I had my French Press.
Had originally procured it for my cold-brew assembly-line, and in combination with my French Press, I had subsequently found it superior to (specifically, much, much faster than) paper filters.
This sort of thing:


Keeping it clean was ever tricky. My initial tactic had been that, when I had the impression it was filtering slower, I would engage in a fairly messy technique, pressing its outside right against the running faucet, to flush out coffee grounds in the direction they had come in on. This would, of course, spray water all over the place.

Subsequently, I developed a more proactive measure.
I judged (accurately, going by flavor) that the fine coffee grounds that make coffee turn bitter/acidic would still mostly be in suspension when the outflow slows down. So I would wait for that, then quickly whisk the filter/funnel assembly off of the coffee pot and hold it under the faucet, and turn the water on. And not just a measly little drip.
As the water mixed with the remaining coffee, I would induce a spinning motion, to get any solids in there nice and in motion, and then would pour it out.
Turns out, this made the old, messy method obsolete.

However, recently, my years, years old permanent filter was getting a bit slow with age, and even re-application of the original method didn't realy help a lot. Time for a new permanent filter.

Looking around, I found this thing:


Just one brand among many. I decided to go flexible because, if necessary, it should make cleaning by pressing it against the running faucet easier and less messy than with the old, rigid filter.

Reviewers of this flexible filter had talked about great flavor, and indeed, it's quite tasty. Wouldn't quite say it's remarkably better than my old, rigid filter, but it's pretty dang good. The amount of coffee-grounds that turn up at the bottom of my mug has definitely decreased.

[red]

I like coffee.

Still rocking the Aeropress and I've finally settled into a groove with it.
1. 1x Scoop of coffee (med ground)
2. Fill chamber halfway with close to boiling water
3. Stir and wait.... sometimes a few minutes, sometimes longer
4. Fill rest of chamber with hot water
5. Stir and wait....
6. Cap, invert, press. Add water to taste.

I tried my hand with light roasts and it didn't work out so well. Med roast seems to be best for me.

[DerGolgo]

I tried my hand with light roasts and it didn't work out so well. Med roast seems to be best for me.

Owww, nohhh baby, dark roast, all the way. Two scoops, double the pleasure!

[DerGolgo]

Okay. Been using this filter for a few days now. I find that the effect on the coffee is so great, I must modify my preparation method (previously detailed as part of U.N.I.C.O.R.N.S.).

The new filter seriously reduces the amount of solid residue that finds its way into the prepared coffee.
This comes at a price: the new filter requires more frequent cleaning.
The method I had developed for the old filter. Removing the funnel and filter from the coffee pot when the flow rate significantly decreases is nos suitable here.

For one, that quick reduction in flow occurs earlier, with much more coffee left in the funnel.
Furthermore, my tactic of adding water to the coffee that remains in the funnel assembly and swirling it to ensure solid residue is in suspension and then pouring it out. It is much more difficult when there is much more hot coffee left in the funnel. And it is just not effective at avoiding filter obstruction by residue.
My method for thorough cleaning of filters is to press the outside against a running faucet, flushing out any solid residue the way it had come in. Of course, the flexible filter makes it much easier. It adapts to the shape of the faucet, making the cleaning process much, much easier, with far less spatter and spray.
The old, rigid filter required this no more often than once every few weeks or so.
The flexible filter, meanwhile, requires it daily. So I guess the ease of cleaning is rather convenient.

Presently, I am adapting my preparation method. The coffee that the old method in the new filter produces is drinkable. Just not as full-bodied as it was with the old filter.
I have begun by extending the time I let it steep french before pressing. Increasing the amount of ground coffee will be then ext step, of course.

[DerGolgo]

So, after two weeks of intense testing, my conclusion on this thing:

It produces entirely okay coffee. If all you want is a proper cup of coffee, it will do fine.
It does not, however, satisfy my deviant desires.

When I started, I started where I had left off with the previous filter. ~3.75 scoops of coarse ground coffee, steeped in the french press for 3 minutes, and then the whole rigmarole of keeping the fine particles in suspension out.
It gave me an okay cup of coffee but, somehow, it was missing that kick that I like.

So I started experimenting with the amount of coffee and steeping time, and waiting longer before removing the funnel from the pot, the latter had been part of the aforementioned rigmarole.
Today, I finally arrived at 5 full scoops of coffee, steeped for a remarkably long-feeling 7 minutes. After which I let it run through the filter until it more or less stopped entirely, due to the clogged filter (that, in the end, I had to wash out after every use).

Believe it or not, I couldn't find a significant difference between 5 scoops for 7 minutes, and 3.75 scoops for three minutes. It tasted almost the same, rather.
It was good enough, but not as good as, or as great as, coffee prepared with the old filter, nor as great as coffee prepared with the Aeropress and permanent filter.

To rule out the negative hypothesis, the second pot of coffee today I made with the old method, and the old, decrepit filter, this kind:

I did notice that, unlike the new filter, the old filter let enough particle matter pass through to slowly render the coffee bitter/acidic/whatchamacallit. As it had before.
But it also much better satisfied my culinary preferences re coffee.

It still needs replacing, so I'm again on the hunt for a new permanent filter.

[Jaeger]

After all these years we finally got one of the reusable coffee filters, as using the paper ones is so fucking wasteful. That, and I'm drinking more coffee so we kind've go through a lot of 'em. I'm happy to report that it works fine, though as DerG says, there's more sediment in the bottom of the pot, which makes it a bit more bitter.

Fine with me!

--Jaeger

[red]

The metal filter in my Aeropress made a big difference, for the better. What I want to know is why do I want coffee when I shouldn't drink it? Typically, around 9pm. Since quitting the tobacco sticks, my tolerance for caffeine went way down. Can't down a pot of coffee and go to bed like I used to as a young man. Wait... maybe I just didn't sleep back then.

Another good thing about being stuck at home for this whole pandemic is that I get to drink good coffee while working, instead of the BSW (brown sadness water) they have at the office.