Saturday, January 29, 2011

Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee Press N' Go


I had discovered these a while back and had told a few people about them. Now that I have a blog, hopefully with some readers, you all can hear about this. In a world of drip coffee on throw away timers and people who do not actually enjoy coffee drinking things that have 5000 sugar calories and are called coffee (oddly the "caffeine rush" they are feeling is probably the 1 cup of pure sugar the just streamlined into their veins). Moving on, this is a nice new invention, a to-go French Press. I purchased something similar to this from Bodum many years ago, an insulated cup with a press, that ran about $24 at the time. This paper cup ran me $2.98 and supplied me an about 14 oz shot of coffee flavored coffee (Thank you Dennis Leary).
The beans are weighed right after your order, the amount? Not sure, I am obsessed with coffee but I do not have the rules memorized. I will get right on that. Then they are ground right into the cup. This is something you only see later at night in most shops, when they brew your cups to order. Hot water is added in 2 steps....WAIT! Someone actually trained them or they actually care enough to do it right. Allow me to explain:
  1. Small amount of hot water is added, 192F is my preference, my Predator heat vision was not working today so I will assume she had the right temperature. This small amount of water is simply to wet the grounds, to make it easier to add the rest. 
  2. The rest of the water is added evenly around the grounds so no stirring is necessary and the coffee dust does not float freely around in the water and hence does not clog the filter.
She hands it to me, rings my tab, and offers to compress the grounds. No thank you I say as the proper wait time is 4 minutes. I walk away and wait. The press on the cup is brilliant, 1 press shot. The plunger will stay in place until completely depressed then you can remove the lid and plunger to add sweeteners and milk products. 2% and 2 splendas (light and sweet in the Northeast). I now have a beautiful cup of coffee that is strong enough that even Bath and Body works cannot overpower it.  Sadness hits me when people go "What is that?" I say "A to-go French Press" They look confused and order 5000 calories...sigh.
Now we all know the cups taper at the bottom, but the gasket does a decent job of cleaning the cup. There are some loose grounds, there always are, but none came out of the cup during consumption...touche Gloria touche. The base is a little strong for some, but that is to be expected when the coffee does nothing but steep while you drink. So to wrap up my first rambling, you need a cup of real joe while buying your pre-ripped jeans or debating how you will turn Han Solo in Carbonite from The Sharper Image into a coffee table, Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee Press N' Go is a real welcome caffeine kick. Get me a 5000 calorie Cinnabon while you're up, I've saved myself.