Coffee, the French Press and a Friend

This morning a neighbor of mine dropped by for a cup of coffee and -- since we both smoke -- a couple of cigarettes. I have been looking forward to this date since last night, when I first proposed it to her. I have been wracking my brains for the past several days for something to post about the French Press that was lent to me by Destination Cafe in September. This was only my third or fourth time I have used the press at home. Outside, however, I almost always drink coffee -- usually with a liberal amount of cream and sugar.

Spooning in the coffee into the empty French Press, I used up almost the last grains of the Peruvian coffee, meting out more of the coffee than I had in the past. The result turned out to be a bold, powerful coffee that I found quite acceptable -- though perhaps without the nuances experienced earlier on when the coffee was fresher.

Preparing the coffee for my friend and myself, I purposely used less milk and sugar than was usually my custom, desiring to see how coffee that was undeniably stale but prepared with the French Press would compare with coffee prepared using a conventional coffee maker. Drinking the coffee, my friend remarked on it being bitter (something I did not discern) and went back for more milk and sugar. As for me, I found the brew more than acceptable, providing a morning boost that I hope will see me through to the end of the day.