Any other "french press" commuters out there?
 

So, I just started commuting after a year or so off (yeah, I know). One of the things I miss the most is my morning coffee on my drive in. I have to admit that I am a bit of a coffee snob so the stuff they have at work (from concentrate) is hardly going to cut it.

I solved the problem by bringing in my french press and simply grind just before I leave for work and bring it in a sandwich bag.

Anyone else solving the "coffee problem"?

You've done precisely what I've done. You could also go so far as to bring a grinder in and keep a week's worth of beans at the office.

For a while, I was actually making some pretty damn good espresso with a handpresso and ceramic-burr grinder. THAT got me some looks in the lunch room.

Yeah, I use a Bodum as well. I either grind the dark French Roast beans at home or buy it already ground and pour it into a sealed tin (I bought a couple - they originally held organic coffee so they have the little plastic breathing soffet in them) which I bring to work and store in the freezer. But I only do this because it's way cheaper than buying coffee at work or at the local coffee shop.

I used to brew freshly-ground coffee at home before the ride to work, but I found as I got older that on cold winter days I'd only be able to make it about 30 minutes before I needed a toilet stop, and the ride to work was closer to an hour. So now I just wait till I get to work to have coffee. It felt strange at first, getting on the bike without having had coffee, but I got used to it by the second day. So I know I'm not addicted to the stuff. But I do love a good cup of coffee, straight black.

Luis

Make a cappuccino right before I go, put it in a cup that fits perfectly in my water bottle cage, and enjoy sipping it while I walk the pedestrian mall at the end of my (short) commute.

I have an espresso just before leaving, and convinced a few workmates to chip in and we bought an espresso machine at work too.

Problem solved :)

z

I have a drip coffee maker at work. I supply coffee which is usually generic namebrand (Folger's, etc.), but I also buy coffee from a local roaster (BF member pallen) to change it up. It's my pot but anyone can drink from it. Sometimes someone else brings coffee, but if not, I'm okay with that. I like freshly brewed coffee but I'm not much of a coffee snob.

My workmates didn't like "that fancy crap", so I kept a Bodum french press at work. I'd grind the beans at home and bring some fresh milk to froth every shift.

I have a plastic device that holds a No. 2 cone filter. I keep a bag of ground coffee at work - usually a good brand. All I have to do is place the holder+cone on top of a mug, add coffee, and pour the right amount of hot water into it. Couldn't be simpler!

A large Bodum French press and a good grinder have been standard equipment in my kitchen, in my office desk at work, and also in my shop for about 30 years now, but I often use a 12oz Vietnamese phin instead if I am only making one cup at a time.

I also prefer Vietnamese double-roasted French beans because they are just about the richest beans that I have found, and I usually buy them directly from an online roaster because they are timestamped with the time and date they were roasted and don't sit on a shelf for a month before being sold.

I've never really considered myself to be a coffee snob, but will admit that I am pretty set in my ways when it comes to coffee and beer, and I generally prefer French roast coffee and dark ales or stouts, and my favorite after work evening starter is often a quad espresso and a Guinness because they just seem to be made for each other.

I Prefer just plain old McDonalds black coffee. Get a large cup every morning on my way to work.

Hario Grinder and Hario V60 Pour over alongside fresh home roasted beans make lunch time a time I look forward to.

I just took a grinder and press in last week. Works great except for cleanup. I'm trying to minimize the amount of grounds down the sink so it doesn't clog. Anyone have some good tips for easy cleaning without making a big mess?

Thermos
 

French press, fresh beans, drink half, bring other half in thermos.

I am a french press commuter as well. I have the GSI personal Java press, which I am supremely satisfied with. I've been using the thing for 2 or three 3years straight without any trouble. It's a 24oz lexan press, insulated, that stacks a la russian doll with a separate capped cup, which is ideal so that your coffee doesn't sit in your old beans while your sipping, AND so you can add your milk and sugar easier and cleaner. the press itself is a durable plastic disk with a rubber gasket, so grounds don't get through. When the whole thing is stacked, there's space for coffee in a plastic bag inside the press, which helps isolate the coffee from off flavors from my backpack, or from leaking its flavors to the atmosphere. I buy starbucks on the cheap when I can, grind with a bravia burr grinder the night before (or morning of). water comes from a filtered water source at work and heated with a cheap electrical hotpot. I'll store the undrunk coffee in a thermos if there is any. I also have a handpresso and an aeropress, but I prefer my french press.

Anyone use a Bialetti type cappucino maker?

Empty the grounds into the trash (or better yet the compost) before rinsing the press out

I've started carrying home-brewed coffee in an insulated stainless steel mug in the bottle cage on my bike. Someone on this forum recommended Bubba bottles as an insulated mug that will fit the bike cages well, so I picked one up on Amazon for a decent price. The bottle works as advertised, keeping my coffee hot for several hours and it fits my bottle cages just right.

What a good idea! I've been lugging a metal thermos bottle in my backpack, and this sounds much better. Is this the one you got?

http://www.amazon.com/Bubba-Brands-H...5273258&sr=8-1

Thanks.

And adding just a little water to the grounds with a couple of swirls to stir things up while dumping into the trash gets most of them out with no fuss. The few remaining grounds wash down the drain with no problem.

And that's a passive, backward way of saying that yes, I too have a press at work. :-) I wouldn't say I'm a snob as I can drink most coffee placed in front of me, but Caribou's Obsidian is #1 on my list at the moment.

I use a small rubber spatula to clean out most of the coffee, then rinse. Then I use the press to froth the milk.

I just brew up a couple Dunkin Donuts K-Cups in my Keurig in the morning, and store the coffee in my bike's bottle cage in my 20oz Klean Kanteen Wide Insulated stainless steel bottle, for the trip to work. Coffee stays hot all morning long.

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/y...nInsulated.jpg

While I like a good cup of coffee, I'm also lazy and just drink the dirt coffee at work. Our water's so bad that any attempt to make a quality cup would be futile.

I just switch to green tea at work.

My new (to me) road bike only has a downtube bottle cage, not a seat tube one, and my coffee cup that works well enough on the seat tube cage of my other bikes leaks too much when angled for the downtube, so on road bike days I don't bring the last of the pot from home with me, but on other days (which are the vast majority of days) I can have that one last blast.

That's the very one. Really keeps coffee hot a long time, and fits bottle cages perfectly. It is also leak-proof, unlike other mugs I have tried.

Press, beans, grinder, and favorite cup live on my desk at work. I am also a beer geek but I cannot do that at work.