Banjo does French Press Coffee

French Press is also known as a 'Press Pot'.

With our latest escapades regarding the Keurig Model B60 coffee machine causing consternation, we have decided to try making coffee via the French Press method.

This will be updated daily, as we work our way through the process of discovery on making the best cup of coffee.

Basis of Comparison
We used to frequent a local Italian restaurant (owned and operated by Iranians' !) that simply had the best coffee we have ever had.  Unfortunately, in a recent trip there, their coffee had lost all of its exquisiteness.  We have fond memories of it, and it will constitute our basis for comparison.

Ingredients

• Coffee: Starbucks brand.  Whole bean, which we ground in the store.  Note: the coffee bean chosen has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, impact on the flavor of the coffee.

Method
This is where the majority of the variation will occur, so the different tests will center around the various aspects of preparation.  Some of the elements associated with method are:

• Bean choice - Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee
• Grinding method (e.g., using the in-store grinder will mean you have some carryover flavor from other, previous grinds.  Same with at-home grinding, but you can better control how much of the previous grind is cleaned out).
• Size of grind (how fine the coffee beans ground)
• Water temperature.  Currently, we are bringing it to a full boil before placing into brew carafe.
• Water choice.  We have the option of using tap water, filtered tap water, bottled distilled water, branded bottled water.
• Amount of coffee grinds placed into the carafe.
• Length of time coffee grinds sit in carafe with hot water.
• Heated utensils.  E.g., whether the carafe, plunger, cups are all heated prior to use (prior heating will keep the utensil from cooling down the coffee)
• What the coffee is stored in.  We have a vacuum sealer, so I may try to get the attachment that will allow us to place the coffee into Mason Jars and then vacuum out the air between each use.  Currently, we are using a big ceramic jar made for storing coffee (it has a clasped lid with gasket), but does not provide the ability to remove air.

 Tests
Note: our tests are not scientific - they are just documenting our search for our perfect cup of coffee; see links for other sites that may offer you more information. 
8/1/11:

• Coffee: Starbucks Espresso Roast Whole Bean, ground at grocery, course grind.
• Water: Filtered tap water.
• Number of cups: 2
• 8 scoops (7 gram scoop) placed into French Press
• Cups and French Press preheated with hot water.
• Water brought to boil, then poured over coffee and cap placed on.
• Mixture stirred with wooden spoon
• Timer set for 4 minutes.
• Results: a little too strong for us, but not bitter.

Links
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09113/964681-51.stm
http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/presspot

New Replacement Keurig Model B60 Coffee Machine - Broken!

Recently, we began to experience problems with our original Keurig Model B60 coffee machine.  We tried all of the maintenance steps to no avail.  So, we took the big step - we threw that one away and bought a new one.

Update 7/30/11: Keurig has said they are sending out a replacement.......I'll update this when delivered.

Here's some background:

• Original post
• Later post

All started out well, and it seemed to function fine for about 2 weeks (we've had it about a month, but we were out of town for 2 of those weeks).

We've been back about a week now, making coffee every day (4 cups per day; 2 for me, 2 for my wife).  Now, the pump won't prime itself.  It says 'prime' on the display panel after the pump motor runs for a looooonnnnng time.  Living around a farming community growing up and working with hand pumps, I know what 'priming' is, and this little pump is failing at that job.  There's plenty of water in the reservoir, the valve at the bottom of the reservoir is not plugged.  By removing the reservoir and putting it back in, doing this multiple multiple times, sometimes the machine will prime itself, but only for one cup and then the whole problem is back.

What a piece of crap - in my opinion of course!

After Googling the model and related problems, it appears to me that this is a common problem.  Many problems for many people.  Searching for - keurig model b60 problem prime - gives 66,000 hits!  Of course, not all of those would be legitimate, but it's an indication of a problem - in my opinion of course!  But this I do know for a fact - the stats for the entries I've made on this blog show that the pages associated with Keurig Model B60 problems are some of my more frequented pages, and looking at the searches that lead people to these pages (my stats show that as well) indicates they may be experiencing enough problems to end up here on this little blog of mine!

I feel really really stupid now.   $320 for two (2) machines that are documented as not working correctly per people's experiences on the internet.  And I was just the most recent sucker.  I'm sure there is yet another buyer somewhere, today, that has made another purchase of yet another piece of crap - in my opinion, of course!

So it's back to French Press coffee for us!  What's the big deal anyway?  I'm retired (yeah, I've got to do the dishes tonight...), and the French Press coffee tastes better than it ever tasted from this machine (did I mention it's a piece of crap - in my opinion, of course), more consistent in flavor, cheaper to buy (a glass beaker with plunger/filter), coffee certainly cheaper, and more flavors and brands to choose from.

They say they are "the worlds best single cup coffee maker".  That may be true, because I haven't researched all of the worlds single cup coffee makers, so I can't evaluate their claim.  However, if this is the "world's best", then in my opinion of course, the world is really struggling with this problem and has yet to solve it with a machine that will function properly.

So, here's a suggestion:

1. Buy a French Press coffee coffee maker for $30.00.
2. Put $320 - $30 = $290 into a drawer.
3. Take $30 out to buy a really good coffee bean grinder.
4. Put $290 - $30 = $260 back into a drawer.
5. Spend $15 for really good coffee beans.
6. Put $260 - $15 = $245 back into a drawer.
7. Make a cup of really good coffee.
8. Add another $1 to the drawer for every cup of coffee you make because it's cheaper and better, in my opinion of course!
9. Take a luxury cruise every few years from the money you saved.
10. Live longer from the loss of stress you've realized.
11. Mount a picture on kitchen wall of Keurig Model B60 so you can look at it each morning while enjoying your French Press cup of coffee. 
12. Smile and giggle a little, knowing you have beaten their system and their "world's best single cup coffee maker".

What was I thinking when I bought this piece of crap - in my opinion, of course!

Keurig Model B60 Coffee Machine - Broken!

See this update - we give up on new replacement machine.

In a previous post, I had noted our Keurig Model B60 coffee machine had become slow to dispense liquid into the our mug.  I thought this was caused by a plug, but I was mistaken.  It was caused by a failed air pump.

How to test for a clogged cup holder.
Where you put your kcups, water is forced into the kcup from a top needle (in the machine's kcup holder area) that punches a hole in the top of the kcup.  This is where the heated water is forced, under pressure, into the kcup.  There is another needle at the bottom of the kcup holder area, that also punches into the kcup.  This is the drain from the kcup, which is draining coffee from the kcup to your mug.

How the machine works
You place water into a reservoir tank on the left side of the Keurig Mldel B60 Coffee Machine.  There is a water pump that pulls water from the water reservoir tank and pumps it into a water-heater-tank.  Water in the water-heater-tank is always heated - this is so you have a quick response to making your cup of coffee - it's already heated and waiting.  There is a small air-pump that pumps air, under pressure, when you push one of the 'brew' buttons, into the water-heater-tank.  So the water-heater-tank is not only heated,  but when you push 'brew', air is forced by the air pump, into the water-heater-tank.  This pressurizes the water-heater-tank, which forces the hot water in the water-heater-tank out and into the top needle and into your kcup.  Flowing under pressure, it pressurizes your kcup coffee, forcing the hot water into your kcup, then out through the bottom needle and into your mug.

Our Machine - Broken
In the case of our machine, no coffee was flowing out of the kcup.  I thought this was caused by a plugged bottom needle drain, but this was a silly mistake on my part.  If I had taken the time to think about this, I would have realized I could have tested this conclusion by not putting a kcup into the holder, and selecting a brew button.  With no kcup in the holder, the water does not exit through the bottom drain needle; it just exits straight out of the bottom, bypassing the needle drain.  So I could have tested this by not putting a kcup into the holder, and selecting brew.  If water had flowed out the bottom into a mug, then I could have correctly concluded the exit needle was clogged.  When I tried this today, water did not flow out of the bottom, even when it was bypassing the needle drain, so I can conclude the needle exit was not plugged; instead, no water was being delivered to the kcup.  So, either we had no water in the reservoir, or there was a leak, or nothing was pressurizing the water, the pickup line inside the water-heater-tank was plugged, or a line from the water-heater-tank to the kcup was plugged.

I spent a lot of time trying to take this machine apart gracefully without doing any damage.  In my opinion, there is no way to do this without damaging the parts.  It may be that there are some special-designed tools that would allow you to get into the machine without damaging it, but none of us would have these tools, even if they exist. The problem is that there are keyed pieces that slip into holder.  These keyed parts have tabs on them; they will push in, then spring open, so they cannot be pulled out without depressing the tabs.  Without some sort of special tool, you can't get to the inside where the tabs are to depress them, so you are locked out.

I wanted in to see what the problem was
At this point, the machine was worthless.  We may have had a unit still under warranty, but we weren't interested in having our machine going down (and gone) for possibly months.  We would rather just buy a new one.  So, that meant this machine was destined for the trash, and I could tear into it - tabs or not!  So tear into it I did!

What I found

1. Water is pulled (sucked) from the left-side water-reservoir and pushed into the water-heater-tank by a small water pump.  
2. Once water is in the water-heater-tank, it is heated.  It is always heated and ready to go whenever you drop a kcup into the holder to make coffee.  This means you don't have to wait while the water for your mug is heated - it's always heated and ready to go.
3. When you put a new kcup into the holder and close the top, two (2) holes are punched into the kcup: one on the top (water entry), and one on the bottom (coffee exit).
4. When you press one of the 'brew' buttons, a small air pump is started.  This air pump pushes air into the water-heater-tank, which pressurizes the water-heater-tank.  
5. Water in the water-heater-tank is forced out of the tank by the air pressure being applied to the water-heater-tank by the air pump.
6. The water that is forced out of the water-heater-tank flows through a tube, through the entry needle into the kcup, where your coffee is, under pressure.
7. The water mixes with the ground coffee in the kcup, and becomes coffee.
8. The coffee flows out of the bottom of the kcup through the exit needle, and down into your mug.

Keurig Model B60 Coffee Machine - clogged and slow to pour

See update to this entry - we had a failed component, not a clog, that was causing the problem.  See this update!


See this update - we give up on new replacement machine.


First, to test if you have a clogged exit needle: without any kcup in the holder, put a mug under the dispenser, and ensuring there is water in the left side water reservoir, press a 'brew' button.  Water should flow through the machine into your mug.  If it is flowing faster than before, then you have a clogged exit needle, and so use the following instructions.  If it does not flow faster, then you have a different problem.

It was hard to ignore the fact that our coffee moved out of the machine and into our cups much more slowly than before.

A cleaning, as recommended in the 'Use & Care Guide', using white vinegar, improved but did not correct the situation.  It only made it a little better.

I checked the bottom of the "K-Cup Holder" and ensured that I could see daylight through the bottom of the whole thing.

Then my sweet wife noticed something in the manual that I had not noticed, page 12, section 3, "Cleaning the Exit Needle".  "The Exit Needle is located on the inside bottom of the K-Cup Holder Assembly.  Should a clog arise due to coffee grinds, it can be cleaned using a paper clip or similar tool.  Remove K-Cup Holder, insert the paper clip into the Needle to loosen the clog and push it out.  The K-Cup Holder is dishwasher safe".

I had observed the 'needle' at the bottom of the K-Cup Holder.  I thought it was just there to punch a hole into the bottom of the cup, and then the fluid would just drain out of the plastic cup into the area where the cup was being held, then exit through the bottom.  But that is wrong.  Instead, fluid flows through the needle!  There's a little slot in the side of the needle that allows fluid to pass from this chamber into the lower chamber where it then exits.  So the needle can indeed become clogged.  Looking at the needle, everything appeared to be clear.  I took a paper clip, straightened it out, and tried to push it through - it didn't budge.  I thought, well, there's a bottom here, so no fluid flows through this after all.  But that was wrong.  It just so happened that I finally pushed just hard enough, using a pair of pliers to hold the paperclip, that the paperclip finally broke through the plug.  I was surprised at the amount of force necessary to push through the plug.

So the important thing to understand is: fluid must flow through the needle.


I wish they had shown a drawing of the needle, but they don't.  It's a small black thing that sticks up at the bottom of where you insert the K-Cup.  If you gently move your finger around the bottom of the holder, you will bump into it.  You may need a flashlight to see it.  Mine also had a small gasket on it.  You shouldn't need to remove the gasket to push the paper clip through, just look for the slot in the side of the needle to push the paper clip through.

Now it works fine!

Update: It didn't work 'fine' - we had a failed component.  See this update!