Best coffee brands in Sweden?

[Sabeine]

A while back Anders and I used to brew the coffee regular style, filter etc... We used Gevalia or Arvid Nordquist (which is made here in the Sundbyberg part of Stockholm).

Anyway, then the coffee pot was kicked off the counter by a sneaky feline. We didn't have time to get another one, since we were having company over, so Anders remembered that he had a "french press" that he'd had for years. He found it in the basement storage and we used it. The coffee was amazing. It tasted so good, better than when we brewed it in fact.

So we never did replace the broken coffee pot. We have since started to use a coffee called Zoega "Presso" which is made for a french press, it's even better than the Gevalia we had been using.

After this long winded post, my question is for the coffee drinkers, does anyone here prefer one over the other? Have you tried both and notice a difference good or bad?

In case your wondering the importance of this post, there is none. It's Saturday night, I'm working early tomorrow morning, Anders went to a concert with a friend and I'm bored. So my conversation has turned to coffee.

[Carolyn]

We've tried a LOT of coffees but always come back to Zoegas Skåne roast! LOVE that stuff.

[Sandy]

Anna, please explain what a French press is.

[JerseyGirl]

A french press is a glass karaff (sp?) that you scoop the grinds into and fill it with hot water. You let it sit for about 5 minutes to brew. After which you push down the bar on the top witch pushes down a disk that squeezes all the grinds to the bottom. Then you just pour the coffee from there, and you don't get any grinds in your cup. ;D

p.s. you'd think after almost a year of working at Starbucks I'd know more technical terms LOL

[Sabeine]

JG is right.

I boil the water in a kettle and then when it's ready pour it over into the french press, and let it sit for 3-4 minutes. Then you push down on the press which leaves the drinkable coffee on the top and the grinds at the bottom. If it's pressed right, you don't get any grinds in your coffee. It was by accident that I found out what this coffee maker was. The first time I did it I got the grinds all mixed up in the coffee, didn't realize it and went to serve it to Anders family. Then I see the grinds pouring out and we went and redid it. I felt dumb for not figuring it out at first. Such is life.

JG, do you like the french press, or do have nightmares of them from Starbuck's?

[SteveH]

Authorized Guy Talk Segment
I also use a French press and I've been happy with the results. I hop around with brands but always go back to Zoega Skåne Roast and Nordqvist Gran Dia, which is ground finely enough that you can also use it in a stovetop espresso maker with good results. The regular store brand coffees in Sweden have great taste, by and large.

[JerseyGirl]

Sabeine,
I only used the french press when the District Managers came over and we had to do "coffee tastings." That was a nightmare in itself for me LOL But as for the french press I have no qualms (sp?) about it. But I don't drink regular coffee (no matter how many coffee tastings I did, or how long I worked there, I just couldn't get myself to like any coffee. I'm strictly a latte girl), so I guess I can't really have any real opinoin about using a french press.

[Carolyn]

Thanks for the "manly" input, Steve! I feel more equal and enlightened already. Actually, according to an on-line palm reading, I have a very masculine hand anyway, so maybe that accounts for it.

[Sabeine]

Well I can understand not likely coffee, I didn't like it for years.

Is one supposed to use finer ground coffee for a french press? I had always thought that it was supposed to be coarser, which is correct. The Zoega Presso, that we now use is coarser for presses. Have I been dupped?

Welcome Steve! A mans viewpoint on this board is always appreciated.

[SteveH]

As I understand it, more coarsely ground coffee is the optimum grind for a French press. But I sometimes use a finer grind anyway, even if means a residue of grounds in the cup.
Carolyn, please enlighten (this could be a separate thread): an online palm reading?! I'm all ears, or palms. How is it accomplished? I sense a connection between an online palm reading and the hand-imprinted (and thus 'sanctified') hand-towels that Jimmy Swaggart used to hustle on his TV evangelist show.
Yours for conspiracies everywhere,
S.

[JerseyGirl]

As I think I remeber, we always ground beans for people using French Press on the coarsest setting ;D

[Sandy]

Thanks for the explanation, that's what I thought it was. I bought one for my husband last Christmas, but it wasn't called that. We put the drip coffee maker in the garage. We have used up our brygg ground coffee and have since been buying kok-ground coffee as it seems to be coarser. My husband is the one who decides the brand of coffee and he's a Lofbergs Lilla man. He worked in their factory in Karlstad. ;D

[sweetaud]

Zoega Skåne Roast, eh? I'll have to try that. I have found the coffee here too strong and bitter for my tastes, so I have been trying different brands. I'll look into this one fer shurr

[Carolyn]

If you don't like strong, Aud, you probably won't like Skåne roast. You might try their Colombian and there was something, I think it was Blue Java or something, that we thought was milder.

I don't like too strong and bitter. The closest we could come to the Zoegas in the States while we were there that we liked was we had found a small coffee business, where she roasted her beans fresh every 3 days and would toss out the old stuff after 3 days. We bought the Kenyan beans done at a medium roast and they were very good, plus we got it ground to an espresso grind. That way, you get a good cup of coffee but for, say, 6 cups of water (not mugs), we used three barely rounded scoops of ground coffee. That's pretty much the same ratio we use here with the Skåne roast.

I think to avoid bitter (aside from not buying anything marked French or Italian roast), it's very important to find the right ratio of coffee to water and also to not let the coffee sit. If you only drink one cup each at breakfast, don't make more than that and then try to have it 45 minutes later for your second cup. The longer coffee sits and cooks, the more acidic it gets. I have NEVER understood those coffeemakers that run all morning, stewing up the brew, and then people suck that stuff down. Positively NASTY.

Also, a coffee fact, the darker and longer the roast, the less caffeine the coffee actually has!

[sweetaud]

Oh Carolyn, the Kenya coffee is the absolute best !!! I used to buy just that flavour from Gevalia.com (in the US - used to be the same Gevalia here in Sweden). I already have an order in to them to bring some back (I'm off to USA on Monday).

I never knew that about the caffeine. That's very good to know.

I've been considering switching to the beans and grinding just before using it. How long can coffee beans be stored?

Oh, but that Kenya roast....I'm drooling just thinking of it !!