I love my Bodum French press coffee maker. However, I’ve been alerted that it may not be the best way to brew my coffee, even though it tastes delicious. Here’s what I asked and what I found out.
Why is French press coffee bad for you?
It could potentially raise your cholesterol.
How does French press coffee raise cholesterol?
There is a compound in coffee called cafestol (a type of terpene), and cafestol stimulates the production of LDL (the bad cholesterol) in your body. Fortunately, cafestol exists only in the oily part of the coffee bean, and is thus filtered out… when you use a paper filter. The cafestol (and the oil) get left in the paper and you get left with a clean & steaming hot mug of joe (when you use a paper filter). Now – when you prepare coffee without a paper filter, such as
- Making coffee with a French press (there is a filter but it is a metal mesh and does not collect the cafestol / oily part),
- By boiling the ground beans (Scandinavian tradition or Turkish coffee), or
- By making espresso (less cafestol than French press, but more than regular filtered coffee)
…You unfortunately retain the cafestol. Wuh wuh 🙁 And by retaining and ingesting the cafestol, you might be telling your body to increase production of LDL. Oops.
Here is a cafestol molecule! (I have forgotten everything I ever learned in honors chem over 10 years ago. My hubby took chem and orgo in college though, so maybe I should ask him what this means.)
Wait though – this cafestol/cholesterol stuff might not be so bad. If you already have high cholesterol, you should definitely avoid the risk of increasing it further, so drink paper filtered coffee (not French press, boiled, or espresso). If your cholesterol is normal, you are probably OK to drink French press coffee in moderation or on special occasions. Maybe save the French press for the weekends and enjoy drip (filtered) coffee during the week. (Instant is also fine; I don’t drink it but if you do, you don’t have to worry about cafestol.)
While I was doing all this coffee research, I discovered that French press coffee is actually kind of dirty! The mesh filter lets a lot of sediment through and into your cup (which I always end up drinking). This makes me think paper filtered coffee has potential to taste better. I think the reason paper filtered coffee gets a bad rap is because most of the time it’s made with stale beans. I bet if I start making regular paper filtered coffee with freshly ground beans (ground in this inexpensive but effective burr coffee grinder) it will taste even better than French press. Here are the coffee machines I’m debating between (I don’t have a coffee maker at the moment except for the French press).
- Cuisinart CHW-12 Coffee Plus 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker with Hot Water System, Black/Stainless –> This one is $99, and it’s basically like #2 except you can make hot water with it too. I’m leaning towards this one. Has good reviews (4/5 stars out of 651 reviews – very good actually).
- Cuisinart DCC-1200 Brew Central 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Black/Brushed Metal –> This one is $75. It’s simple and basic and also has good reviews (4/5 stars out of 3.431 reviews).
- Bonavita BV1800TH 8-Cup Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe –> At $150, it’s the priciest one I’m considering, but it has over 4.5/5 stars (out of 346 reviews), has precision programming to perfect the temperature of water and the contact time between water and grounds. It’s also pretty.
What are your thoughts? Do you drink French press coffee or normal, paper filtered drip coffee? What’s your favorite brand of coffee and how many cups a day do you drink? How do you have your coffee?
(Source)
- I usually drink French press when I’m at home; I drink whatever when I’m out (I like Americano = espresso + water; or regular drip is OK when made with good beans)
- My 2 favorite brands of coffee are Stumptown and Intelligentsia.
- I drink 1-2 cups a day – never more than 2 regular, though sometimes I will have a decaf at night or in the afternoon. So if you include decaf – 1-3. (Health benefits/risks of decaf coffee to come in another post.)
- I drink my coffee with milk (whole or half & half) + NuNaturals stevia.
*For more details about coffee + cholesterol, check out this article. I got a lot of my info there but I did not include everything.
**There are some affiliate links in this post (for Amazon). Just FYI! I try to be honest here, and if I am going to be honest I barely make anything off of the blog, even with affiliate links. 🙂
The French Press is the most environmentally friendly and it tastes great. If you exercise and eat right you shouldn’t have a cholesteral problem and I believe coffee is full of antioxidants. Who funded the studies on this? Perhaps a coffeemaker company? I’m sticking with my french press!
Very interesting! We have an espresso machine at home, so I drink one Americano every morning (one shot of espresso). Intelligentsia is our favorite, too! And my husband loves to go to their coffee shops if we’re in the city.
I love my filtered coffee. Not a fan of the sediment in French Press coffee. Big fan of the half and half + NuNaturals as well. Best combo. 🙂
I was literally JUST thinking today “oh, I heard they have great french press coffee…but wait, isn’t french press coffee bad for you?” —> so thanks for the info 🙂
I’ve been enjoying a 1-2 cups in the morning, usually half regular, half decaf, with a bit of coconut milk. yuummm!!
Recently, I was staying somewhere and they had this machine: http://www.amazon.com/Technivorm-Moccamaster-KB-741-Coffee-Polished/dp/B0055P70MQ/ref=pd_sbs_k_5 and it made really really good coffee 🙂
happy weekend!
I inherited a French press a couple of months ago when my friend left for NYC and gave all her office things away. Never used it, but now the husband does constantly (he’s a coffee addict).
I stopped drinking coffee a few years ago after I got throat surgery and my lymphaticals got cut through. Since then I have problems with facial swellings, and coffee always gives me that. However, I have found out that espresso does not, probably due to the different roasting and preparation. For Christmas, I got a little espresso machine from my parents that I use every day. It makes about 6 espresso cups (about 300 ml). I usually make espresso after lunch and put it into a thermos bottle and drink it during the day, black or filled up with hot water and almond milk. This tastes good and works well. Sometimes I make more espresso in the evening, so I guess I drink quite a lot of it. 😛
I love my French press coffee – I drink three or four cups a day – but I must say I don’t like the dregs you get…
i love intelligentsia. i’ve been on a chemex kick lately 🙂
I use a french press for several reasons.1. Environmentally friendlier. No paper filters. 2. I am very *anti-plastic* : Traditional drip coffee makers use a lot of plastic in areas where it comes into contact with hot water. This has the potential to release chemicals from the plastic into the water. My french press is 100% stainless steel, as is my kettle. 3. I prefer the flavour, sediment and all. If you wait a few moments before drinking your coffee most of the sediment settles to the bottom of the cup, just don’t drink the last little bit.
Cheers!!
So I’m a recent convert to the french press once I started at a new place of work that only had…….k-cups/keurig. 😐
The small individual french press seemed to be the easiest solution, so when they bought a burr grinder to keep in the kitchen I brought a french press and it’s a great combo. You obviously have to learn how to do french press right although there’s aren’t that many steps. Most important is to get the coarsest grinds possible. Then to get the water as hot as you can, even close to or at boiling.
All in all, I think the French press (I also have a larger one I use at home occasionally) is the best coffee flavor you’ll ever get. You get the most out of the grinds with super hot water and a french press, you get very little sediment if you do it right, and if you do it goes to the bottom like another poster mentioned above.
Not too worried about the LDL raising as I’m pretty active and healthy. I also don’t use a french press everyday, probably 3 times a week. I would suggest to any coffee lover to try one, Target has had large 4 cup french presses on sale lately for $10, they work great I have one at home. Get beans and have them roasted for you, then use up those beans within 2 weeks, keep the beans sealed and at room temp (not in a fridge or freezer).
Beenusing a french press again after a break up, at first i was like oh – feench press i forgot how good the cofee tastes – hoeever after a month – i am super sick of it ! Too rich and oily – and the dregs are so super heavy – i often transfer cups a few times . I also used to use a perc. Also good . However in the long run – and i drink a lot of coffee – i think i am going back to the basic regular coffee machine – likely the cuisinRt dcc1200. Thats all – thanks – i also have wondered about the oil and dregs not being filtered and basically coating my innards with it??? Thats why i am going back to filters – like cigarettes ? Eh ?