Why I Spend 10 Minutes Every Day Making Coffee in A French Press
I am obsessed with efficiency.
I want things to get to me faster, better, and cheaper all of the time.
The very act of sitting down to eat often bothers me.
But I recently switched to a French Press coffee maker.
Given my profile of efficiency obsession, you would think that I would have a traditional drip coffeemaker pre-loaded and set to go off 15 minutes before I wake up to have a pot of coffee prepared for me before I start my day. I did this for a while and it did feed my need for speed when it comes to getting the day rolling smoothly.
I gave that up for the French press and whole beans.
If you’ve never made coffee in a French press from whole beans, understand that it takes at least ten minutes. You need to warm up some water in a kettle, grind the beans to the right consistency, and set up the press, put the coffee in and fill the press with warm water. Then you need to make sure you mix the coffee and let it steep for a few minutes (I like coffee dark and strong, so I let it steep for 3–5 minutes) before plunging it. After all of this work, you only have 2–3 cups of coffee made.
Compare that to a traditional coffee maker:
Time: maybe 90 seconds to put coffee and water in maker, set timer if pre-setting.
Cups: up to 10.
Labor: minimal. You probably use pre-ground coffee.
What gives?
The Importance of Creation
You’ve probably seen some version of the advice to make your bed in the morning when you get up. The idea is simple: if you start your day by getting something done, you’ve already started with an accomplishment before you even get in the shower.
That’s something worth considering but it can lead us to downplay the benefits of accomplishments early in the day.
You may have also seen some version of the advice to blog every day — preferably first thing in the day. Seth Godin does this well, and my friend Isaac Morehouse has tracked some of the benefits to doing this for himself.
Making your bed is something a child can do. Writing once a day and putting it out into the ether for all to enjoy and criticize can be daunting for many, especially if you don’t have anything in mind. Making your bed takes a few minutes and no special skills. Writing well and creatively takes time and inspiration.
Making a cup of coffee with a French press is a middle ground between small efficiencies and wholly creative, original labor.
It seems laborious when you compare it to making a pot of coffee in a drip maker. It takes up a ton of time compared to getting coffee from Starbucks (since doing this, I have drastically reduced the amount of coffee I buy out). But it’s a small act of creation.
Starting my day with an act of creation — making something from near-scratch — and being able to enjoy the fruits of that creation set me on a path towards creating and accomplishing more in the day. It’s a small reminder to oneself in the morning, “if you make something, you can enjoy it.”
An art form starts to emerge from the cups. If you spend 30 seconds grinding beans instead of 60 seconds, you’ll find a different taste at the end. If you steep for 4 minutes instead of 6 minutes, the same is true. Choosing one type of beans yields an entirely different flavor from another.
You can enjoy the process of creation just as much as you can enjoy the fruits of creation.
In a recent interview with Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin talks about why he makes coffee (including roasting the beans) and vodka from scratch, despite drinking neither. This is the same idea on steroids.
Think of it as an investment in your creative faculties for the day — spending a few extra minutes crafting a cup of coffee inspires a day of creative productivity.
