French Press

The Coffee Concierge was in Amboise the other day. (The lengths we go to tell you where to find a good cup of coffee.) Where is Amboise, you might ask? Amboise is a small town in the Loire Valley in France, and its main claim to fame is the ancient chateau or castle which sits on top of the hill in the middle of the town. So the Coffee Concierge sat in the Patisserie Bigot, a Salon du Thé with a great view of the chateau, and a name which really won't travel well.

The Coffee Concierge ordered up a café to round off her lunch of ham, quiche and two scoops of homemade ice cream which comprised dessert.

I was pleasantly surprised when, voila! the coffee came in a French Press. In fact, despite the name, this was the only time when my coffee came in a press in France. For the ins and outs on how to use a press pot, do read this post by Coffeegeek. I can only say that I thoroughly endorse the use of the press pot in giving a good strong rich cup of coffee, because the ground coffee gets to steep a little longer in the water.

Actually, I recall my parents steeping their local coffee in one of those enamal teapots for a few minutes on the stove before straining it into their coffee cups. So maybe they didn't have the fancy equipment but hey, they enjoyed their morning coffee.

In terms of price, this was only about 2.50 Euros or so. The service was good and smooth despite the fairly large crowd. The food was also tasty and the ice cream was accompanied by a meringue. I'd happily go back to the Patisserie Bigot, unfortunate name not withstanding.

Price: 2.50 Euro

Service: 3.5 beans

Flavour: 4 beans