The Cafetiere is one step up from the simple coffee
pot and is the variously named ‘Plunger Pot’, or more commonly
(especially in America) the ‘French Press’.
The Cafetiere is very familiar and is a simple glass container
with a plunger fitted with a fine metal gauze filter, which is
pressed down on hot water - to which your choice of (medium) ground
coffee has been added and stirred well in. Whilst the amount of
coffee/water ratio is the same as the Jug method (1 level
tablespoon per cup), due to the fact that the coffee recommended is
medium ground, the infusion time should be less that when using
course ground. No more than 5 minutes should therefore be allowed
before the plunger is pressed and the coffee poured.
This system is good and easy to use in the domestic environment
but is also especially useful to the professional caterer as he or
she can offer a wide range of different coffee blends – simply
adding the required blend to each individual Cafetiere and taking
it to the table for the customer to serve themselves.
To save the caterer further time and trouble, portion-controlled
sachets of various blends of ground coffee are available.
Cafetieres come in a choice of different sizes - 3 cup (ideal for
one person), 8 cup (two or three people) and 12 cup (four
people).