Yesterday’s New York Times (Jan. 18, 2022, ) ran a delightful and promising graphic news story, right up my alley about an even whackier-than-me coffee dude…which led me to wonder, where has James Hoffmann been all my life? Hiding in plain sight apparently.
He has a popular blog and issues engaging YouTube videos that recently attracted more than a million new viewers for which the NYT says, “they come for Mr. Hoffmann’s innovation and expertise and they stay for his persona.”
Included in the story on Hoffmabn is his recipe for French Press coffee (included below), which in many ways, is a radical departure from accepted orthodoxy as I discuss below. It is so different in fact that it would likely qualify as either a revolutionary discovery that will rattle the walls of the Coffee Establishment or is merely pure heresy. I simply had to find out whether I’ve finally met my spiritual guru or whether he is to be cast aside as just another charlatan capitalizing on our need for coffee enlightenment.
So, as soon as I finished my first latte of the day (prepared from precisely 19 g of single origin organic Peruvian dark roasted beans from my HotTop home roaster, freshly ground to a fine espresso particle size at setting #13 on our Breville Smart Grinder, and pulled to a delectably robust 40 g double shot in our Breville Bambino Plus espresso machine) I got right on it.
Hoffmann’s recipe differs from the traditional , tried and true French Press method in the following ways:
- Instead of the usual water to coffee ratio of 12 (350 g water to 30g coffee) he uses a more dilute ratio of 16.7, very close to the ratio of 17.0, typically used for preparing drip coffee.
- Instead of wetting the grounds with a vigorous stir after adding the hot water (doesn’t specify water temperature so I assume it is the usual, just off boiling) he pours the water in and waits 4 min before stirring the grounds on the surface only
- Instead of the usual brew time of exactly 4 minutes, he steeps the coffee for a total of 9-12 min
- Instead of pressing the grinds to the bottom of the pot before serving, he simply leaves the press filter at the surface and pours the coffee through it. Essentially, it’s not really a pressing so the method would more accurately be called Hoffmann Pour Through.
So I prepared Hoffmann’s version of French Press as close to his recipe as I could…
And the verdict was…Weak-ass and undrinkable! A more objective, science-based explanation is it had an unpleasant sour taste characteristic of under-extracted coffee which can result from insufficient brew time, improper ratio of water to coffee, or improper surface area of the ground coffee.
How could this be? Could so many coffee devotees be so easily deceived by a smooth-talking charlatan?
Something’s not right. After all, Hoffmann has legitimate coffee cred. To have won the International Barrista competition and had your “World Atlas of Coffee” published in eight languages, you must have a thorough knowledge of coffee and its preparation, natural instinct, excellent technique, and above all… good taste! Something is wrong with this picture and considering the NYT article is a graphical news story (unique and revolutionary itself) I went back and carefully studied the cartoon recipe for Hoffmann’s “French Press” coffee.
Did I miss a critical step or a subtle maneuver that would account for this failure?
I retraced my steps and confirmed that I had followed his lead exactly. But wait… here’s something. Hoffmann states right up front to use “medium grind” coffee. That less than precise description is unfortunate. Medium by whose standards?
In the coffee world, particle size is huge (or fine as the case may be) and the scientist in me would love to see specifications of coffee grind expressed according to universally accepted sieve-size particle analysis. Just how many microns is Hoffmann’s definition of “medium”?
Alas, the science of coffee making in popular culture has yet to advance to those precise standards but there are some definitions for grind size that are commonly accepted and preferable to Hoffmann’s qualitative description. For example, a good burr coffee grinder will have lots of grind size settings to choose from (in our case 60) and will define ranges that are generally accepted for French Press (on the coarse end) and espresso grind (on the fine end) with drip and percolator methods in between.
In reviewing if and where I might have gone astray, this was the most likely parameter. For my first attempt I used a grind that was on the low end of the French Press particle size category (in other words a bit finer than the usual coarse grind but not by much). To be precise (which one should always strive to do in the world of coffee) in the initial batch, I chose setting #55 rather than the usual setting of #58 on my model grinder.
Coffee ground in Batch 1 to a size in the range for French Press (above) compared with a finer, “medium grind” used in Batch 2, closer to that used for pour-over/drip coffee (below)
So I decided to give it another shot (pun intended) with a grind size closer to that used for the pour-over/drip method which is midway between espresso and French Press, i.e., a setting of #40 on my grinder. While not equipped to measure particle size in my kitchen’s coffee bar, I was able to discern a quantitative difference in the particle sizes as seen in this photo:
Because the coffee in Batch 1 was much too weak for my standards I also increased the residence time in Batch 2 to Hoffmann’s upper limit, i.e., 12 minutes before pouring. The result was significantly better and certainly drinkable. But it was much closer in taste to a standard pour-over/drip method with a slight hint of a silty aftertaste from the lesser degree of filtering due to the French Press screen’s more porous mesh than you’d find in a drip coffee gold filter or paper filter which I use.
Those who prefer the distinctly robust flavor of French Press will, I think be disappointed. [Full Disclosure: while I enjoy a pot of French Press every once in a while for variety, it’s never been my go to favorite method] Also, the NYT reviewer’s claims that Hoffmann has “debunked established coffee myths” with this French Press recipe is just journalistic hyperbole.
However, even though this recipe didn’t knock my socks off or cause me to abandon my preferences for high quality espresso-based coffee and good strong, pour over/drip coffee, I am very much relieved that no scandals were uncovered and Hoffmann’s credentials are not in question. We may disagree on some issues, but I will, in fact, tune into Mr. Hoffmann’s writings and videos on coffee with great interest.
Coffee Lovers Unite!
opinion8ed2 
Mary O’s Magical Irish Scones
Just about one year ago, I read a story about Mary O’Halloran who is the proprietor of Mary O’s Irish Pub in the East. Village. Under the restrictions required during the height of the Covid lockdown, her income was frozen and the bills piled up quickly. To make matters worse her husband, a longshoreman, was stranded on the Aleutian Islands, off Alaska, for nine months, when air travel was suspended. So, in addition to worrying about holding onto their business and putting food on the table, she was raising 6 children who required home schooling.
As a way to bring in some much needed cash, she started a small catering business and began selling her own home-baked Irish soda bread scones and homemade blackberry jam on the internet. They were reasonably priced for a homemade delicacy prepared from her mom’s recipe, so it was more of a way to pass the time than a real money-making proposition.
But her plight was first publicized by a reporter for NY1 TV and then came to the attention of Humans of New York (HONY), a photoblog and book series celebrating everyday New Yorkers, published by photographer and journalist Brandon Stanton. He publicized O’Halloran’s story and suggested she double the price of the scones – his thinking was many people who weren’t struggling would be happy to provide assistance by purchasing her scones.
At first Mary resisted as she was uncomfortable taking charity but soon realized that she was providing a service that would require hard work on her part and was well appreciated.
The HONY story about Mary O’s Irish scones quickly went viral on social media. I read about it on Facebook and was intrigued. They sold over a million dollars worth of scones virtually overnight! Mary was initially overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and then had to figure out how the heck she would be able to bake more than 200,000 scones to fill so many orders without the requisite oven capacity and other bakery equipment. Fortunately, friends and loyal customers at Mary O’s volunteered to help and she was able to use large commercial ovens in the kitchen of her son’s Catholic school.
Mary O sent out an email last August to every single customer shortly after receiving the deluge of orders, thanking them and asking for their patience while she got them all filled. She said it may take a while but gave us her word that her scones would eventually be delivered.
Sure enough, ten months later, a package shows up at our front door. Not only did it contain a half dozen of the most delicious Irish scones I’ve ever eaten, but the homemade blackberry jam was divine.
As a bonus, Mary’s young daughter Erinn sent a hand drawn card as a thank you.
I immediately went back on line to see if I could order more but was greeted with an apology that new orders are temporarily suspended until the initial batch are filled. I will keep my eyes open and hope to stop by the pub at some point to congratulate Mary O and wish her the best of luck. Hopefully, she’ll find a way to turn this enterprise into gold (or at least a profitable and sustainable business) so we’ll be able to enjoy her magical Irish scones ’til the end of time.
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on July 1, 2022 at 4:29 pm Leave a CommentTags: Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York, HUNY, Mary O'Halloran, Mary O's Irish Pub, Mary O's scones