French roast coffee beans, like French fries, do not come from France. But among U.S. coffee drinkers, the popularity of French roast coffee, usually Colombian, is akin to the popularity of French fries among fast-food junkies. French roast coffee is different from other medium roast coffees in that it is heated to a higher–about 480degrees–temperature.
The high temperature does two things: it brings the coffee beans’ natural oils to the surface, and it coats them with a thin layer of carbon. The carbon gives the roast its characteristic smoky flavor, and the oils its strong aroma and body. If you want to prepare your own home-brewed French roast coffee, start with a bag of freshly roasted whole beans. You can grind only what you need, and the whole beans will remain fresh longer than store-ground ones. Coffee grinders are inexpensive and easily found, and the ability to have freshly ground coffee when you want it will more than make up for the cost.
Most grinders will have, at a minimum, three settings: fine, medium, or coarse grind. And most coffee brewing machines are designed to perform best with medium grind. But French roast coffee is ideally suited–of course–for brewing in a French press, so a coarse grind is suggested. Make sure that whatever pot and machine you are using have had all traces of previous coffee removed, so their flavors do not affect your French roast. And use bottled, or filtered, water, if you can.
Coffee is only as good as the beans and water which go into it. A French press is recommended for your brewing because you will want to use water as close to boiling as possible, and soak your grounds thoroughly, to leach every bit of flavor from them that you can. And remember one of the cardinal rules of the coffee culture: never, ever, ever, reheat coffee! Coffee has an approximately twenty-minute “bloom” after being poured, when its flavor and aroma are at their peaks. After that, cold or reheated, it will leave you with nothing but a bitter taste. Now enjoy!
