So when I moved into my current apartment, a family member knew I'd be needing something with which to make coffee, and gave me a small, 8-cup drip machine. I don’t really know what brand that coffee maker was — if there was a brand, it was that same one that packages canned vegetables in plain white wrappers printed with a single word identifying the contents as "CORN" or "PEAS." Anyhow, no surprise: the thing made terrible coffee. (It was weak, and despite the filter, always contained sediment.)

My friend Geoff, who’s an even bigger coffee buff than I am, offered to pick up a French press for me. They've got a certain buzz right now. All the coffee joints are selling them and all the purists seem to swear by them. Basically, a French Press consists of a glass beaker to which hot water and ground coffee are added and allowed to steep. Then, a plunger is depressed, filtering out all the grounds and sediment. According to some, they make the best coffee. So, when he dropped it off I couldn't wait to try it out.

Boy, did it suck. After spending twenty minutes cleaning the press, boiling the water, and reading the instructions, I brewed one of my favorite flavored coffees: Toasted Macaroon. To my dismay, it tasted exactly like the swill produced by the no-named 8-cup wonder. I tried again and again without success — using spring water, more water, less water, fine-ground beans, coarse-ground beans, and every other potential variation I could think of — until eventually, I just gave up on the whole thing.

About a week went by before I was able to warm myself up to the idea of giving it another try. This time, I decided to hit the Internet and see if others might have some brewing wisdom to share. I wasn’t disappointed -- ten minutes later, I’d reviewed five different techniques and was ready to give it another go.