French Press Tutorial
Of all the different coffee brewing methods, the one I’ve used the most has been the French Press. Also known as a press pot, the French Press is a simple way to make a rich delicious cup of coffee.
The French Press is a low tech portable coffee brewing method. Let hot water steep over coarsely ground coffee for 3-4 minutes before pressing down the filter and serving. It doesn’t get more simple than that. This tutorial will go into grind, water temperature, steep time and fixing common issues when the brew is less than perfect.
#1 Dosing The Coffee
By weight or by volume? Weighing will give you more repeatable results than using volume, as there can be more variance measuring when using tablespoons than a gram scale. However, the French Press is pretty forgiving so either method is fine. We will cover both methods.
Measure By Weight
There is no consensus on the ideal brewing ratio for the French Press. Before putting this tutorial together, I visited the recommendations of many roasters and discovered ratios between 10:1 and 18:1. When I threw out the outliers and averaged the rest, the ratio came out to 15.5:1. That means 15.5 grams of water for every 1 gram of coffee.
The fact the ranges were so different speaks to the fact that French Press coffee can taste great using different measurements and precision is less important than other brewing methods.
Measure By Volume
Going by volume, a good starting point is to use 1 tablespoon of coffee for every 4 fluid ounces of water. Some of the stronger recipes say 1 tablespoon of coffee for every 3 ounces. You may increase the amount of coffee to your desired taste. Below is a general range to get you started.
Bodum 3 cup (12 oz) = 3-4 tablespoons
Bodum 4 cup (17 oz) = 4-5 tablespoons
Bodum 8 cup (34 oz) = 9-10 tablespoons
Bodum 12 cup (51 oz) = 13-15 tablespoons
Bodum Chambord 8 cup French Press Coffee Maker, 34 oz., Chrome
#2 Grind Coffee and Heat Water
Before you start grinding the coffee, heat up some water.
The French Press uses a coarse grind. See the photo below.
From the Coffee Grind Chart
#3 Add Coffee and Water to French Press
Add the ground coffee into the French Press. Once the water reaches boil, wait about 30 seconds before pouring onto the coffee. This will lower the temperature from boiling to around 200° F, which is ideal for brewing.
Start a timer and pour water onto the coffee grounds.
#4 Stir (or not)
When you pour the water into the French Press there may be a bloom at the top where the coffee is either clumped or not making contact with the water. You can minimize that by pouring slowly in a controlled manner, but you still will likely want to give it a stir.
I used to stir the entire French Press. That is not necessary. Just stir the top inch. Use a chopstick or spoon. Some advise using a wooden spoon as there have been cases where a metal spoon has cracked the glass of the French Press. But if you are gentle, that shouldn’t be a concern. The goal here is to get all the coffee making contact with water.
After this, place the plunger on top of the coffee pot in the up position. This will minimize heat loss. Don’t press down yet.
#5 After 3-4 Minutes Press Down Slowly
The recommended brew time for the French Press ranges from 2.5 – 6 minutes, with the most commonly cited time being 4 minutes.
I have brewed thousands of French Press pots and prefer 3.5 minutes. Full extraction and rich without being too heavy. Fellow INeedCoffee contributor Chris Arnold likes 2.5 minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, Seattle Coffee Works advises a 6 minute steep for Indonesian coffees (4 minutes for other beans). This will come down to personal preference.
Beyond all the debates about optimal brewing times, is the reality that in the kitchen we can easily become distracted waiting for our coffee to finish brewing. The longer the brew time, the more opportunities for distraction. Aiming for a 3 to 3.5 minute brew time has worked much better for me than the 4 to 6 minute range.
When it does come time to press the plunger down, be gentle. Slow and even. It should have some resistance, but not too much. If there is no resistance, you might need to grind a little finer. If it is too hard to press down, use a coarser grind.
#6 Serve Coffee
Pour and enjoy. French Press coffee will have some sediment. To minimize getting that grit, I usually leave 1/2-1 inch of coffee in the press pot. I also won’t drink the last mouthful of each mug. The sediment doesn’t really bother me, but I’d like to end each mug of coffee where the first sip tastes as good as the last sip, so I avoid the last few drops.
http://ineedcoffee.com/
- Preparing a Traditional Turkish Coffee (05/03/2015)
- TRENDS TO USE PURE COFFEE (05/03/2015)
- G8COFFEE - FOR CONSUMER HEALTH (05/03/2015)
- Tet holiday – G8COFFEE (14/02/2015)
- THÔNG BÁO NGHỈ TẾT TÂY VÀ TẾT TRUYỀN THỐNG VIỆT NAM (14/02/2015)
- Coffee and Your Health (14/02/2015)
- Chính phủ chốt phương án nghỉ Tết Ất Mùi 9 ngày (14/02/2015)
- Drinking coffee reduces risk of Alzheimer’s: study (14/02/2015)
- How do Americano (05/02/2015)
- Instant coffee (05/02/2015)
- Distinguish types of coffee beans popular in Vietnam (05/02/2015)
- How delicious coffee more (05/02/2015)
- How to make coffee Mê-Hi-Cô (05/02/2015)
- The story of coffee. (05/02/2015)
- How to identify the specific type of Italian coffee. (05/02/2015)
- 5 REASONS WHY THEN GOOD FOR YOU BLACK COFFEE (05/02/2015)
- COFFEE EGGS VIETNAM ANF FOREIGN GUESTS ENJOYED (05/02/2015)
- ENJOYING ART COFFEE (05/02/2015)
- 6 ASSOCIATED WITH GENETIC VARIATIONS COFFEE DRINKING HABITS (05/02/2015)
- Bắp rang bơ hương cà phê (03/02/2015)
- Infant Coffee – 6 Tips for Coffee Drinking Parents (03/02/2015)
- Blurring bruise with sugar and coffee. (03/02/2015)
- Serena sublimated by 'magic cup of coffee' (03/02/2015)
- Buon Ma Thuot and cups coffee of delicious. (03/02/2015)
- Why Organic Coffee Matters! (02/02/2015)
- Record portraits made from coffee beans 1 million. (02/02/2015)
- Cartoonist from coffee beans (02/02/2015)
- Brewing Coffee With the Coffee Sock (02/02/2015)
- Cowboy Coffee, Backpacker Style (02/02/2015)
- How to Brew Vietnamese Iced Coffee (02/02/2015)
- GỢI Ý QUÀ TẶNG TẾT 2015 (29/12/2014)
- Merry christmas and Happy new year 2015 (24/12/2014)
- 8 favorite type of coffee from Saigon. (24/12/2014)
- Coffee grinders (23/12/2014)
- THE DISTINCTIVE REAL COFFEE (23/12/2014)
- WEASEL COFFEE (22/12/2014)
- WHY SHOULD WE DRINK COFFEE (22/12/2014)
- EXCELLENT BENEFITS OF COFFEE YOU MAY NOT KNOW (22/12/2014)
- COFFEE AND HEALTH (22/12/2014)
- 4 TIME OF GOLD (22/12/2014)
- COFFEE DRINKING PROPERLY (20/12/2014)
- STYLE COFFEE (20/12/2014)
- COFFEE TRADERS (20/12/2014)
- HISTORY OF COFFEE TREES (20/12/2014)
- HOW TO MAKE COFFEE (20/12/2014)
- CLEAN COFFEE, HOW TO DISTINGUISH (20/12/2014)
- BUSINESS PROBLEM WHOLE ROASTED COFFEE (20/12/2014)
- THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE (19/12/2014)
- Coconut jam Tet delicious coffee! (16/12/2014)
- Coffee mugs are always eat VND10,000. (16/12/2014)
- COFFEE AND SMELL OF SWEAT (26/11/2014)
- COFFEE MARKET: NOT WANT SALE, NOT NEED TO BUY (26/11/2014)
- SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT WHEN STARTING NOW (26/11/2014)
- DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS ARE LOOKING AT PROVINCIAL LEVEL 1 (26/11/2014)
- NEW OFFER BY DAY CUP CAFE NO SUGAR... (26/11/2014)
- 10 THE TRUTH ABOUT COFFEE (26/11/2014)
- UNIQUE RESTAURANT CAFÉ FOR SLEEPING WOMAN IN TOKYO (26/11/2014)
- HOW TO HAVE MORE DELICIOUS CUP OF CAFÉ (26/11/2014)
- Chọn Gu nào để thưởng thức! Dễ hay Khó? (26/11/2014)
- NHỮNG LỜI CHÚC TẾT HAY VÀ Ý NGHĨA NGÀY ĐẦU NĂM (26/11/2014)
- Trằn trọc chọn quà Tết biếu sếp (26/11/2014)
- Tư vấn cho chị em lựa quà Tết cho nhà chồng (26/11/2014)
- TƯ VẤN MỞ QUÁN CAFE BÌNH DÂN (26/11/2014)
- THƯ CHÀO HÀNG - CÀ PHÊ GÓI QUÀ TẾT (03/11/2014)
- COMFORTED, DEAR FRIEND! (29/10/2014)
- ENJOYING THE WAY CAFÉ IN VIETNAM AND WORLD (29/10/2014)
- HOW TO DISCRIMINATION, COMMENTARY ON THE TASTE DELICIOUS CUP OF COFFEE (29/10/2014)
- HOW TO START A BUSINESS CAFÉ (25/10/2014)
- SIGNS OF A COFFEE BELIEVERS (16/10/2014)
- SILENTLY COFFEE BOOK CORNER OF (16/10/2014)
- BENEFITS OF PURE DRINKING COFFEE (16/10/2014)
- BET COFFEE IN SAIGON (16/10/2014)
- COFFEE AND SEPARATION (16/10/2014)
- NOTICE OF NATIONAL DAY HOLIDAY 2/9/2014 (16/10/2014)
- COFFEE TO PROTECT YOUR ORAL (16/10/2014)
- WHAT FACTORS DISTURBED COFFEE MARKET NEXT? (16/10/2014)
- CHILD LABOUR HAVE CANCER PREVENTION COFFEE (16/10/2014)
- PURE CAFE - CLEAN (16/10/2014)
- ROASTED COFFEE IS BOTH AN ART! (11/10/2014)
- COFFEE AND BEAUTY FORMULA (11/10/2014)
- FUN FACTS ABOUT COFFEE CAN YOU NOT KNOW (11/10/2014)
- HOW VERY DISTINCTIVE COFFEE - FAKE (11/10/2014)
- COFFEE EXPORTS: INCREASE "QUALITY" INWARD PROCESSING? (11/10/2014)
- SPEAKING QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR SINGING, OR STATUS IN SOCIAL NETWORK (11/10/2014)
- GIFTS, GIFT BOX COFFEE SPECIAL DELICIOUS (11/10/2014)
- DRINK COFFEE CATEGORY WORST ON EARTH (09/10/2014)
- COFFEE STRENGTHEN IMMUNE SYSTEM (09/10/2014)
- DECADE OF COFFEE SOCKS 50 (09/10/2014)