How to make French press coffee
Jun 10, 2021
The French press has been extremely popular for almost a century because it’s easy to use and makes a super rich, full bodied coffee. It’s a very gentle way of extracting flavor from coffee grounds with hot water, so all of our tips revolve around making sure enough coffee solubles get extracted for a sweet and balanced taste.
Here’s our French press brewing guide, along with some tips to make the most of your french press!
WHAT YOU NEED
35 grams or 5 tbsp medium coarse coffee
2.5 cups (17 oz or 500ml) water at 205F (3 minute off boil)
Scale or measuring cup
Spoon
65 grams or 11 tbsp medium coarse coffee
4 cups (34 oz or 1000ml) water at 205F (3 minute off boil)
Scale or measuring cup
Spoon
RECIPE
PRE-HEAT THE FRENCH PRESS
Using hot water from your kettle or sink, fill the press to the top to pre-heat, and place plunger inside. This is especially helpful if you have a glass press. Remember to pour water out before continuing!
POUR COFFEE
Pour 35 grams coffee into press, shake until grounds lay evenly across the bottom.
3
BLOOM
Set French press on scale and start your timer. Pour 20% of the hot water over the grounds (approximately 100 grams (or ml) or 3oz for the 17 oz press, 180 grams (ml) or 6 oz for the 34 oz press).
Wait for 45 seconds. During the 'bloom,' CO2 escapes from the coffee grounds, so we wait 45 seconds after the first pour to allow the gas to release before continuing, ensuring a balanced extraction.
4
STIR GROUNDS
After 45 seconds, stir the coffee grounds with a spoon so they become evenly saturated (no dry pockets!)
5
POUR WATER
Pour the rest of the water in.
6
PLUNGE
Wait until 5 minutes and 30 seconds have passed since you first started your timer at the beginning of the brew, then plunge the press. Pour the coffee into your drinking vessels.
The coffee will continue to brew if left inside the press, so pour all of it out into mugs or another container if you can.
TIPS FOR BREWING
TIP 01 / USE FILTERED WATER
Did you know that coffee is 98% water? The quality of the water you use to brew your coffee directly affects the taste in your cup! Just running your tap water through a filter like Brita or Pur will affect the taste of your coffee for the better.
TIP 02 / BURR GRINDER
Coffee tastes best when ground right before you brew, and burr grinders give you a much more even grind size.
When they’re very different, the water gets less from the big pieces (giving you sour flavors), and too much from the smaller pieces (bitter flavors).
TIP 03 / USE A SCALE
Depending on varietal and where in the world they're grown, beans weigh different amounts, and they're also different sizes. Scooping to measure your coffee recipe becomes less and less reliable. The answer? Weigh your coffee on a gram scale to make sure you have the right recipe.
TIP 04 / TRY A BLOOM!
When hot water hits dry coffee grounds for the first time, those grounds will bubble up and release a bunch of gas (mostly C02). While those gases are leaving, it’s hard for the water to actually pull out coffee flavor. So what to do? We wait! This is called the “bloom time”.
