How do you brew coffee with a coffee maker like a French press?

To brew coffee with a coffee maker of the French press type, use a coarse grind about the texture of brown sugar, water between 85 and 95 degrees Celsius, a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:14 to 1:18, and a four-minute steep before pressing. The metal mesh and plunger keep more oils in the cup, so the mouthfeel turns out thick and rounded.

The French press dates to France around 1850 and is often called the lazy person's pot, since its simple glass body and plunger make results easy to repeat. The same pot, beans, water temperature, and steep time give nearly identical cups for different people, which is harder to achieve with pour-over or siphon. Fresher beans protect the coffee aroma.

The French Press, also known as the French filter press, is called the lazy person's pot due to its simple operation, and it originated in France around 1850. It uses a heat-resistant glass body paired with a metal filter mesh and plunger, which can relatively fully preserve the coffee's oils and aroma, resulting in a thick and rounded mouthfeel. Compared to pour-over and siphon methods, the French Press is easier to replicate for consistent flavor and is very beginner-friendly. This article, based on recommendations from Front Street Coffee, introduces medium to dark roast beans suitable for the French Press and explains step-by-step details such as a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:14 to 1:18, water temperature of 85 to 95°C, coarse grind like brown sugar consistency, and a 4-minute steep, helping you easily make a delicious cup of French Press coffee.

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee) Coffee's popularity is growing day by day, and brewing methods are diverse. However, when you're busy, you might not have time for pour-over, and espresso is also time-consuming. At times like these, using the "lazy person's pot" to make a cup of coffee is a convenient and good choice. Compared to pour-over, coffee made with a French Press has a thicker, rounder mouthfeel and can accommodate a variety of coffee beans.

The French Press can be considered the most convenient home coffee device, and it's also a brewing method that relatively fully preserves coffee flavors—it easily highlights the coffee's strengths but also exposes its flaws, so it has higher requirements for bean quality and freshness. Additionally, the French Press is the easiest among the methods we've mastered to replicate the same coffee: with the same pot, same beans, same water temperature and amount, and same steeping time, different people can make almost identically tasting cups, which is difficult to achieve with pour-over, siphon, and other methods, making it most suitable for recommending to beginners for practice. The French Press, also known as the French filter press, French press pot, or tea maker, commonly called the lazy person's pot, was born in France around 1850. It has a simple structure, consisting of a heat-resistant glass body (or transparent plastic) and a metal filter mesh with a plunger. It was initially mostly used for brewing black tea, so some also call it a tea maker.

Among all coffee brewing devices, the French Press is the simplest to operate, and its extraction rate is closest to cupping results, fully releasing various flavor compounds like oils, aromas, and essences in the coffee, bringing a smooth, sweet, and rich mouthfeel. It's a quite good coffee device and thus widely loved. The French Press is indeed the most convenient home coffee pot, and it's also a brewing method that best preserves coffee flavors (easily showcasing good flavors and exposing flaws), so it has higher requirements for coffee quality and freshness. The French Press is also the easiest method among those we've mastered to replicate the same coffee. With the same French Press, same coffee beans, same water temperature, same water amount, and same brewing time, different people can almost replicate the same cup of coffee, which is unmatched by pour-over, siphon, and other brewing methods, making it the most recommended method for beginners to learn.

For making French Press coffee, it's recommended to use medium roast or darker beans such as Front Street Coffee's Paradise Bird, Front Street Coffee's Queen's Estate, Front Street Coffee's Golden Mandheling, Front Street Coffee's Strawberry Candy, and Front Street Coffee's Mozart, because they naturally have rich coffee aromas and full-bodied mouthfeels, allowing us to more easily make delicious French Press coffee.

Next, let's see how to make this simplest French Press coffee: We're using a two-person French Press to make two servings of coffee. The usual ratio of coffee grounds to added water is 1:14–18. Some French Presses have water level markings, some don't; we can just measure with a gram scale. For those with markings on the French Press, you need to pour water first and then add the coffee grounds, so the coffee-to-water ratio is accurate.

☆ The coarseness of French Press coffee grounds is about that of brown sugar (coarse grind), and relatively uniform, which is related to the French Press's extraction and filtration method. The metal filter mesh has low density and easily lets fine particles through. Hot water directly contacts the coffee grounds, and too fine a grind can lead to over-extraction.

Equipment needed: French Press, pour-over kettle, grinder, thermometer, gram scale, timer, fresh coffee beans, coffee cup. Front Street Coffee French Press operation steps: 1. Weigh 20g of fresh coffee beans. 2. Typically, the water temperature for French Press can be controlled between 85–95°C, depending on the roast level of the beans. For light roasts, to highlight the aroma, you can use a higher water temperature; for dark roasts, to suppress bitterness, use a lower water temperature. This needs to be controlled based on experience and personal preference. 3. Pour the ground coffee into the French Press. 4. Add water, similar to pour-over, by pouring evenly in circles.

5. Pour in about 300g of hot water, for a coffee-to-water ratio of about 1:15. As mentioned before, the French Press coffee-to-water ratio is roughly 1:14–18 and can be adjusted to personal taste. This French Press has no markings, so we use a gram scale to measure the water amount. After adding the coffee grounds, tare the scale to zero, then weigh the hot water. Although the weight and volume of hot water differ slightly from cold water, under home conditions this error can be ignored. 6. Stir.

7. Put the lid on, but don't press the filter down. Let it steep for 4 minutes. Shorter time results in a milder taste, longer time in a stronger taste, so the time is also set according to personal preference.

8. Filter: press down on the plunger, slowly pushing it to the bottom of the pot (this action should be slow to prevent fine particles from passing through the metal filter mesh; stop when nearing the bottom, don't wait until it can't be pressed further).

9. Pour out the coffee, slowly tilting the French Press to prevent the coffee grounds at the bottom from floating up due to vigorous shaking and affecting the taste.

10. Enjoy your French Press coffee.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.