How does huila coffee brew in a French press compared with pour-over?

French press and pour-over produce different cups because their extraction principles differ. Pour-over is drip-style dynamic extraction: water passes through the grounds and a paper filter for a clean, layered cup. French press is immersion extraction, and its metal filter keeps the coffee oils, giving a fuller body and a flavor close to cupping.

A Front Street Colombia Huila coffee demonstrates the French press method: grind size selection, coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature control and the full step sequence, including pushing the grounds down with the plunger. Because the metal mesh is reusable, no paper filters are needed, which suits breakfast coffee and everyday home brewing.

Although French press and pour-over coffee can both make a good cup of coffee, their extraction principles are completely different. Pour-over is a drip-style dynamic extraction: water flows through the coffee grounds and passes through the paper filter, producing a clean cup with clear layers. The French press, on the other hand, relies on immersion extraction, and its metal filter retains the coffee oils, giving it a richer, fuller body. This article compares the characteristics of the two devices in detail and, using Front Street Colombia Huila coffee beans as an example, gives a complete demonstration of French press grind size selection, coffee-to-water ratio setting, water temperature control, and brewing steps, helping coffee lovers easily recreate a full-flavored cup of French press coffee at home.

The pour-over coffee commonly seen in coffee shops is essentially drip extraction. Hot water is poured in while passing through the coffee grounds, then flows through the paper filter into the server, with pouring and extraction completed almost simultaneously. Coffee brewed this way usually tastes clean, has a prominent sense of layers, and releases aroma in a more varied way. However, pour-over involves quite a few variables, and it is not easy to control the extraction result consistently.

The structure of a French press is extremely simple: put the coffee grounds and water into the pot, then use the plunger with a metal filter to push the coffee grounds to the bottom, and filtration is complete. The metal filter can be washed and reused, with no need to consume paper filters, making it both environmentally friendly and economical. The French press can quickly present coffee's truest flavor, because the metal mesh does not absorb coffee oils the way paper filters do, so what ends up in the cup is an original, rich, and varied flavor.

The French press is practically a "lazy-friendly device." Although it is easy to operate, a good cup of coffee will not lose any of its complete flavor because of that.

In fact, the extraction logic of the French press is very close to cupping. It can fully release the oils, aromas, and various flavor compounds in coffee, with a smooth mouthfeel, obvious sweetness, and high body, making it very suitable as breakfast coffee.

Now let's see how Front Street uses a French press to make an excellent cup of coffee. Front Street Brazil Queen's Estate, Front Street Golden Mandheling, Front Street Colombia Huila, and other coffee beans all have flavor profiles suitable for presenting with a French press. Here, Front Street Colombia Huila coffee beans will be used as an example for the brewing demonstration.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s own roasted, rested Front Street Huila coffee beans are ground into a medium-coarse powder suitable for a French press, with particles coarser than pour-over coffee grounds. Front Street recommends using a standard sieve to check, keeping the pass-through rate at 70%–75%. If ground too fine, the coffee grounds can easily leak out through the holes of the metal filter, making the coffee liquid cloudy.

You can start by trying a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:10. Calculated for two servings, that is 20 grams of coffee beans with about 200 grams of water, and the final ratio can be adjusted according to personal taste. Like Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s drip bags, each small pack contains 10 grams of grounds. The current-season Front Street Brazil drip bags and Front Street Mandheling drip bags are also very convenient for making French press coffee with these pre-ground drip bag packs. Front Street's recommended coffee-to-water ratio is 1:16, that is, 15 grams of coffee grounds with 240 grams of water.

Front Street recommends preparing an electronic scale. Even if the French press itself has markings and a measuring scoop, the electronic scale still cannot be omitted, because coffee beans differ in density due to factors such as growing altitude and roast level, and the relationship between weight and volume is different for every kind of bean. In addition, if you brew a particularly satisfying cup of coffee one time and want to reproduce that flavor, you must record the ratio; conversely, if the brew is not good this time, you can also make adjustments based on the data.

At Front Street, use fresh and clean soft water such as C'estbon mineral water, avoid extracting with water that is too hard, and do not use unfiltered water. If the water quality itself is poor, it is hard to make good-tasting coffee.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) brewing steps:

Grind the coffee beans and pour them into the French press. At this point there is no need to worry about all kinds of claims regarding grind size; do not grind too coarse, just keep it at a medium grind.

Boil the water; the recommended water temperature is 93°C, then pour in the appropriate amount of water. We use 15 grams of coffee grounds and pour in 240 grams of hot water, stirring with a spoon so that the coffee grounds and water fully contact and blend.

Put the lid on the French press with the filter staying at the highest position, and let it sit for 4 minutes.

Before pressing down the filter, you can open the lid first and use a spoon to skim off the foam and fine grounds floating on the surface, then slowly press the filter down to the bottom.

After brewing is complete, immediately pour the coffee liquid into another insulated container without delay, because the coffee grounds are still soaking in the pot and will continue to extract. After that, you can pour it into a cup and enjoy it slowly.

If you are worried about fine particles in the coffee liquid, Front Street recommends filtering it again with paper filter, which will make the mouthfeel clearer and the cleanliness higher.

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