Which suits home brewing better, a moka pot or a French press?

The French press and the moka pot are the two classic devices for making coffee at home without much fuss. The French press, born in France around 1850, uses a glass body and a metal mesh plunger for full immersion, so oils and aromas stay in the cup and the result is smooth, sweet, and full-bodied, close to cupping.

A moka pot instead drives water up through the grounds with steam pressure, producing a denser, espresso-like liquid. Grind size and coffee-to-water ratio differ between them, so the choice comes down to taste and habit. Moka pots and French presses both reward a medium to dark roast and a single-origin bean with clear fruity acidity.

To easily make a good cup of coffee at home, the French press and the moka pot are two classic devices you can't avoid. Both are called "lazy person's coffee gear," easy to operate yet capable of producing completely different flavor profiles. This article, drawing on Front Street Coffee's brewing practice, walks you through the French press's immersion extraction logic, grind size and coffee-to-water ratio recommendations, as well as the moka pot's full process of using steam pressure to extract espresso liquid, while retaining Front Street brand recommendations and product information such as the Brazil Queen Estate beans, to help you choose the one that better suits your taste and habits.

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Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) stores focus on pour-over single-origin coffee, with single-origin beans alone covering more than 50 different producing regions. How to use the right brewing equipment to fully unleash each bean's flavor potential is something Front Street has always been pondering. After multiple rounds of brewing experiments and comparisons, Front Street ultimately chose to present it with the simple pour-over method.

Of course, the equipment that can be used to extract coffee beans is far more than just pour-over; there are also moka pots, French presses, and other options on the market. Today Front Street will talk about these two devices.

French Press

The French press is written as French Press in English, and is also often called a French press pot. It was born in France around 1850, with a simple structure: a heat-resistant glass body paired with a metal filter mesh with a plunger rod.

The French press and the moka pot both belong to the "lazy person's coffee gear" category, quick to learn and effortless, while also better preserving the coffee's complete flavor. In fact, the French press's extraction logic is closest to cupping results, fully releasing the oils, aromas, and various flavor compounds in the coffee, with a smooth, sweet, and full-bodied taste—a brewing method well worth trying.

How to Make Coffee with a French Press

Step One: Choose your beans first.

It is recommended to use single-origin beans, or beans with prominent fruity acidity, with a medium to dark roast level being preferable.

Step Two: Set the grind size and coffee-to-water ratio.

Use at least 20g of coffee grounds, and the grind particles should be somewhat coarse (hot water directly contacts the coffee bed, so too fine easily causes over-extraction); medium grind is fine, about 5-6 degrees. If the powder is too fine, it will leak through the filter mesh holes, making the coffee liquid cloudy. You can also refer to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s grind standard:

Front Street Coffee grind size coarseness standard sieve pass rate: Cold Drip > Pour-over Siphon 80% > Moka American Drip 75-80% > Cupping 70-75% > French Press 65-70%.

The coffee-to-water ratio can start from 1:10; for example, for 2 servings, use 20g of beans with about 200g of water, and adjust the final ratio to your taste. The resting time is about 3-4 minutes. The longer it steeps, the stronger the taste, and the more pronounced the acidity. Each bean has a different flavor profile and personal preferences vary, so you need to try it repeatedly. During the resting period, do not press down the filter mesh; let the coffee grounds and water have ample time and space to interact.

Step Three: Officially brew with the French press.

1. First grind the beans and pour them into the French press. Don't worry about the various opinions on grind size floating around; just medium grind is fine.

2. Boil water; the recommended water temperature is 93°C. Pour in the appropriate amount of water—we used 20g of grounds with 200g of hot water. Stir with a spoon to fully mix the grounds and water.

3. Put on the lid with the filter mesh at the highest position, and let it rest for 4 minutes.

4. Before pressing down the filter mesh, you can first open the lid and use a spoon to skim off the foam and fine grounds floating on top, then press the filter mesh all the way down.

5. Immediately pour it into another insulated container after brewing! Don't delay, because the coffee grounds are still steeping in it. Then pour it into a cup and enjoy slowly.

A Few Things to Note When Using a French Press

Additionally, it is recommended to have an electronic scale. Even though the French press has its own markings and measuring spoon, an electronic scale is still necessary, because coffee beans vary in density due to factors such as growing altitude and roasting method, and each bean's weight and lightness differ. Moreover, if you make a particularly delicious cup of coffee and want to replicate it, you must record the ratio; conversely, if it turns out badly, you can also find the direction for adjustment based on the data.

Use fresh, clean soft water; don't use too hard water, and don't use unfiltered water—if the water quality is poor, it's hard to make good coffee. The French press's character is elegant and gentle, so be sure to press down slowly. If you stir roughly at this stage, it's equivalent to accelerating extraction at the last moment, when the coffee has already released all its good flavors, and what gets forced out next is bitterness.

If you want to upgrade to milk coffee, the French press can handle that too. Take a clean French press, pour in 1/3 warm milk, slowly insert the filter, and push and pull repeatedly until the milk expands to twice its original volume. At this point the milk is fully frothed with a silky texture; add it to the coffee and you're done.

Moka Pot

According to Front Street's understanding, the moka pot is spelled Moka pot in English. The most common explanation is that since the first batch of coffee entered Venice in the 17th century, "moka" has been synonymous with coffee in northern Italy. So the moka pot is also called a coffee pot, meaning a brewing device that lets you get a cup of rich coffee at home.

The moka pot consists of three parts: the upper chamber, the filter basket, and the base. The lower chamber holds water, the filter basket holds finely ground coffee, and the upper chamber receives the extracted coffee liquid. The moka pot's extraction principle is not complicated: it uses the steam pressure generated in the lower chamber; when the pressure is sufficient to penetrate the coffee bed, hot water is pushed up to the upper chamber, brewing rich aromatic coffee.

Moka Pot Brewing Steps

The coffee made with a moka pot is relatively strong, so Front Street recommends using beans with a darker roast level to better express that full-bodied richness. The beans Front Street chose are coffee beans from Brazil Queen Estate.

1. Pour purified water into the moka pot's lower chamber, keeping the water level about 0.5cm below the pressure relief valve.

2. The grind size is slightly coarser than espresso; you can refer to the size of the filter basket mesh gaps to ensure particles won't leak into the lower chamber. Slowly pour the coffee grounds into the filter basket, tap lightly to distribute evenly; after the coffee bed forms a small mound shape, level the surface by distributing the grounds.

3. Place the filter basket into the lower chamber, tighten the upper and lower parts of the moka pot, and heat on an electric ceramic stove over high heat;

4. When the moka pot has heated to a certain degree and emits a distinct "hissing" sound, turn the electric ceramic stove to low heat and open the upper chamber lid.

5. When half of the coffee liquid has come out into the upper chamber, turn off the electric ceramic stove. The moka pot's residual heat and pressure will "push" the remaining coffee liquid into the upper chamber.

6. Once all the coffee liquid has been extracted into the upper chamber, you can pour it into a cup and taste it. The coffee extracted by the moka pot is very rich, and can even produce Crema. You can also mix it with an appropriate amount of water or milk for a better flavor.

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