How Do You Make Fine Coffee Cold Brew in a French Press?

A French press can make cold brew coffee without any specialty equipment. Because it works by immersion, extraction stays even and forgiving, so the method tolerates wide ranges in grind, ratio and time. Combine coarsely ground coffee with cold water, let it steep, then press and filter the grounds out before storing the concentrate in the refrigerator.

Bean choice still matters for fine coffee. Light to medium roasts with floral and fruity notes, including Huakui, Red Cherry and fruit-forward lots, tend to show well in cold brew, while sweeter coffees suit a smoother cup. A typical starting ratio is around one part coffee to eight to fifteen parts water, steeped twelve to eighteen hours.

To enjoy cold brew coffee, you don't necessarily need professional equipment—a French press will do the job easily. In this article, Front Street Coffee will walk you through the unique advantages of using a French press to make cold brew—immersion extraction is highly forgiving and requires zero skill—while also sharing buying advice for coffee beans suitable for cold brew, and the complete steps from grinding, coffee-to-water ratio, to filtering and storage. Whether you prefer floral and fruity notes or a smooth, sweet flavor, you'll find the right cup for you.

The barrier to making cold brew coffee is actually quite low—as long as you have a clean container on hand, you can get started, and a French press is a particularly handy choice. Next, Front Street Coffee will guide you step by step through making a delicious cup of cold brew coffee with a French press.

What Are the Advantages of a French Press

A French press uses immersion extraction. This method has two clear benefits: First, it's very forgiving. During immersion, as the concentration of coffee and water gradually approaches equilibrium, the rate at which substances are released from the coffee naturally slows down, so even if the parameters are set to extremes, over-extraction is unlikely to occur.

Second, there are no strict requirements for pouring technique—making a good cup of coffee is about as simple as brewing a cup of tea. Just set your parameters, pour the water and coffee grounds into the press together, let it steep, and when the time is up, filter it out and enjoy.

What Coffee Beans Are Suitable for French Press Cold Brew?

To be honest, just like with other extraction methods, any coffee beans can be used for cold brew, but to make a good-tasting one, Front Street thinks you still need to put some thought into your selection.

When Front Street makes cold brew coffee, we prioritize beans with floral and fruity flavors, usually choosing light to medium roast types with floral notes and fruity sweetness and acidity—we recommend Front Street Huakui Coffee, Front Street Red Cherry Coffee, and Front Street Fruit Ding Ding Coffee. If you prefer a pronounced juicy mouthfeel, you can choose fruit-forward beans like Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee, Front Street Little Tomato Coffee, and Front Street Mozart Coffee; if you prefer a smooth, sweet taste, we suggest Front Street Queen's Estate Coffee and Front Street Huilan Coffee. All of the above can be ordered from the Front Street Tmall flagship store or the Front Street Taobao store.

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee with a French Press?

Generally speaking, how much coffee grounds to use depends on how much coffee liquid you want to get, and also on the capacity of your French press. The French press Front Street bought is about 300ml, and at a 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio, it can hold exactly 30g of coffee grounds. For this French press cold brew, we used Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee Beans, a Costa Rican specialty coffee with aromas of strawberry gummy candy, berries, dried grapes, and nuts, suitable for a variety of extraction methods.

Cold brew coffee is very easy to get started with. Following Front Street Coffee's method, cold brew is based on a 1:10 ratio—prepare 30g of Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee Beans, ground to a coarseness where 85% passes through a No. 20 standard sieve.

Pour the coffee grounds into the French press, add 300ml of room-temperature water, use a stirring stick to mix the coffee grounds and water evenly, then seal it and place it in the refrigerator.

After leaving it in the refrigerator for 8 to 16 hours, pull out the filter, first remove the large coffee particles, then use a piece of filter paper to remove the fine coffee powder. Once you have a clear coffee liquid, it's ready to drink. If you find the taste too strong, you can dilute it with a small amount of ice cubes; you can also pour the coffee liquid into a clean sealed bottle and refrigerate it for about 4 more hours before drinking—the taste will be even sweeter and more rounded.

After filtering, cold brew coffee can be stored sealed and refrigerated for 5 days. Although the flavor becomes richer the longer it sits, the refrigerator environment is, after all, "complex" (especially a home refrigerator), and it's hard to completely block bacteria—plus every time you open it, air gets a chance to enter. For the sake of your health, Front Street does not recommend leaving it for a week or even a month before drinking.

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