Can a French press make good iced coffee?

Yes. A French press uses immersion extraction, so the same beans often give a more balanced, fuller-bodied cup than pour-over. Steep the grounds in less hot water to make a concentrated liquid, then pour it over ice to dilute and cool. The result is iced coffee without any pour-over gear.

Use 15 grams of grounds at a 1:8 coffee-to-water ratio with 94°C water and a medium-coarse grind. Skip light roasts with high acidity, since dilution makes them thin and can bring out almond and peanut-skin notes. Front Street Strawberry Candy, with floral and fruity aromas, suits this immersion method.

Can you still make a satisfying iced coffee with only a French press and no pour-over gear? The answer is yes. A French press uses immersion extraction, so with the same beans, the hot coffee it produces is often more balanced and fuller-bodied than pour-over. Borrowing the idea of Japanese-style iced pour-over, you can steep the coffee in a smaller amount of hot water to get a concentrated coffee liquid, then pour it over ice to dilute and cool it, making iced coffee. However, diluting with ice lowers the concentration, so it is not advisable to use light-roast beans with prominent acidity, otherwise the taste can easily become thin and may also develop off-flavors like almond and peanut skin. This article shares a complete extraction plan step by step, from the selection of Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee beans to 15 grams of grounds, a 1:8 coffee-to-water ratio, 94°C water temperature, medium-coarse grinding, and the staged operating steps.

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A friend came to ask: "I don't have pour-over gear at home, only a French press. Can I make iced coffee?" Front Street was a bit surprised at first, but since someone raised this need, in this installment of Barista Growth Diary we have organized the French press iced coffee method after repeated testing to share with everyone.

The Idea

A French press belongs to immersion extraction. With the same beans, the hot coffee it makes is usually more balanced and fuller-bodied than pour-over. So we thought of borrowing the idea of Japanese-style iced pour-over to make it: steep the coffee grounds in a smaller amount of hot water, first extract a rich hot coffee liquid, then pour it into ice to dilute and cool it, and the iced coffee is ready.

Since the concentration is to be diluted with ice, it is not suitable to choose light-roast beans with relatively high acidity. On the one hand, after dilution the taste easily becomes thin; on the other hand, using immersion to handle light-roast beans with acidity easily brings out unpleasant flavors like almond and peanut skin.

In the end, we selected Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee beans for production. This bean is rich in floral and fruity aromas, with moderate caramel and candied fruit flavors and a fresh aroma, making it very suitable for immersion extraction.

Extraction Plan

① Preparation stage: Prepare a French press, electronic scale, glass cup, hot water, and ice. Take 15 grams of grounds; in order to get a richer hot coffee liquid, the ratio of coffee grounds to hot water is set at 1:8, with a water temperature of 94°C. As for grind size, a French press relies on a metal filter to filter, so it is not advisable to force a higher extraction yield by adjusting to a finer grind. Choose a medium-coarse grind (70% passing rate on a No. 20 standard sieve).

② Grind the coffee grounds, pour them into the French press, pour in 120 grams of hot water and start timing, pouring directly from the center when adding water.

③ After 30 seconds, stir the grounds layer with a stirring rod to improve the extraction yield; at this point a three-layer separation of coffee liquid, coffee grounds, and coffee foam will form.

④ Cover the French press lid and pull it up, and wait until 3 minutes; during this time you can put 105 grams of ice into the glass cup.

⑤ After 3 minutes, slowly press down the plunger and let it sit for 1 minute to let the coffee grounds settle.

⑥ At the 4th minute, pick up the French press and pour the coffee liquid into the glass cup containing ice.

In this way, a cup of iced coffee made with a French press is complete. Because a metal filter is used, a good amount of coffee oils can still be retained on the surface. The vanilla flavor of the Strawberry Candy coffee beans comes through very clearly, and it tastes refreshing while still retaining a mellow body.

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