Coffee is becoming more and more popular, and there are all kinds of brewing methods. However, when you're busy, you might feel you don't have time for a pour-over, and even an espresso seems to take too long. In that case, using a lazy pot to make a cup of coffee might be a pretty good choice! Compared with pour-over coffee, coffee extracted with a French press retains rich oils, giving it a fuller and rounder mouthfeel, but compared with espresso, it has less oil.

When it comes to the oils in coffee, you might immediately think of the layer of "foam" on top of espresso, also known as "Crema." If an espresso doesn't have that layer of oil, it might be called an unsuccessful espresso. Indeed, espresso is only perfect when it has that layer of oil. The oil in espresso is mainly composed of carbon dioxide and the insoluble oils from the coffee grounds.

After roasting, coffee beans contain gases such as carbon dioxide inside. When a modern semi-automatic espresso machine extracts coffee, it generates 9 bar of pressure to "squeeze" the coffee puck. Because the pressure is so high, the carbon dioxide in the coffee grounds becomes supersaturated in the water, so the carbon dioxide cannot be released and instead dissolves directly into the coffee liquid. During this process, the fats in the coffee are emulsified, and these fats wrap around the carbon dioxide. Since they are lighter than water, they gradually separate into layers, and golden oil appears on the surface, looking very beautiful.

The French press is indeed one of the most convenient household coffee pots, and it is also a brewing method that best preserves the coffee's flavor completely (it easily showcases the coffee's good flavors and can also expose its flaws), so it has higher requirements for coffee quality and freshness. The French press is also the method among those we have mastered that most easily reproduces the same cup of coffee. With the same French press, the same coffee beans, the same water temperature, the same amount of water, and the same brewing time, different people can almost reproduce the same cup of coffee. This is something pour-over, siphon, and other brewing methods cannot achieve, so it is also the method most recommended for beginners to learn.

French Press: Also known as a French filter press, press pot, or tea maker, and also called the lazy pot, it is a simple brewing device that originated in France around 1850, consisting of a heat-resistant glass body (or transparent plastic) and a metal filter with a plunger. At first, it was mostly used for brewing black tea, so some people also call it a tea maker.

The French press is the simplest to operate among all coffee brewing equipment, and its extraction rate is also closest to that of coffee cupping. It can bring out the coffee's oils, aroma, essences, and various flavor compounds to the fullest, with a smooth, sweet, and rich mouthfeel, making it a very good choice of coffee equipment. Therefore, it is also loved by most people.

The French press is indeed one of the most convenient household coffee pots, and it is also a brewing method that best preserves the coffee's flavor completely (it easily showcases the coffee's good flavors and can also expose its flaws), so it has higher requirements for coffee quality and freshness. The French press is also the method among those we have mastered that most easily reproduces the same cup of coffee. With the same French press, the same coffee beans, the same water temperature, the same amount of water, and the same brewing time, different people can almost reproduce the same cup of coffee. This is something pour-over, siphon, and other brewing methods cannot achieve, so it is also the method most recommended for beginners to learn.

Now let's learn about this simplest French press coffee-making method:

We use a two-person French press to make two servings of coffee. The usual ratio of grounds to added water is 1:14–18. Some French presses have water level markings, some do not. We can just use a gram scale to measure. For French presses with markings, you need to pour in the water first and then add the coffee grounds, so that the grounds-to-water ratio is accurate.

☆The coarseness of French press coffee grounds is about the size of brown sugar (coarse grind), and relatively uniform. This is related to the French press's extraction and filtration method: the metal filter mesh has low density and fine grounds can easily pass through, and hot water comes into direct contact with the coffee grounds, so grinding too fine can easily cause over-extraction.

Equipment needed: French press, pour-over kettle, grinder, thermometer, gram scale, timer, fresh coffee beans, coffee cup.

Front Street French press coffee operation steps:

1. Weigh 20g of fresh coffee beans.

2. Generally, the water temperature for a French press can be controlled between 85–95°C, adjusted according to the roast level of the beans. For light-roasted beans, you can use a slightly higher water temperature to highlight the aroma; for dark-roasted beans, you can use a lower water temperature to suppress bitterness. This needs to be controlled based on experience and personal preference.

3. Pour the ground coffee into the French press.

4. Add water, pouring in circles evenly, similar to pour-over.

5. Pour in about 300g of hot water, for a grounds-to-water ratio of about 1:15. As mentioned earlier, the French press grounds-to-water ratio is roughly 1:14–18, and can be adjusted according to personal taste. This French press has no scale 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 have some deviation from cold water, under household conditions this deviation can be ignored.

6. Stir.

7. Put the lid on, but do not press the filter down. Let it sit for 4 minutes. If the time is short, the taste will be lighter; if the time is long, the taste will be stronger, so the time is also set according to personal preference.

8. Filter: press down on the plunger and slowly push it down to the bottom of the pot (this action should be slow to prevent fine grounds from passing through the metal filter; stop when it is near the bottom of the pot, and do not wait until it cannot be pushed any 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.

Does French press coffee have a lot of oil?

As Front Street also said earlier, French press coffee has more oil than pour-over coffee and less than espresso, so it is a moderate option.

Espresso machine

If you want to extract the oils from coffee, an espresso machine is the most suitable extraction method, because an espresso machine extracts coffee liquid through fixed high pressure, which other extraction methods do not have. The extracted oil is the most abundant, very suitable for latte art, and the mouthfeel is very rich. It is mostly extracted using finely ground dark-roast espresso blend beans.

Moka pot

Friends who have used a moka pot know that the coffee extracted from a moka pot is relatively high in bitterness and concentration, and needs to be enjoyed with water or milk. At the same time, when a moka pot uses finely ground dark-roasted coffee powder for extraction, it can also carry rich coffee oils, though not as much as an espresso machine. If our budget is not enough but we still want to drink the oils of freshly ground coffee, the moka pot is undoubtedly a good choice.

French press

If you want to extract oils with a French press, you must use medium-coarse ground dark-roasted coffee beans. The oils extracted with a French press will not be a lot, but the French press's characteristic is that it is simple and convenient. If you want to quickly and simply drink a cup of coffee with oils, then the French press is a good choice.

Front Street Coffee brewing suggestions:

Whether it is pour-over, French press, or espresso, as long as it is a taste you like, it is good coffee. Front Street believes that any brewing method requires fresh coffee beans. Front Street has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans has a great relationship with coffee flavor, so the coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee are all within 5 days of roasting. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee. The resting period for coffee is about 4–7 days, so when customers receive it, it is exactly at its best flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, Front Street warmly reminds you: once coffee beans are ground in advance, they no longer need to be rested, because during transportation, the pressure generated by carbon dioxide inside the package can also make the coffee flavor rounder, so you can brew a cup immediately after receiving the coffee grounds. However, the coffee grounds need to be brewed promptly, because after coffee grounds come into contact with air, they oxidize relatively quickly. In other words, the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly and will not be as good. Therefore, Front Street recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing, so you can better taste the coffee's flavor.

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