The French press, also known as a French filter press or tea maker, is called the "lazy person's pot" because of its simple operation. It originated in France around 1850. It consists of a heat-resistant glass body and a metal filter mesh with a plunger, and was initially mostly used for brewing black tea. The French press fully preserves the coffee's flavor and oils, with a smooth, sweet, and rich mouthfeel. Its extraction rate is close to that of cupping, and it is the easiest method to replicate the same flavor, making it very suitable for beginners. However, it has high requirements for coffee bean quality and freshness, and grinding too fine can easily lead to over-extraction. This article will explain in detail the advantages and disadvantages of the French press, the differences in oils compared with espresso and moka pot, and include the complete operating steps from Front Street Coffee.

Nowadays, more and more people like coffee, and brewing methods are diverse. But when busy, pour-over may seem time-consuming, and espresso may seem too rushed. At times like this, making a cup of coffee with the lazy person's pot is quite a convenient choice. Compared with pour-over, coffee made with a French press retains more oils and feels thicker and rounder on the palate; however, compared with espresso, it has less oil.

When coffee oils are mentioned, many people's first reaction is the layer of "foam" on the surface of espresso, also called "Crema." If a cup of espresso lacks this layer of oil, it is often considered not successful enough. Indeed, with that golden foam, espresso is complete. The oils in espresso are mainly composed of carbon dioxide and insoluble oily components in the coffee grounds.

Roasted coffee beans accumulate gases such as carbon dioxide inside. When modern semi-automatic espresso machines extract, they "squeeze" the puck at about 9 bar of pressure. Because the carbon dioxide in the puck is under too much pressure, the water becomes supersaturated with carbon dioxide, and the gas cannot escape, so it can only dissolve directly into the coffee liquid. During this process, coffee fats are emulsified. The fats wrap around the carbon dioxide and gradually separate because they are lighter than water, so the golden oils float to the surface, looking very attractive.

The French press is indeed the most convenient household coffee pot, and it is also one of the brewing methods that best preserves coffee flavor completely—it can both show coffee's strengths and expose its weaknesses, so it has high requirements for coffee quality and freshness. It is also the easiest among the methods we know to reproduce the same coffee: with the same pot, same beans, same water temperature, same amount of water, and same steeping time, different people can make a cup with almost the same taste. This is difficult to achieve with pour-over, siphon, and other methods, so it is also the most recommended for beginners to learn.

The French Press, also called a French filter press, French press pot, or tea maker, commonly known as the lazy person's pot, originated in France around 1850. It consists of a heat-resistant glass body (or transparent plastic) and a metal filter mesh with a plunger, and has a simple structure. It was initially mostly used to brew black tea, so some people also call it a tea maker.

Among all coffee brewing devices, the French press is the simplest to operate, and its extraction rate is also closest to that of cupping. It can fully release various flavor substances such as oils, aromas, and essences, with a smooth, sweet, and rich mouthfeel. It is a coffee device very worth choosing, and therefore loved by most people.

The French press is indeed the most convenient household coffee pot, and it is also one of the brewing methods that best preserves coffee flavor completely—it can both show coffee's strengths and expose its weaknesses, so it has high requirements for coffee quality and freshness. It is also the easiest among the methods we know to reproduce the same coffee: with the same pot, same beans, same water temperature, same amount of water, and same steeping time, different people can make a cup with almost the same taste. This is difficult to achieve with pour-over, siphon, and other methods, so it is also the most recommended for beginners to learn.

Below let us learn this simplest French press coffee method:

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

☆The coarseness of French press coffee grounds is about like brown sugar (a coarse grind), and relatively uniform. This is related to the French press's extraction and filtration method: the metal filter mesh has low density, fine grounds easily pass through, hot water directly contacts the coffee grounds, and grinding too fine easily leads to over-extraction.

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

Front Street French press coffee operating steps:

1. Weigh 20g of fresh coffee beans.

2. The French press water temperature is usually controlled between 85–95°C, adjusted according to the bean's roast level: for light-roast beans, higher water temperature can be used to highlight the aroma; for dark-roast beans, lower water temperature can be used to suppress bitterness. This needs to be judged based on experience and personal preference.

3. Pour the ground coffee into the French press.

4. Add water, and you can pour evenly in circles like with pour-over.

5. Pour in about 300g of hot water, for a coffee-to-water ratio of about 1:15. As mentioned earlier, the French press coffee-to-water ratio is about 1:14–18, and can be adjusted according to personal taste. This French press has no markings, so we use a gram scale to measure the water: after adding the coffee grounds, tare the scale to zero, then weigh the hot water. Although the weight and volume of hot water will differ somewhat from cold water, under home conditions this can be ignored.

6. Stir.

7. Put on the lid, do not press down the filter, and let it sit for 4 minutes. A shorter time gives a lighter taste, and a longer time gives a stronger taste, so the time can also be set according to personal preference.

8. Filter: press down on the plunger and slowly push it down to the bottom of the pot (the action should be slow to prevent fine grounds from passing through the metal filter mesh; end when close to the bottom of the pot, do not wait until it cannot be pressed down further before stopping).

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 French press coffee.

Does French press coffee have a lot of oils?

As Front Street also said just now, French press coffee has more oils than pour-over but less than espresso, so it is a moderate option.

Espresso machine

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

Moka pot

Friends who have used a moka pot know that the coffee it extracts is relatively higher in bitterness and strength, and needs to be diluted with water or milk before drinking. At the same time, when a moka pot extracts finely ground dark-roast coffee grounds, it can also carry rich coffee oils, though not as much as an espresso machine. If your budget is not enough but you 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-roast coffee beans. The French press will not extract a lot of oils, but its characteristic is simplicity and convenience. If you want to quickly and simply drink a cup of coffee with oils, the French press is a good choice.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) brewing suggestions:

Whether coffee 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. The freshness of coffee beans has a great relationship with the flavor, so the coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all within 5 days of the roasting date. Front Street's roasting principle 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: after coffee beans are ground in advance, they no longer need to be rested, because during transportation the pressure generated by carbon dioxide inside the packaging can also make the coffee flavor rounder, so you can immediately brew a cup after receiving the coffee grounds. However, coffee grounds need to be brewed promptly, because after contact with air they oxidize quickly, meaning the flavor dissipates relatively quickly and the coffee is no longer as tasty. Therefore, Front Street recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing, so that you can better taste the coffee's flavor.

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