How should you prepare coffee powder for a French press?

The French press is an immersion brewer that releases oils, aromas, and body, giving a cup close to cupping results. Grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time are the key variables. A coarse, even grind and a full four-minute steep keep the cup smooth, sweet, and rich without muddiness.

Four preparation steps cover heating water, weighing and grinding beans, adding water for the bloom and steep, then pressing and pouring. Medium-roast beans with balanced sweetness work well for this method. Because immersion extracts evenly, the French press suits breakfast coffee and lets french coffee culture's relaxed approach show in a simple daily routine.

The French press is regarded by many as the simplest coffee brewing device, but it can actually present a complete flavor profile close to that of cupping, with oils, aromas, and body all fully released. Based on the hands-on experience of Front Street Coffee, this article systematically sorts out the extraction logic of the French press, the four preparation steps, and the specific brewing process, and also answers what type of coffee beans is more suitable for this immersion-style extraction. The article also gives clear recommendations on key variables such as grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time, helping beginners avoid common pitfalls and consistently make a smooth, sweet, rich, and full-bodied French press coffee.

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As coffee culture continues to spread, brewing devices and methods on the market are becoming more and more diverse. Whether it is pour-over, siphon, or French press, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) has always believed that each has its own advantages, and there is no need to deliberately belittle any one of them. Every device has a reason to exist, and every one has its fans.

For example, some people enjoy the ritual of pour-over, some are fascinated by the experimental feel of operating a siphon, and others simply like the convenience and directness of the French press. What is truly interesting about each device is not just its appearance and operation method; brewing coffee itself is closer to a science. Different devices extract coffee with different characteristics, and we need to keep trying various combinations to find the most suitable ratio and the most ideal taste.

The French press is far from being as simple as a "lazy person's device." Although it is convenient to operate, it does not sacrifice the complete flavor that a good cup of coffee should have. In fact, the extraction method of the French press is closest to the result of cupping, and can fully release the oils, aromas, and various flavor substances in coffee. The mouthfeel is smooth, sweet, and rich, making it very suitable as breakfast coffee.

So, in this article Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will teach you how to make an excellent cup of coffee with a French press. Before officially starting, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will first help everyone understand the uses of the French press. The English name of the French press is French Press, and in Chinese it is also called "法式压滤壶." Some people use it to brew tea, and some use it to froth milk, but today Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will use it to brew coffee.

Step 1: Prepare a pack of good coffee

You need to prepare some delicious coffee beans. So-called deliciousness includes not only the quality of the green beans themselves, but also freshness—for example, choose freshly roasted beans, preferably with a roast date no more than 7 days before purchase, and try to finish them within the 30-day optimal flavor period. At the same time, if you want it to taste good, you also need to grind fresh. Pre-ground coffee powder may not be bad, but it is certainly not at its best. For example, many customers want to grind beans directly into powder after buying beans at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Although Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) provides a grinding service, it still recommends grinding fresh for each use, because after coffee is ground into powder, the aroma dissipates very quickly.

Step 2: Design your extraction plan

You can start by trying a 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio. For 2 servings, for example, that means 20g of coffee beans with about 200g of water. The final ratio you use depends on your personal taste preference.

Step 3: Prepare an electronic scale

You may feel that Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) is being a bit too particular, but even though the French press itself has markings and a measuring spoon, it is still recommended to use an electronic scale. The reason is that coffee beans change density due to various factors such as growing altitude and roasting method, and the mass and weight of each type of bean are different. In addition, if you make a particularly delicious cup of coffee and want to reproduce that flavor, you must record the ratio; conversely, if you make a terrible cup of coffee, you can also know how to adjust based on the data.

Step 4: Use fresh filtered water

Use fresh, clean soft water. Do not use water that is too hard for extraction, and do not use unfiltered water. If the water quality itself is poor, it is difficult to make delicious coffee.

Once these preparations are done, you can follow Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) steps to use the French press.

1. First grind the coffee beans, then pour them into the French press. At this point, ignore what many people say about grind size for now. Do not grind too coarse; medium grinding is fine, roughly a little coarser than usual pour-over. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes it is best to grind the particles relatively evenly, because when coffee powder of uneven size is extracted in water, substances in the very fine powder are released faster than those in the coarse particles. In other words, the fine powder portion is already over-extracted, while the normal-sized portion has not yet been fully extracted, and the final coffee liquid will not taste good either.

2. The water temperature is recommended to be controlled at around 88°C, and the coffee-to-water ratio is recommended to be 1:10 to 1:13. After pouring in the hot water, stir with a spoon so that the coffee grounds and water fully contact and combine.

3. Cover the French press lid, leave the filter at the highest position, and let it steep for 4 minutes.

4. Before pressing down the filter, you can first open the lid and use a spoon to scoop off the foam and fragments floating on the surface, then press the filter all the way down.

5. After brewing is complete, immediately pour it out and transfer it to another insulated container without delay, because the coffee grounds are still steeping in it. After that, pour it into a cup and enjoy it slowly.

There is another question: which beans are suitable for the French press? What beans taste better when brewed with a French press? Taking Front Street's coffee beans as an example, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) has coffee beans from more than 50 producing regions on its bean list, and each bean has its own characteristics. Among those suitable for the French press, nothing beats Front Street Indonesia Golden Mandheling, Front Street Brazil Queen's Estate, and Front Street Strawberry Candy and other medium-roast or darker coffees. These beans fit the French press very well in both mouthfeel and flavor.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) suggests that when choosing coffee beans for the French press, you can choose beans with a balanced flavor and notes leaning toward dark chocolate or nuts; as for beans with particularly rich layers of flavor, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) does not recommend them very much, because the French press is an immersion-style extraction, and if the beans are too layered, it is relatively difficult to express those layers with a French press.

Unlike pour-over, the French press is not affected by many factors such as temperature, technique, and circling speed. It is a device very suitable for beginners to operate, as long as you control the brewing time well. Because the longer the steeping time, the more substances are extracted from the coffee, until saturation, or until it reaches a state where further extraction is difficult—that is, the longer it steeps, the stronger the taste.

Of course, strength is also related to grind size. Only 30% of coffee beans consists of soluble substances, of which only about 18% are ideal flavor substances. The finer the coffee is ground, the larger the contact area between particles and water, and the more flavor substances are extracted. Therefore, Front Street suggests that the grind size used for the French press be controlled at a 70% to 75% passing rate on the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve.

However, some friends are not confident about controlling the grind size and want Front Street to grind the powder for them. Front Street does indeed offer a grinding service, but note that once coffee beans are ground into powder, the flavor substances dissipate quickly. In order to taste the ultimate coffee flavor, Front Street suggests buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing.

In addition, when you taste French press and pour-over coffee at the same time, you will find that the coffee brewed with a French press has a layer of oil floating on the surface, while most pour-over methods using paper filters filter out the oils. Therefore, compared with pour-over, the French press has a fuller body, but you will also drink tiny coffee powder particles, because the metal filter ultimately still lets some "escape the net." Everyone does not need to mind this too much.

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