French Press Cold Brew and Fine Coffee: Ratios and Bean Selection

A French press can make cold brew without any extra equipment. Immersion extraction is forgiving because the coffee and water gradually reach equilibrium, slowing the release of compounds, so aggressive parameters rarely cause over-extraction. It also asks for no pouring skill: combine grounds and water, steep, then filter when the time is up.

Using a 300-milliliter press, a 1:10 ratio, and 30 grams of fine coffee such as Strawberry Candy beans, grind, add water, stir, and refrigerate for 8 to 16 hours before pressing. Refrigeration storage and flavor changes over time matter too. Any bean works, though floral and sweet-mellow lots suit cold brew. Learning how to prepare coffee powder consistently yields a clean, smooth cup.

Want to drink cold brew coffee without buying extra equipment? A French press can easily get the job done. This article walks through the complete process of making cold brew coffee with a French press. It first explains why immersion extraction has a high tolerance for error and a low barrier to operation, then draws on Front Street's bean-selection experience to recommend floral-fruity and sweet-mellow coffee beans suitable for cold brew. Next, using a 300ml French press, a 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio, and 30g of Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee beans as an example, it demonstrates step by step grinding, pouring water, stirring, refrigerating for 8 to 16 hours, filtering, and drinking suggestions, and supplements practical details such as refrigeration storage time and flavor changes, helping you consistently make a clean and smooth French press iced coffee.

Cold brew coffee is actually not complicated to make, and its equipment requirements are quite low. As long as you have a clean container, you can basically get started, and a French press happens to be one of the very handy options. Next, Front Street will guide everyone step by step to make a delicious cold brew coffee with a French press.

The advantages of a French press

A French press uses immersion extraction. The benefits of immersion extraction are mainly reflected in two aspects: First, it has a relatively large margin for error. During the immersion process, when the concentration between the coffee and the liquid gradually approaches equilibrium, the rate at which substances inside the coffee are released slows down, so even if the parameters are used somewhat aggressively, there is no need to worry excessively about over-extraction.

Second, it does not require any sophisticated pouring technique. To brew a good cup of coffee, the difficulty is about the same as brewing a cup of tea. We only need to set the parameters, pour the water and coffee grounds into the press together to steep, and then filter out the liquid when the time is up, and we can get a good cup of coffee.

What coffee beans are suitable for French press cold brew?

Objectively speaking, like other extraction methods, any coffee beans can be used to make cold brew, but if you want it to be smooth and pleasant, Front Street thinks you still need to put some thought into bean selection.

When Front Street makes cold brew, it prioritizes beans with floral and fruity flavors, usually choosing light to medium roast types with floral aromas and fruity acidity, and recommends Front Street Huakui Coffee, Front Street Red Cherry Coffee, and Front Street Fruit Ding Ding Coffee. If you prefer a more prominent juicy quality, you can choose beans with rich fruity character such as Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee, Front Street Little Tomato Coffee, and Front Street Mozart Coffee; if you like a sweet and mellow taste, then Front Street Queen's Estate Coffee and Front Street Huilan Coffee are recommended. 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?

Usually, how much coffee powder to use depends on how much coffee liquid we want to get, while also taking into account the capacity of the French press. The French press Front Street bought is about 300ml. If calculated at a 1:10 coffee-to-water ratio, it can just hold 30g of coffee grounds. When making this French press cold brew, Front Street 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 a very easy method to get started with. Taking Front Street Coffee's cold brew plan as an example, the baseline coffee-to-water ratio is 1:10. Then prepare 30g of Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee beans, and grind them to a coarseness referencing a standard No. 20 sieve with an 85% pass rate.

Pour the coffee grounds into the French press, then add 300 milliliters of room-temperature water, stir the coffee grounds and water evenly with a stirring stick, then seal it well and put it in the refrigerator.

After placing it in the refrigerator for 8 to 16 hours, pull out the filter mesh, first filter out the larger coffee grounds, then use a piece of filter paper to remove the fine coffee powder, and once you have a clear coffee liquid, it is ready to drink. If you feel the taste is too strong, you can add a small amount of ice cubes to dilute it; you can also put the coffee liquid into a clean sealed bottle and refrigerate it for about 4 more hours before drinking, and the mouthfeel will be sweeter and rounder.

After filtering, cold brew coffee can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for 5 days. Although the longer cold brew is stored, the mellower the flavor becomes, the refrigerator environment is, after all, "complex" (especially a household refrigerator), and it is difficult to completely block bacterial invasion. Also, every time you take some out, air has a chance to enter, so for health considerations, Front Street does not recommend drinking it after a week or even a month.

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