The history of the French press can be traced back many years, but there is much controversy over who exactly invented it. The first patent in history for a coffee brewing device similar to the modern French press was granted to an Italian from Milan named Attilio Callimani.

Since it is a French press, why was its patent granted to someone who is not French? Some say the French press came about because a person from France attached a filter to a coffee pot to separate the coffee grounds and obtain a cleaner cup of coffee. This coffee brewing device was widely used across various regions of France around the 19th century and eventually spread to other countries.

When the French press reached Italy, Callimani made slight adjustments to this coffee brewing device and applied for a patent. The French press was only one of the eight beverage-making patents Callimani obtained.

Today's French presses mostly have a borosilicate glass body, which is durable, reliable, and reasonably priced. Combined with simple, easy-to-learn operation, it is a mother-like choice for many beginners in specialty coffee.

What is the principle behind the French press? What are the finer points of making coffee with a French press?

Making coffee with a French press involves fully immersing the coffee grounds in the pot, then using a plunger with a metal filter to separate the coffee from the grounds. The coffee brewed this way has excellent body, can enhance texture and oils, and the final cup is also quite clean.

Although the steps for brewing coffee with a French press are simple, there are still some points to note. Because French press coffee is mainly brewed by immersion, the grind size should be coarser than for pour-over coffee. If the grind is too fine, or if there are too many fines, the metal filter cannot effectively filter out the coffee grounds, and the coffee will have an unpleasant "gritty" mouthfeel, greatly affecting the taste.

In addition, before brewing coffee with a French press, just as with brewing tea, you should preheat the glass pot with hot water. If you skip preheating, the water temperature will drop relatively quickly once the hot water enters the pot.

Inthe coffee-to-water ratioselection, the most common is between 1:13 and 1:15, which can be adjusted according to your own taste. The brewing water temperature also varies depending on the roast level of the coffee beans. For light-medium and medium roast coffee beans, Front Street recommends using a water temperature of 90°C to 93°C to extract the aromatic substances and high-quality acidity from lighter-roasted beans. For medium-dark roast coffee beans, use a water temperature of 86°C to 88°C, because dark-roasted beans absorb water more efficiently and their flavors dissolve faster; if the water temperature is too high, bitterness and burnt notes are likely to appear.

Next, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will demonstrate with a bag of Huakui coffee from Ethiopia. As usual, Front Street will first introduce this coffee bean:

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Huakui coffee beans

Origin: Hambela, Sidamo, Ethiopia

Altitude: 2050m—2300m

Variety: Local heirloom

Processing method: Natural process

Front Street Huakui coffee beans come from the Hambela sub-region under Guji, Sidamo. The Guji region is a common winner in many green coffee competitions. The Hambela sub-region is the coffee sub-region with the highest cultivation altitude in Ethiopia, separated from Kochere in the Yirgacheffe region by only one high mountain.

In 2017, Ethiopia's DW company entered this naturally processed coffee from the Buku Abel station in Hambela into the East Africa Green Coffee Competition and won the championship in the natural group of the 2017 TOH Ethiopia region. Later, Beijing green coffee trader Hongshun introduced the same batch of coffee beans into China and named it "Huakui," meaning "chief of a hundred flowers," expressing high hopes for it.

Parameters for brewing Huakui coffee beans with a French press at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee):

Water temperature: 91°C

Coffee dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: 75% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve

First, preheat the French press with warm water, then pour out the warm water. Add 15g of ground coffee, then pour in 225g of 91°C hot water. You can pour with a slightly stronger stream to make the coffee grounds tumble, thereby improving extraction efficiency, or you can gently stir with a spoon. After pouring, pull up the metal filter and put on the lid, then wait 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, gently press the plunger down to just 1/4 of the pot body. Finally, pour out the coffee and enjoy.

The Front Street Huakui French press coffee brewed with the above parameters and steps has an obvious mixed berry aroma on the palate, a complex juicy feel, a clear creamy silky texture, and an overall full, rich body.

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