If you’ve ever had French Press made coffee, you know there’s a certain je ne sais quoi about it that makes you feel like everything’s going to be ok. That’s because a French press eliminates the need for filters. It brews directly through a metal screen, which in turn maintains all the essential oils in the brew—giving you a stronger, richer, and more aromatic flavor.
If you want to find out how to make the absolute best out of this lovely invention, keep on reading.
Use High-Quality Coffee Beans. Ideally, this process is just way too beautiful to use on the cheap stuff. You’ll find you get the most amazing French Press Coffee experience using a high-quality light to medium roast you find locally or online, such as this legendary Ethiopia Roast Up coffee.
Measure Your Coffee Beans. It might seem like a tedious step, but having the perfect ration of coffee beans to water can make the difference between good coffee and late-night local gas station coffee. The best ration tends to be about 1g of coffee beans per 15g of water or 3tbs of (pre-grinded) coffee beans per every 8oz of water.
Coarse Grind. For this method, you’re going to want to use a coarser grind (about the texture of sand). It helps if you have an electric burr grinder, but if you don’t, that’s totally ok. Just keep an eye on the texture.
Prime the French Press. Before you add your coffee grounds to your French press, you’re going to want to prime it. Pour enough hot water (not boiling) in the French press to warm up the glass. This will allow the temperature to remain consistent throughout the whole process.
Start Brewing. Now you can add your coffee grounds and water. The trick here is in the water. You always want to use purified water, because good tasting water equals good tasting coffee. Also, never use boiling water. Boling water scorches the coffee, making it acidic, and honestly, it just ruins all your efforts. If you’re concerned about how hot is too hot, a good rule of thumb is to wait 30 seconds to a minute after your water boils to use.
Stir at the Right Time. Once you’re ready to brew your coffee, add the water to your coffee beans and let sit for about 2 minutes. Then gently stir the top crust of the coffee beans to ensure they’re all being incorporated in the brewing process. Then give it another 2 minutes to finish brewing.
Plunge. After your coffee is done being brewed, push down on the plunger, and pour out the coffee. Now, remember, this method doesn’t include a filter, so there might be some residue. If that bothers you, you can always pour the coffee through a filter to collect any left-over particles.
This is a relatively quick and straightforward process to follow, but you can’t skimp out on the measurements, and you have to use good water and great coffee, but other than that-follow these steps, and you’ll have yourself the best French Press coffee.