January 26, 2023

How To Make French Press Coffee Like A Pro!!

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The below recipe on how to make french press coffee like a pro is based on the recommendation of the barista world championship winner.

I have been experimenting with various styles of making french press style coffees, but this has been one godsend recipe it takes around 12-14 mins exact to prepare but the whole time is worth it even if you wanna impress someone with your french press skills.

If you want to know in brief how to make french press coffee then its

  1. Put coarse ground coffee in a french press
  2. Pour Hot Water
  3. Wait
  4. Then press coffee with the plunger
  5. Pour and Drink

But if you are looking for a delicious cup of good french press coffee then read on.

Making Perfect French Press Coffee

The use of french presses results in full bodied flavor to the coffee as compared to the pour-over coffee. If you are someone who loves coffee that is clear and not muddy then you may not like this recipe and can head to how to make pour-over coffee.

How does a french press coffee maker works?

The working of the french press isn't very complicated. It's one of the easiest ones to use for your home brewing of coffee. A French press consists of two parts the breaker and the plunger. But it also needs little patience if you are in hurry then it won't get you the most delicious coffee you deserve from the french press.

The breaker is made of glass and its job is to hold the coffee while it steeps, whereas that of the plunger is to press coffee down in the breaker. In short, it separates the coffee solids or leftovers from the coffee liquid.

Making coffee in french press coffee is quite easy the only thing that differs are the styles of making them but there isn't much difference and depends on the taste of the coffee maker.

So what should be the coffee to water ratio for french press coffee?

A general rule of thumb is 1 gm of coffee to 15 grams or ml of water. You can make it stronger or milder depending on your tastes. If you plan to have your coffee with milk we would recommend making it stronger. If you love to have coffee immediately without adding milk to it then a regular version would be better. So black coffee lovers can go with a milder or 1: 15 ratio.

Things needed for making perfect french press coffee

  1. French Press
  2. Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans
  3. Water Kettle for boiling water
  4. Clean water
  5. Burr grinder (Manual or Auto)
  6. Wooden Spoon or Regular Spoon
  7. Timer
  8. And a great cup 😉

Steps to making french press coffee at home:

Step 1: Measure Coffee Beans

  • Our First step would be to Measure 16 gms of freshly ground coffee beans to be used for our today's recipe. You can easily get freshly roasted coffee from a local coffee shop or online.

Step 2: Boil Water

  • Now boil the water to a rolling boil and leave it for one or two mins. prepare preheat the kettle if needed, we recommend using a kettle with a wide mouth ie a big spout, and not the gooseneck kettle.

Step 3: Grinding The Coffee Beans

  • Grind the Coffee beans in Burr Grinder auto or with Manual one, I would suggest medium coarse grind, something like kosher salt, the burr grinders are best for to get consistently sized grounds. I would suggest anywhere from 15-18 clicks on the grinder. The sound of coffee grinds is one of the most fun and soothing for most coffee makers.

Step 4: Put Grinded Coffee in French Press

Grinded Coffee in French Press
  • Put the coarse-grind coffee grounds (16 gms) into the empty french press, all the grounds.

Step 5: Pour Hot Water

Hot Water into French Press
  • Now pour the hot water which must have rested for 2 mins after boiling directly into the french press and keep the timer ready. Try to get coffee wet as fast as possible and pour around 250 ml of water. if they are any dry bits give it a quick stir.

Step 6: Coffee Brewing

  • Now the coffee brewing process begins with hot water in it. Let it rest for five minutes without putting a lid on it. The Crust which will be formed on the top of it creates a natural lid.

Step 7: Gentle Stir

  • After 5 mins, give it a gentle stir which not only will break the crust but get the brewing process and extraction process of coffee flavor from coffee grounds again. Do not stir vigorously.

Step 8: Put the Lid on French Press

Put a lid on coffee press
  • Put the lid on the french press and now wait for another two to three minutes. So we are waiting for the gravity to pull some of the coffee grounds to settle at the bottom.

Step 9: Press the Plunger

Press the plunger on coffee press
  • Now gently push the press from the top. The slow press gives consistency to the perfect french press coffee.

Step 10: Pour the brew

Pour Coffee from French Press
  • Your french press coffee is ready!! Pour yourself a cup of french press freshly brewed. The leftover coffee you can move to a decanter for later consumption.

Pro Tips For The Perfect French Press Coffee

  1. Good coffee Beans: Always use freshly roasted coffee beans, do not use darkly roast beans since they give you a bitter taste. Medium roast bean coffee is better since they are neither too acidic nor too bitter. Whereas mildly roasted coffee beans can be more acidic.
  2. Always use Burr Grinder, the burr grinder gives very consistent coffee grounds. You can also refer to our manual coffee grinders for more details.
  3. Do not underestimate the quality of fresh, soft, and clean water. Do not use hard water or else it will change the taste of the french press coffee.
  4. For a stronger french press coffee add to increase the ratio of ground coffee to water from 1:15 to as you desire.
  5. The pouring of direct boiling water can burn the coffee beans, hence it has been advised that post boiling to let the water rest for a minute or two.
  6. Make sure that the french press is clean and has no leftovers, unclean french press can give a bad taste from old leftovers.

Most Frequent Asked Questions :

1) What is the best french press grind size for coffee beans?

The coffee grind should be coarse enough so that it doesn't pass through the mesh of the french press when we press the plunger. So remember it has to be somewhat like kosher salt.

We also have a detailed guide on different styles of grind sizes of coffee beans.

2) what are the best coffee beans to be used for making french press coffee?

Well, it's a matter of personal preference. But we would suggest medium roast coffee which if you buy from the supermarket will say "strength 3" on the packing, though we highly recommend against buying from the supermarket since the coffee beans won't be fresh and can destroy the flavor of the french press coffee.

We recommend you to buy your freshly roasted coffee beans from either a local coffee shop or online.

#funfact: Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans has 145mg caffeine per 8oz vs 63 mg for instant coffee of the same size.

For a detailed guide, you can also visit on best coffee beans.

3) Pour over coffee vs french press coffee

French press coffee method isn't as efficient as pour over coffee or filter coffee as it's also called. With filter coffee you have fresh water landing on top of the coffee constantly and falling out from the bottom. so the water coming in takes the flavors of the coffee and immediately drips down through the coffee bed.

Whereas in french press coffee the water sits with coffee for a longer period of time around 5 mins. So you get water with a high concentration of coffee in it

In pour over coffee, you pour water continuously on the coffee with a filter.

Conclusion

Brewing french press coffee isn't rocket science, anyone can make a simple french press coffee but if you wanna make the best follow our step-by-step instructions and you will get the best cup of coffee from a french press. It also goes without saying that french press coffee is also dependent on you getting the best coffee beans since it's 80% coffee beans and 20% process.

If you are someone who loves coffee that is clear and not muddy then you can use a coffee filter or a drip machine.

Do you love iced coffee with Keurig machine?

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