How To Make French Press Coffee

The french press brewing method has been gaining popularity for a long time as it is easy and gives a full and rich flavor due to the hot water being allowed to steep the grounds.

A french press consists of three primary things - beaker/vase,

French press

filter, and a plunger.

What Do You Need?

  • French Press Coffee Brewer
  • Hot water/a kettle
  • Medium/medium coarse ground coffee
  • Scale in grams or tablespoon
  • Stop watch/timer

How to Brew

1) Weigh your water - Zero out your scale with an empty french press and fill your french press with the desired amount of water that you want to brew and take the weight (preferably in grams). Most french presses hold approx. 0.5 L of liquid or about 4 cups. Place this water into your kettle.

2) Weigh and add your grounds - As with other coffee brewing methods, a french press follows the Golden Ratio for the amount of grounds to water that should be used. Remember: this ratio states that the perfect cup of coffee lies between 1:13 - 1:18. So for every 1g of coffee, you should have between 13 - 18g of water. For quick referencing, you can assume 1 level tbsp of ground coffee weighs 7-10g.

Remove the filter and plunger assembly from the beaker and add your grounds to the bottom, leaving the filter and plunger assembly out. Assuming a typical 0.5 L french press at a 1:15 ratio, you would have approx. 500 g of water and 33 g of ground coffee.

3) BREW - Bring your weighed water up to approx. 200 F (or a low boil and let set for a minute or two to stop it from actively boiling) and add it to your beaker and grounds and mix with a spoon. With the filter and plunger still off, let your coffee steep for 4 minutes.

4) Take the Plunge - After 4 minutes of steeping your grounds, put the filter/plunger assembly on the beaker and SLOWLY depress the plunger until the grounds are almost compressed at the bottom. Do not compress the grounds however, or fines will get into your end coffee making it thick, grainy, and bitter.

5) DRINK - To keep from agitating the grounds and them getting into your cup, slowly pour from the beaker into your favorite Sollevato Coffee Mug and enjoy!

Tips

French press coffee is great because it's easy and for many, their first experience into the world of non-auto drip coffee. There are some considerations to take though:

  • Turn down the heat - Allow the water to reduce from an active boil to keep from burning your grounds before you even get started!
  • Keep that thing clean - Clean your french press regularly with a sponge and mild dish detergent. Too easy to ignore.
  • Use medium/medium coarse grounds to keep from over extraction. Reference our "Grinding Your Bean" section for a size scale. When selecting "Ground" on your next Sollevato Coffee beans purchase you will receive a medium to medium-fine grind for most of our blends.