French press
A French press method that makes a clean, full-bodied cup without the sludge: 30 g coffee, 500 g water, a long steep and a gentle pour.
What it does well
The French press steeps the grounds in all the water at once and separates them with a metal mesh. Because there's no paper filter, the coffee's oils make it into the cup: heavy body, rich texture, and a forgiving brew that's easy to repeat. It's a natural fit for chocolatey, nutty and natural-process coffees and medium roasts.
Its weakness is silt, the fine particles that slip through the mesh. The method below gives them time to settle.
Starting recipe
- Coffee
- 30 g, ground medium to medium-coarse (coarser than a pour-over, finer than you might expect).
- Water
- 500 g just off the boil.
- Ratio
- About 1:16.7.
- Time
- 4 minutes of steeping, then 5 to 8 minutes of settling.
Step by step
- 1. Steep
- Add the coffee, start a timer and pour all the water, making sure every ground is wet. Don't put the lid on yet.
- 2. Break the crust
- At 4:00, stir the crust of grounds on top with a spoon; most of it sinks. Scoop off the foam and the bits still floating.
- 3. Wait
- Leave it for another 5 to 8 minutes. The fine particles settle to the bottom and the coffee cools to drinking temperature.
- 4. Pour gently
- Put the lid on and push the plunger down only to the surface of the coffee, not into the grounds. Pour slowly, and leave the last bit in the press: that's where the silt is.
Adjusting
A French press is forgiving about time, so adjust strength with the ratio and flavor with the grind: coarser if it's bitter, finer if it's flat or sour. More in Ratio, grind and time.
Good matches: natural-process coffees and medium roasts.