French press

I just read a post by Jason H that mentioned his frustration with using a French Press.  I share his frustrations. I seldom use one because I am so inconsistent with it turning out a good cup of coffee.

Can anyone share some clear instructions?

Take all of this with a grain of salt because I'm not very picky about my coffee so maybe I'm drinking terrible coffee.  However somebody else may hate it. For our French press (and I honestly don't know how big it is, are they standard?) we use three rounded tablespoons of coffee and then we pour hot water almost up to the top and then after 3 minutes we push it down and then we drink it.  It makes about 3 mugs full.

Also our local coffee grinder can grind it for French presses for you. I think it's a slightly bigger grind. However, I don't notice that much difference between that and normal coffee I buy from the store.

EDIT:  if you have a really dark roast, maybe you'd want to add way less than three tablespoons. Also I'm attaching a picture of our French press next to a normal coffee maker for scale.

Hi Anna,

Thanks for the reply.  Of course, now I have to measure how much my French Press holds.   I suspect my “local” coffee grinder is 80 miles away.  So, that turns me into the default coffee grinder.

Very picky about coffee here.

1. Choose coffee ground for french press or espresso for max flavour.  Filter ground doesn't give as much flavour so you need more and the coffee tastes flat.
2. For ideal flavour, season the press.  Make coffee in it and leave it in there for 24 hours. I do this a few times.
3. Never use soap to wash.  Hot water and mechanical force (dish cloth without soap). Think of it like cast iron, if soap happens, reseason.
4. I find ceramic ones are best as they keep the temperature.
5. Don't let old coffee or grounds sit in the press more than 48 hours. But overnight is fine.

6. Real boiling water.  Hotter if that was possible.  Water temperature dramatically influences what flavours extract from the beans.  Boiling is considered minimum temperature in the coffee world (except for cold extract, etc)
7. Some suggest pre heating the press and I like the flavour this gives.  So I wash the press in hot water while the kettle boils (actually boils, not just north american tea temperature).  
8. The ratio of water to coffee changes the flavour.  I like one tablespoon per mug of coffee.  But play with this for your preference.
9. Add boiling water to coffee in press, stir rappidly.
10. Put lid on top of press but don't press down.  Timer for 10 min (experiment. between 5 and 12min)
11. Press down
12 enjoy

To ask a couple of  questions …what is a mug and what is a tablespoon?

Is the mug 6 oz, 8 oz, or something else?  Is the tablespoon out of the drawer or a real measuring spoon….is it rounded or level?

Thanks!

Tablespoon is 15ml ish level.     You can buy a Tablespoon measure at most grocery stores, although a big table spoon that comes in most cutlery sets is usually the right size.  If I round the tablespoon or level it depends on which coffee I'm using.  A tablespoon is a starting place.  From there you can adjust to taste.

I never measured the mugs.  But each of us have a different size.  Mugs usually are larger than a tea cup and smaller than a pint glass.  I have my mug for coffee.  Other family members have their coffee mugs.  The size that feels comfortable in othe hand and can be drunk before the coffee cools too much.

I suppose that's another thing.  Avoiding soap when washing the mug will improve flavour.  Except, some of the oils can go rancid, so I usually give it a deep clean every 4 months.

I gave the measurements I use.  Each person will like different flavours, so measurements need to be adjusted for the individual.  But "some" is too vague a starting place.

My preference is for extremely strong, maximum caffeine extraction, round, smooth flavours, avoiding acids (triangular flavour).  So I tend to go for Italian roasts.  But most people in north america seem to like more acidity (pointy flavour) in their coffee, so they would need different measurements.

Or you can go up a level of coffee snobbery from me and do what james does.



One of my jobs, i spent 6 weeks training how to coffee.  All the ways water interacts, temperature, ground, weight vs volume measurement, time ground interacts with water....so many things.  

The conclusions I drew

1. There is a place of diminishing returns.  Unless your joy comes from the ritual of making coffee.  For the rest of us, drinking is where the effort should go.
2. The paradox of making coffee without coffee is important to take into consideration when planning a coffee routine
3. I have permission to change the coffee recipe.   Make coffee.  Observe.  Adjust.  Repeat.  Eventually we discover how much control our actions have on the flavour.  It's a waste of time making coffe the "right way" if we don't like the flavour.

I have a French press but don't use it for coffee. It is relegated to making tea.

I used to be a coffee snob. It started because green coffee beans used to be available for a fraction of the price of roasted beans. In a wide variety as well. I would roast the beans and grind them every morning. It was fun to try all the different kinds of beans and roasting differences. Then green beans became just as expensive as roasted and it wasn't worth all the extra work anymore.

I've used the same french press as Anna's above for many years. I use the least expensive decent coffee I can get now. Go to would be Folgers 100% Colombian but even that has more than doubled in price on sale from what the regular price was a few years ago. So I'm no longer even that picky.

I pretty much do what the James in r ransom's video above does. Not usually waiting as long for the last step. For my taste I can make better tasting coffee with this method than any I can buy locally. My caffeine addiction is not that picky either.

Edited to include that I do not scoop anything off the top after stirring. I also second what r ransom says about only rinsing the press parts and deep cleaning only once in awhile. I always taste soap the first time after a wash no matter how well I think I have rinsed it.

French press is my go-to when traveling. All the hints above should produce a good tasting coffee.  Recent TV viewing of New Zealand TV series "Brokenwood Mysteries" had a hint that I haven't tried yet - coffee + the hot water, steep, then "wibble" before pressing.
The "wibble"involved gently shaking the pot from side to side to produce a "nipple" in the crema (the foamy stuff that comes to the surface)
I saw the "nipple" like the result of a water drop into a puddle.
Happy wibbling! 😉🍰and cake to go with.

Robert Ray wrote:I have a French press but don't use it for coffee. It is relegated to making tea.

We use ours for coffee on rare occasions, but most often use it instead of a milk bag to filter nut milk (almond or cashew).

I generally use a drip cone to make the single cup of coffee I drink in the morning. I do have a French press, and a perc pot when I need to make coffee for multiple people at one time. When using the French press, I'll add the coffee, then some boiling water and give it a good stir. Then add the rest of the water and add the lid and wait up to 7 minutes before I use the plunger. I like James' idea of pressing just to the water line, but I don't think it would work in my French press (which is the one that R. Ransom has).

For me, the biggest change to my coffee routine was when I started adding chicory to the coffee. I don't measure, and I don't grind the coffee daily. I have espresso beans from Segafredo Zanetti Espresso (an Italian outfit, doing business in Japan). I have a 10.5 oz Chock Full of Nuts coffee can that I use. I grind about 8 oz of coffee into it. Then I add about 2 oz of ground chicory. I stir or shake to mix the coffee and chicory before I pour it into the can (which sits in the 'fridge). The coffee lasts about a month or a bit more, depending on my travel schedule.  I find that the chicory mellows out the coffee. It's still rich and fragrant, but the bitterness and any other "off flavor" is gone.

I'm pretty sure some of you will be horrified at this rather casual approach to a cuppa Joe, but for me, my precise measurements go into other cooking processes. Chicory is pretty easy to get ahold of if you want to buy the ground and prepared product, but evidentially,  it's also a good "second crop" as it's sown in late June or early July.  Growing it and plowing it under seems to be good for the soil as well.

I would second experimenting a bit with times, grinds, temperatures and coffee-water ratios, because the replies above seem to show that it is mostly a matter of personal taste. Also, the type of coffee available locally, not to mention water chemistry, will likely mean methods have to be adapted a bit anyway. Even with the same methods and apparently similar coffee, I know the result tastes very different at home vs. on holiday somewhere with water that has been through limestone or chalk.

Nowadays I drink filter coffee mostly, but I used to use a press a lot - for which I'd prefer quite coarse ground beans, medium dark roast - prewarmed press, about 1 part coffee to 6 parts water by volume (estimated), boiling water, stir, wait 3 min, stir, press! If the grind was very coarse, wait a bit longer.

As you can see, this is quite different from a few of the descriptions over, so it only proves that you'll have to experiment a bit to find the best method for your taste preferences, coffee and water.

Of course, coffee should taste good, but most of the time most of us wouldn't bother if it didn't have caffeine - which apparently, although there is much disagreement on details, is very soluble in boiling water, and will be largely extracted in 1-5 minutes depending on grind and temperature. Much less than 10 min anyway!

French press? It's all I use...and I live in France.

James video is excellent in a few regards, but can be made even better.

1. Slightly coarse grind, between espresso and medium. Roast and species per your taste, I prefer a medium-dark Arabica. When I lived in Portugal the locals preferred Robusto.
2. Water at a boil.
3. a measured scoop amount given the size of your pot. I don't weigh but that would be exact. I use the same pots and scoop and duplicate easily.
4. Pour in the boiling water and YES, let it just SIT for 4 minutes. (Great James advice)
5. Stir, to settle SOME floaters. (Great James advice)
6. DO NOT skim...because of the next step!
7. Put on the lid, resting JUST ABOVE the coffee, and let it sit again! (this second sitting after the stir and COVERING, changes the chamber pressure and SETTLES the float!

You will NOT experience difficulty pressing and you will not have grounds in your coffee.

I use the same size scoop each time, but vary the number of scoops depending on the size of my pot.

Jonathan W.

funny enough, Food & Wine just had an article about the French press yesterday.... https://www.foodandwine.com/french-press-guide-11891677 the article gives you a quick option or a geeky option. i'll share the quick one.... I use normal "boughten" coffee, and would warm the press with some hot water first....

quick option wrote:Start with a 1:14 ratio of coffee to water, such as 30 grams of coffee brewed with 420 grams of water. When an optimal cup of coffee is the goal, measuring by the gram helps achieve results.

Measure the coffee beans.
Grind fresh, to a medium grind.
Boil filtered water and pour.
Wait four minutes, then place the plunger on top and press for 30 seconds.
Press carefully so as not agitate the grounds back up into the coffee.
Pour into a cup and enjoy.

Personally, if the coffee is just for me I use my Moka pot, and if I need to make a full pot I'll do pour-over in a fabric or steel filter.
The French press is mostly used for filtering my cold brew!

r ransom wrote:Very picky about coffee here.

1. Choose coffee ground for french press or espresso for max flavour.  Filter ground doesn't give as much flavour so you need more and the coffee tastes flat.
2. For ideal flavour, season the press.  Make coffee in it and leave it in there for 24 hours. I do this a few times.
3. Never use soap to wash.  Hot water and mechanical force (dish cloth without soap). Think of it like cast iron, if soap happens, reseason.
4. I find ceramic ones are best as they keep the temperature.
5. Don't let old coffee or grounds sit in the press more than 48 hours. But overnight is fine.

6. Real boiling water.  Hotter if that was possible.  Water temperature dramatically influences what flavours extract from the beans.  Boiling is considered minimum temperature in the coffee world (except for cold extract, etc)
7. Some suggest pre heating the press and I like the flavour this gives.  So I wash the press in hot water while the kettle boils (actually boils, not just north american tea temperature).  
8. The ratio of water to coffee changes the flavour.  I like one tablespoon per mug of coffee.  But play with this for your preference.
9. Add boiling water to coffee in press, stir rappidly.
10. Put lid on top of press but don't press down.  Timer for 10 min (experiment. between 5 and 12min)
11. Press down
12 enjoy

Thanks for all your expertise r ransom.  I tried this method.... And it just tastes like strong coffee to me.  I'm afraid I'm just a watery coffee person and always will be. No wine tasting in my future either since I can't pick out subtle flavors.  That said, my husband could definitely tell a difference.  I think he described it like listening to a song with the reverb turned up.

EDIT:  I should try this method with Folgers.  I'd love to be able to elevate a mediocre coffee and save a bit of money.  I tried your method with premium coffee from the local roaster that was already pretty good. (Everyone knows it's a good present for my hubby so we always get some decent grounds at Christmas.)

im a coffee addict and my name is bruce. since there is no intravenous drip for coffee to go right into the body I use a French press.I was spoiled back in the 80's when columbian friends would have their suitcases stuffed with the finest columbian supremo freshly roasted and ground, before heading back to Miami. I am not fluent in espanol but they called it the red label. Yuban used to be good, today I believe it is inferior. until recently sams club columbian bean were about the best along with Costco columbian supreme beans in the silver 3lb bag. I use one of those coffee grinders from Walmart with the clear lid. fill it up. push down on the start switch for a few seconds till it sounds like there is no more big crunching going on. pour it in French press. 7/8" to 1" layer of sounds at bottom. pour in boing water while the kettle sounds like its going to blow the top off. while pouring water in be sure all the grounds get drenched as well as possible . let it sit while you gather the cup and your fixin's and doin's.
put the plunger in and press down slowly. if it is extremely hard to press down the coffee is ground too fine. pour in cup. a little raw sugar and half and half and I'm off to the races.
6 minutes is the maximum time coffee grounds should soak. all French presses are not created equal. for purity sake the best are pyrex glass with stainless plunger screen and top. Carlos used to exclaim if the coffee sits for more than 7 minutes after brewing without adding a dairy liquid a chemical change starts taking place and acid forms in it. ie; stale coffee.
this is just me, your mileage may vary

Barbara Manning wrote:For me, the biggest change to my coffee routine was when I started adding chicory to the coffee. I don't measure, and I don't grind the coffee daily. I have espresso beans from Segafredo Zanetti Espresso (an Italian outfit, doing business in Japan). I have a 10.5 oz Chock Full of Nuts coffee can that I use. I grind about 8 oz of coffee into it. Then I add about 2 oz of ground chicory. I stir or shake to mix the coffee and chicory before I pour it into the can (which sits in the 'fridge). The coffee lasts about a month or a bit more, depending on my travel schedule.  I find that the chicory mellows out the coffee. It's still rich and fragrant, but the bitterness and any other "off flavor" is gone.

I missed this when you posted it, can I ask how you came upon this blend, and how you determined the quantities?
I had chicory coffee ages ago while traveling, and I can get chicory here (large Adventist community that eschews caffeine). We occasionally get sub-par coffee and this seems like a good way to salvage it.
(I save my persnickety criticisms and voluminous praise for tea and fruit, mostly. Coffee, I'm not particular and generally when i want it it's mostly to dunk cookies in.)