BREW GUIDE: French Press

What is a French Press? 

We find that French Press AKA cafetiére coffee or plunger coffee, can be the most sociable way to brew a taste cuppa. This is because you can easily find cafetiers for 4, 6 or even 8 people! When friends are over, we love to dig out our large French Press to treat everyone to a round of tasty coffee!  But how do I blow them away with my coffee know-how without a V60 or the flourish of a tamp? Well even with a French Press, you can impress, and we’ll take you though exactly how.  

Image: @zenchian

How to use a French Press

The aim of the game is to create a delicious coffee, without granules or coffee ‘sludge’ creeping in. The name of the game is patience! Here we take you through how to create the most delicious coffee from your French Press.  

You will need: 

• 10-16 grams grams of coffee per cup (you can increase and decrease depending on your taste!).

• Fresh, filtered water (around 100ml per cup).

• Gram scale.

• French Press. 

Here is our step by step guide to french press coffee. 

1. Preheat your French Press with a splash of water from the kettle. This will keep the temperatures consistent, for tastier coffee!

2. Grind your coffee to a medium-coarse grind, and pour into the press. You will need around 10-16 grams of coffee per cup of coffee depending on the strength you like. Use your gram scale at this point to keep things precise. 

3. Boil your filtered water and add the water to the French Press. As you pour, use circular motions to make sure all of the grounds are evenly wetted. You may need to pause as you come above the height of the grounds. Take a look at how evenly you have poured, making sure all the grounds are wet before you fill up with more water. 

4. Let it sit for 4 minutes

5. Stir the crust on top of the coffee, this is also called ‘breaking the crust’. This lets the grinds sink to the bottom. At this point you can also remove some of the crema, as this can bring a bitter taste.  

6. Place the plunger in and leave it sitting on the surface of the coffee. Leave the coffee for another couple of minutes if you can, as the longer we leave it, the better it will taste! Let the granules settle. 

7. Plunge down with the plunger very slowly so that no grinds end up in the pour. 

8. Pour out your coffees, and enjoy with friends! 

@madalyncox

Where to buy! 

The French Press is another brew method that has been around for epochs (well actually only since 1929!) and consequently there are lots of beautiful and well engineered options to choose from! Here are some of our favourites. 

1. Bodum

With Bodum you can find the perfect french press for your coffee making! There are all sorts of sizes, colours and materials to choose from. There are glass or stainless steel options. Have a look through, and you will definitely find one to fall in love with! 

1. Le Creuset 

If you want to add a little bit of class to your coffee serving, we love the Le Creuset French Press. We love to keep things colourful at RiSE so the options that Le Creuset have are so beautifully eye-catching, we had to add them to our list!