French Press Brew Guide

Step 1: Plan the coffee

Beautiful things always start with a good plan. You cannot brew a delicious coffee without knowing what you are doing.

In this brew, we are aiming:

Coffee Dose: 30 grams

Coffee to Water Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 100 celsius

Water Amount: 450 grams

Total Brewing Time: 4 minutes ± 10 seconds

We use a higher temperature water and longer brewing time to make a French Press coffee because we want a bold, rich and round textured coffee. 

Step 2: Grind the coffee & Put coffee grounds into the plunger

Immerse the whole coffee beans into water does not work, you need to grind it to extract coffee flavours

How to set my grind size:

Check out the recommended grind size for French Press on your grinder, start from the middle grind size and adjust it later

Here’s the recommended grind size of some grinders:

Timemore Chestnut C2: 26-30 clicks

Commandante C40 MK4: 30-36 clicks

1ZPresso Kpro/Kplus: 90-100 clicks

How to choose my coffee grinder >

Step 3: Set water temperature at 86-88 degree celsius

As French press is a full-immersion brewing method, we need patience for the flavours to release

How to choose my French press:

There are several aspects that should be considered when buying a French Press plunger, including material, serving size, and filter efficiency.

Material affects the heat retention of the coffee while brewing; we would like to maintain as much heat as possible so that we can control the extraction better.

Filter efficiency should always be considered because it affects the size of the coffee grounds being filtered out of the coffee. For a French Press, we embrace the coffee oil that gives us better aroma, body and the aftertaste.

Step 4: Tare the scale and ready to brew

A scale is an optional tool for controlling your brew, you can still sense your coffee and brew well without a scale

Under-extracted coffee:

Acids and fats were extracted at the beginning of the coffee extraction. If the water does not have enough opportunity to break down enough sugars to balance, we called it under-extracted coffee, which is normally acidic and sharp. 

Over-extracted coffee:

Plant fibers will be extracted at the end of the coffee extraction. If the coffee is over-extracted, you will feel your coffee is bitter and harsh with a thin body because the coffee grounds are not releasing any flavour when you put too much water in it. 

All minerals were extracted at any stage of extraction, while the proportions are different. 

Step 5: Brew your coffee

Should I pour in circles or do I need to stir or swirl? There is no correct answer as long as you’re happy with your coffee

Frech Press Techniques:

French Press is an easy and convenient way to brew coffee, the only thing you need to do is pour the correct amount of water and show your patience, let the coffee release its flavours and you can enjoy it. 

Here are some of the tips for the French Press:

1. Evenly saturate the coffee by pouring in concentric circles

2. Swirl the entire French Press to let coffee saturate evenly

3. Wait for the brewing time is up and swirl the French Press

4. Press down the plunge and your coffee is ready

Step 6: Enjoy your coffee

Press down the plunge when the time is up or use your nose to sense your coffee’s extraction

Ending Techniques:

Keep an eye on the timer when the planning time is up. Alternatively, use your nose to sense the coffee grounds, if you feel the bitterness coming out, quickly press down the plunge, otherwise, you will get a harsh, bitter coffee that ruins the whole experience.

After you pour out the coffee, you will find some coffee oil floats on the coffee, that is because the metal filter is not fine enough to filter out the coffee oil. However, the coffee oil helps increase the aroma, body and the aftertaste of the coffee.

Before you taste your coffee, smell and feel the aroma first. Drink your coffee and take a breath after you swallow, you’ll feel many flavours coming out from your nose and mouth.