How to Make French Press

[MntnMan62]

This is helpful. I agree that you don't want to burn the coffee so let the water calm down before pouring. I use a kitchen scale to weigh my coffee and water and use a 1:13 ratio of coffee to water. So, 23 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water makes me two mugs of cafe au lait or one large mug of black coffee. As you say, brew time is important. 4 minutes tends to be a good starting point. Where I differ is once your done with the initial 4 minute brew. I stir the crust on top and remove the foam and any floating grinds. I then let it sit for another 7 minutes or so. This actually mellows the coffee. Not sure why. And I do not plunge at all. I just keep the plunger at the top of the liquid and use the screen as a filter. Plunging can result in bitter coffee because you can stir up all that stuff on the bottom. There is no need to plunge. This approach has worked for me now for years and makes me some delicious coffee.

[Scotto]

I was the same. I has been brewing just espresso and pour over and wanted to get into french press. I found this article really helpful, https://aboveaveragecoffee.com/how-l...-french-press/
I'm now opting for my french press most of the time

[MntnMan62]

I was the same. I has been brewing just espresso and pour over and wanted to get into french press. I found this article really helpful, https://aboveaveragecoffee.com/how-l...-french-press/
I'm now opting for my french press most of the time

I had not seen that article before so thanks for posting it. I use the James Hoffmann approach but their description earlier in the article about brew times has me thinking of extending my initial brew time by about 30 seconds. I may also grind more course than I have been. I've been grinding sort of fine. This has given me some things to play with to see if I can even improve a little on an already good thing.

One thing I find curious. Early in the article he says he brews using a 1:16 ratio. He then defines that by saying he uses 1 gram of coffee for every 16 millileters of water. So he's mixing weight with volume. I have been using a 1:13 ratio but I'm doing 1 gram of coffee for every 13 grams of water. Weight to weight. I find that curious and wonder if mixing weights with volumes makes sense. I suppose it doesn't matter how you get there so long as you are using consistent amounts of coffee and water each time you make your brew. But that just jumped out at me and made me scratch my head.