Description
How to use a French Press (so easy!) – learn how to brew coffee using a French press maker!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups water
- 5–7 tablespoons freshly ground coffee (coarse grind)
Instructions
- Add water to small pot and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, add whole coffee beans to coffee grinder and set to medium grind. If you are using a manual coffee grinder, pulse until the grounds are in the middle of a coarse grind and super-fine. If the grounds are too fine the particles will clog the french press mesh filter, if they are too course the flavor won’t be as good.
- Remove boiling water from heat and let sit approx. 60 seconds (this allows the water to cool slightly so it doesn’t burn the coffee).
- Remove the plunger from the french press and add in the coffee grounds and then pour the hot water in. Give the water a stir to ensure all the grounds are mixed in.
- Place the lid on and let brew 3-5 minutes (3 minutes for slightly weaker coffee, 5 minutes for stronger coffee, 4 minutes for in the middle).
- Slowly push the plunger down to the bottom.
- Pour coffee into mugs and drink black or with your favorite coffee add-ins (we love homemade almond milk or homemade oat milk).
Notes
- Weighing Coffee: while some french press coffee recipes call for weighing your coffee grounds, we like to make our recipes as accessible as possible and weighing coffee grounds isn’t always an option for everyone. For that reason, we are sticking with measuring cups in this recipe. If you want more info on measuring check out this tutorial.
- 4 Servings: 3/4 cup beans + 4 cups water should result in 4 cups coffee (medium strength).
- Strength: everyone has their own personal preference when it comes to the taste and strength of their coffee so it may take a few experiments to get your own ratio and timing perfected. If you feel the coffee is too strong use more water and the same amount of beans, the same amount of water and less beans or use the same coffee/water ratio but don’t let it sit as long. Likewise, if you feel the coffee isn’t strong enough use the same amount of beans and less water, the same amount of water and more beans or use the same water/coffee ratio and let it sit longer.
- Coffee Beans: I highly recommend using whole coffee beans and freshly grinding them the morning of making your coffee.
- Grind Size: we are looking for a coarse ground coffee here.
- Water Temperature: you are looking for 195-205 degrees F.
- Brew Time: I recommend 4-6 minutes of brew time (4 minutes for slightly weaker, lighter coffee, 6 minutes for stronger coffee, 5 minutes for in the middle). If you brew longer than 6 minutes or so the bitterness might get too intense.
- Serving: serve with homemade almond milk or homemade pistachio milk!
- Storage: don’t let unused French Press coffee continue to sit .. it will only continue to brew and become bitter. Pour any leftovers out into a carafe or beaker and store, covered, in the refrigerator.