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french press

The French Press is a highly practical way to brew a robust mug of coffee for one or a crowd—it’s a true classic suggesting romance, bistros, and Sunday mornings. Follow these 6 easy steps for how to make a French Press to yield a thick, full-bodied cup of coffee.

things you'll need:

  • French Press
  • Timer
  • Boiling water
  • Small spoon
  • Coffee

things you’ll want:

  • A scale
  • Quality burr grinder

step 1: measure coffee

For a standard 32-ounce French Press

  • Measure out 53 grams coffee—that’s about half a cup of whole beans
  • Boil 800 grams (28 ounces or 3.5 cups) of water

Using a 12-ounce French Press?

  • All the steps remain the same, only the measurements are 18 grams coffee to 270 grams water or 3 tablespoons to 9.5 ounces by volume

step 2: grind coffee

  • Grind your coffee beans coarsely to a consistency similar to sea salt

step 3: saturate grounds

  • Put ground coffee into the French Press
  • Set a timer for 6 minutes, pour enough water to completely saturate the grounds, and start the timer
  • Stir gently so the grounds are evenly saturated

Pro tip

As with any brew method, the grounds should be “blooming”—the swelling and bubbling that are the sign of freshly roasted coffee. No bubbling bloom when the water is added means your coffee has already started to lose some of its fresh flavors…time to buy more beans!

step 4: steep grinds

  • Add the remainder of the water
  • Insert the press, pushing the cake of grounds just below the surface of the brew water

Pro tip

Go make some toast, you’ve still got around 5 minutes of waiting ahead of you.

step 5: press the filter

  • Once the timer beeps, gently “pump” the filter up and down one time
  • Then slowly press the filter all the way down

Pro tip

What you should see is the cake of grounds gently cascading to the bottom of the French Press. Once they’ve cascaded, press the filter all the way down.

step 6: enjoy!

  • Immediately decant all of the coffee out of the French Press—either into mugs or a thermal carafe
  • Close your eyes and imagine you are sitting on a veranda in Paris enjoying your coffee with a buttery croissant and a chocolate éclair

brewing essentials

Blue Ox

Hearty & Reliable
$11 – $58

French Press – 34 oz

$40

French Roast

Robust & Smoky
$11 – $58
Avatar image: owl illustration

Published by Peace Coffee on July 8, 2013.

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