How To Make Coffee In Press

How Long Should French Press Coffee Steep

To recap from the instructions above, we first pour in a small amount of boiling water, stir, and wait. Then we pour in the remaining water and stir again, and wait.3-4 minutes is the optimal window of time to get an average strength cuppa out of a coffee press.

If you prefer lighter coffee, finish the batch off a bit early. If youre a fan of stronger stuff, give it more time. However, I wouldnt give it TOO much time, as you may ruin the coffee by allowing it to over-extract and get bitter.

How Does A French Press Work

Its quite simple, really:

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The main part is the;beaker which is where you place your coffee grounds and hot water. Attached to the beaker are the base and;handle. These ensure you wont burn yourself or the surface you place it on. You have the;lid with the attached;filters and plunger. They are fairly intuitive to assemble, though, and the whole setup is quite simple.

The best part is: no need for paper filters. With French press brewing the grounds are directly soaked in hot water.

This means its a form of immersion brewing;;the coffee grounds are submerged for a few minutes in the hot water, rather than a few short seconds .

To get good coffee every time, it is important to know to disassemble and clean your french press. Aim to do this once per month. This really helps. Theres more to it than simply rinsing it out.

Ways To Filter Cold Brew

You want a smooth and coffee ground-free cold brew coffee. That means you want to make sure you filter the cold brew coffee through something that is strong enough to catch the coffee grounds but that wont soak up all your delicious cold brew coffee.

Here are a few different ways you can filter your cold brew coffee after you have let it steep.

• Basket Coffee Filters
• A very thin tea towel
• French Press (includes a fine sieve
• A very fine sieve

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How Long To Let Coffee Steep In A French Press

French press coffee should be allowed to steep for between 4 and 5 minutes. The shorter timeframe will result in less extraction, which will create brewed coffee thats brighter but has less body. The longer timeframe creates more body but less brightness. Anywhere in between makes a compromise between the two.

French Press Replacement Parts

French presses will wear and tear over time. Luckily, there are;replacement parts such as French press filter screens, beakers, and coffee plungers available to replace your worn parts.

Beakers can break with one slip, but the great thing about them is theyre universal in size and can fit in just about any standard press. This rule also applies to filter screens as well. We suggest replacing your filter screens one to two times a year to keep things fresh.

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Pros And Cons Of Using A French Press

A French press extracts more oils and sediment from the ground coffee than any other brewing method, which contributes to its robust flavor and creamy mouthfeel. Whether or not it becomes your preferred method of getting your coffee fix, consider these factors:

Pros

• Can be used to brew loose-leaf tea or cold brew

Cons

• Requires additional equipment
• Have to monitor water temperature, coffee grind size, and brewing time
• Needs to be served immediately to prevent over-extraction
• Potential health concerns

Note: The oily substances in coffee beans, called diterpenes, contain cafestol and kahweol. Since French press filters allow more oils to pass through, higher amounts of cafestol and kaweol get into your coffee compared to other brewing methods that use paper filtration, which is why some people wonder if French press coffee is bad for your health. According to Stefani Sassos, MS, RDN, CDN, Registered Dietitian at the Good Housekeeping Institute, The good news is that the research suggests that it takes five cups per day to show an increase in serum cholesterol and triglycerides. Sassos advice? Save French press coffee for special occasions and consume in moderation.

The Beaker Base And Handle

The beaker is usually made from glass but some models use plastic, metal or ceramic. Its purpose is to hold the coffee and water while it steeps and make it easy to pour the brewed coffee into your mug.

The configuration of the body and handle can vary depending on the materials used to make the French Press. We dive into these variations in the section about buying a french press.

The French Press is widely used because you do not need fancy equipment like a long neck kettle, a supply of paper filters or any electricity to brew with it. The minimum ingredients to make French Press coffee are hot water, ground coffee and a French Press.

The quality of coffee you brew will significantly increase with a few additional tools. Using a burr coffee grinder to freshly grind your beans just before brewing will make the biggest impact. Once coffee is ground it begins to oxidize and lose flavor which means pre-ground coffee is not an option if the goal is to make quality coffee.

A burr grinder will also produce a consistent grind with uniform particle sizes. This is especially important when making French Press coffee because the coffee grounds are steeped with the water for so long. If you have uneven particle sizes, like the ones produced by a blade grinder, the small particles will get over-extracted and the large ones will be under-extracted.

“What gets measured gets managed”

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How To Make French Press Coffee At Home

Perfect this simple pleasure.

There are seemingly endless ways to make a cup of coffee. From drip brew to cold brew, lattes to espressos, you can count on your local coffee shop to be brimming with options. But when it comes to brewing at home, you don’t have to have an elaborate machine to create a bold, elegant cup of your own.

One of the simplest ways to fill your mug may sound fancy, but it’s certainly not just for the coffee elite. French press coffee is easy, inexpensive, and offers the brewer complete control over their cup. There’s a reason it has somewhat of a cult following. Before you add a French press to your kitchen collection, here are a few essentials to know.

How To Choose A French Press

Because the French press is such a basic brewing method, few features actually change the profile of brewed coffee. The ones that do are whether the top has a lip that extends into the beaker and whether the beaker is double-walled. Both features are desirable from an extraction standpoint, because they reduce heat loss while the coffee is steeping.

French press selection is also highly aesthetic, though, because there arent a lot of features to look for. Find a press thats the right size for you and that you like the look of. Only go for the insulated model if you still really like the looks of it theres more difference in how models look than in how they perform.

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It’s Not Really French

What does a mug of French Press coffee and a slice of French Toast have in common?Considering their name, it may be surprising to learn they were both invented in a place better known for espresso. The first French Press was patented in Milan, Italy over 80 years ago and the classic design still persists to this day.

In this guide we will learn how to use a French Press to make rich and flavorful coffee to complement your French Toast, or breakfast of choice.

The Best Coffees For A French Press

The French press is highly versatile, and everything from a bright African light roast to a Sumatran dark roast will taste good when brewed this way. A couple of details should be kept in mind when brewing any coffee this way, though.

First, the water temperature profile is ideally suited to bring out the most nuanced flavors in specialty coffees. The waters initial boiling temperature will extract the acids and other compounds that create a bright or complex cup. The quick cooling of the water prevents over-extraction of bitter compounds, which would cover the more delicate desirable notes.

Second, the mesh screen isnt as effective as a paper filter. Although most coffee grounds are pushed to the bottom, extremely small grounds called fines will escape around the edges of the screen and end up in the final brew.

Fines can generate subtle over-extraction as they sit in a cup of coffee, but this aspect can be addressed or taken advantage of. When brewing a bright and clean coffee, drink the coffee right away before the fines can generate any noticeable over- extraction. If brewing a coffee thats supposed to be strong and bold, the further extraction of the fines will only enhance these characteristics.

Thus, no one coffee is best suited for the French press. Any decent coffee will taste good in it, but there are a couple of nuances that will help yield the best results possible with any given coffee.

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French Press Coffee To Water Ratio

What is the best French Press Ratio?

The answer is, it depends on your taste. The first step in using the French Press ratio chart above is to decide how strong you want your coffee. Strength is calculated by the ratio of dissolved coffee to water that ends up in your mug, also known as total dissolved solids .

The strong recipe is best for adding milk, sugar or other condiments while the Mild recipe is good for exposing finer flavors when drinking coffee black. Once you pick a brew strength follow that row over to find the recipe for a 3 cup French Press and 8 cup French Press. For example, to brew an 8 cup French Press at Medium strength would require 68g of coffee and 900mL of water.

It can be helpful to write down the measurements you want to use in the step by step instructions below.

If you want to brew a different amount of coffee, instead of an entire French Press, checkout the French Press Ratio Calculator;we made.

Whats The Right French Press Ratio

There is no one-size-fits-all ratio. There is a huge spectrum of tastes and preferences, variations in coffee beans, differences in roasts, etc. that can make each batch of coffee entirely different. So start with a ratio, and then adjust from there based on how it tastes.

RULE OF THUMB;;Use a;1:15 ratio;of coffee to water. For every one gram of coffee you need 15 grams of water, which is about 3 tablespoons of coffee for 1 cup of water.;Start here, as this will be on the weaker side, so you can always add a little more coffee if you find it to weak.

Below, youll find a French Press ratio calculator + chart.

How to use the calculator:;First, click the red number under how much coffee do you want to brew in fluid ounces? and enter your number. Refer to our table above if you need to:

Next, click the red number under how strong do you want your coffee? It has a range for strength, from 1 to 7.

• 1 = Strong;
• 7 = weak

An example ;If I have a 3 cup coffee maker, and I want to make a strong brew, Ill enter 10oz. for the amount of coffee I want to brew, 1 for the strength, and the calculator will give me a ratio of 1:10. The calculator will tell me exactly how much coffee and water to add, in customary and metric units. Cool!

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How To Clean Your French Press

So you made your coffee and you drank it too! While making coffee in a French press gets you some really tasty coffee, it also leaves you with a bit of a mess.

To ensure quality coffee in every brew, its important to know how to clean a French press properly. Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to clean a French press.

Cleaning a French press regularly, will ensure pure and pristine coffee every time.

How To Make Iced Coffee At Home

As the weather starts heating up and people start heading to the beach and enjoying the warmth, hot coffee loses some of its appeal. Many people turn to iced coffee during the warmer months as a way to cool off and still enjoy the flavor and energy-boosting effects of coffee. Unfortunately, making iced coffee at home isnt as easy as throwing some ice cubes in your coffee and calling it a day.

In this article, well show you two easy ways to make iced coffee at home. A few pitfalls are important to avoid if you want to make good-tasting iced coffee that isnt weak and watery. If youve tried to make iced coffee at home with disappointing results, this guide is for you.

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The Pros And Cons Of French Press Coffee

French press makes coffee by steeping the grounds in hot water, and then pressing the grounds out.

After the drip coffee maker, its one of the easiest, least time-consuming ways to make a great cup of coffee. Also, unlike pour over and the Aeropress, it makes it easy to brew coffee for several people at once. But it is prone to bitterness and oiliness, since the coffee is sitting directly on the grounds for a period of time, and this can turn people off.

The Keys To Great French Press Coffee

If you’re new to the French press, you may end up with a slightly bitter or oily batch if you don’t do your homework. Typically, you can find what went wrong by examining to two commonly overlooked factors: water temperature and poorly ground coffee.

Lukewarm water or boiling hot water may fail to extract all the flavor or scorch your grounds. Luckily this fix is a cinch just let your boiling water sit for a minute before brewing.

When it comes to your grounds, it’s critical to grind your own. Typical store-bought coffee grounds are made for a conventional drip coffee machine. French press coffee requires even, coarsely ground beans that are relatively large. Anything too small will slip through the filter and land straight in your cup. Consider a burr grinder to avoid sediment at the bottom of your cup or ask your local coffee shop to grind your beans.

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Warming Your French Press Up

Next, you will be warming your french press up. This process will allow your French press to become warm enough to not cause a sudden spike in temperature when hot water gets added, meaning that you will have better control over the brewing temperature and also ensure that the sudden change in temperature doesnt damage the glass.

Since you will need hot water for the brewing process anyway, feel free to start your kettle and put a small amount of water aside when it becomes warm enough while letting the rest of the water come to a full boil.;

While you wont be using boiling water for your coffee, allowing the water to boil will give you time to continue to the next step while it cools down to the optimal temperature.

When your water is ready, remove the plunger, pour the warm water into your French press, and let it sit there. Giving the water a little swirl will help heat to be distributed more evenly, so its a good idea to do that now and then.;

Warm water will slowly cause your French press to warm up and get ready for brewing as we continue with the rest of the steps.

How To Make Cold Brew Coffee: Experts Weigh

Die-hard cold brew coffee fans know it’s wildly different from iced coffee, which can be made by simply pouring coffee over ice or refrigerating leftover coffee. Cold brew iced coffee, on the other hand, is the beloved liquid resulting from the process of slowly steeping coffee grounds in cold or room-temperature water for a number of hours, resulting in a silky smooth, less acidic and highly caffeinated coffee.

And though making cold brew may sound complicated, with the right process, it can be ultra simple. Ben Helfen, education support specialist at Counter Culture Coffee, says it comes with a flavor of its own.

“There’s a comfort level with the flavor of cold brew, which often tastes very similar, even with different coffees, so most folks have a good idea of what to expect, which isn’t as true with espresso or hot coffee,” he says.

And then there’s the gear factor. “Espresso and hot concentrate poured over ice are more intimidating to the average consumer because they require brewing devices they might not have handy,” Helfen says. “Whereas, cold brew can easily be done in a Mason jar or French press.”

And when it comes to choosing specific coffee for cold brew, Trade Coffee director of coffee Maciej Kasperowicz says some roasts work better as cold brews.

Read on for Helfen’s easiest at-home cold brew primer.

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How Much Coffee Will My French Press Make

I dont know who invented the french press cup size system but they obviously did not have enough coffee when they did it.

You should generally get the following number of 9 oz cups of brewed coffee per each press size:

• How much coffee for 3 cup press 1 cup
• How much coffee for 8 cup press 3.4 cups
• How much coffee for 12 cup press 5.3 cups