French Press: How-to Guide

A simple, classic device that brews a full-bodied cup characterized by essential oils and fine sediment. The French press has become a staple in many homes around the U.S. It’s simple to use and requires little effort on the brewer’s part.

Need:

French press

Coffee nerd options:

Grinder, scale, timer, thermometer

Recipe basics:

Brew time: 4 minutes

Temperature: 205 deg F

Grind setting: Coarse

Ratio: 1:14 coffee to water

Below measurements are interchangeable. For example, you can use 24 g of grounds to produce a 12 oz cup of coffee.

Size of Press	Coffee measurement	Water measurement
3 cup	24 g	350 g
	4.5 T	12 oz
4 cup	32 g	500 g
	6 T	17 oz
8 cup	64 g	995 g
	12 T	34 oz
12 cup	96 g	1490 g
	18	51 oz

The basics:

1. Add coarsely ground coffee to the press.

2. Add just enough hot water to fully saturate the ground coffee and allow the coffee to bloom for 30 sec.

3. Add the rest of your water before resting the plunger assembly on top of the carafe and waiting an additional 3 min. 30 sec.

4. Press slowly.

5. Fully decant into a mug or server in order to prevent overextraction. Enjoy! 

For further exploration:

• To minimize heat loss during brewing, preheat your press and mug. In addition, consider opting for a double-walled press or otherwise insulating the carafe.
• To minimize sediment in the cup, some coffee professionals recommend removing the crust that forms atop the coffee immediately before plunging.
• Plungeless French pressing. Pour through the [raised] screen to minimize agitation.
• Lastly, some people have experimented successfully with adding paper filters to the plunger’s mesh filter.