How To Make French Press Coffee

There are a million ways to geek out over coffee. But in the end, what we’re after is a hot, delicious cup of coffee to see us through the morning. A simple pleasure.

French press is one of the easiest, least expensive ways to make great coffee. Learn the essentials: here’s how to make a pot of great French press coffee.

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, it’s 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.

Troubleshooting French Press Coffee

There are two things that really muck up French press coffee: water temperature — boiling water that scorches the grounds, or tepid water that doesn’t extract fully — and badly ground coffee with too much fine grit that makes the pressed coffee muddy and bitter.

These are the two factors that, to me, are most commonly ignored and yet easiest to remedy. All you need is a sense of how hot your water is and a burr grinder.

→ Takeaway: Getting the temperature right is easy (just take the water off the boil and let it sit for a minute before brewing).

Why a Grinder Is Important for Good French Press

And then there’s the grinder. There aren’t many processes in the kitchen that truly depend on one gadget or tool, but good French press coffee is one of them.

Getting Geeky Over French Press

However, you can get a lot more technical and geeky than that over French press. Just take a look at the varying levels of instruction and minuscule attention paid to grams and brewing time at Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle, and Serious Eats. Whew.

Personally, I don’t feel that one needs to quibble over 40 grams versus 36 grams of grounds to water, or whether you should weigh your beans and water rather than measuring them by volume.

I have a hunch that some of you will argue with me about that, but if you are Into Coffee, then there are a million things to twiddle all the time. That’s part of the pleasure of coffee; like other things in cooking, you can improve and tweak to your heart’s content, and find a lot of satisfaction in it.

But if you’re just getting into French press, I think that this is the easiest method that includes the essentials but doesn’t get too geeky. If you are more comfortable weighing your coffee and water than measuring by volume, go to it! If you are persnickety about how long to brew which roasts, have at it! I’m right behind you.

But for now, let’s just talk basics. Because in the end, it’s just a cup of coffee, and I do hope that more of you will find your morning sustenance in a cup of French press, as it is really so delicious when done (mostly) right.

The ratio of Water & Coffee for French Press

The instructions below make 32 ounces, a common size of French press that makes about four servings. But what if you want to make more or less? Here’s a general guide to proportions by volume. Note that coffee beans are measured before grinding.

• 1 serving — 1 cup water (8 fluid ounces) — 2 tablespoons coffee beans
• 2 servings — 2 cups water (16 fluid ounces) — 1/4 cup coffee beans
• 4 servings — 4 cups water (32 fluid ounces) — 1/2 cup coffee beans
• 8 servings — 8 cups water (64 fluid ounces) — 1 cup coffee beans

by FAITH DURAND