How to Brew the Best French Press Coffee
A good cup of coffee starts with the best preparation. For french press owners, this means making sure you’re blending the right amount of ground coffee with water. The soaking method means there’s an ample amount of time to extract flavors from the coffee without running the risk of burning.
We’ll go over what you need to do to make what we think is the perfect cup of french press coffee.
What You’ll Need
- Fresh-roasted coffee
- French Press capable of 34oz
- Scale capable of measuring in grams
- Burr coffee grinder
- Kettle or other means to bring water to a near boil
- Wooden spoon
- Timer
1. Grind Beans
With your favorite grinder, our favorite for most people is the Oxo Brew Conical Burr Grinder, coarsely grind 56 grams of beans. The ground coffee should have the consistency that resembles bread crumbs.
2. Warming the Press
With your french press in hand, run as hot of water as you can get out of the tap through it. We’re warming it up to keep the heated water we’ll add later from cooling too much during the brewing process. Let that water sit in the french press for 30 seconds.
If you’d like, and your water heating method can support extra water, feel free to use the water we’ll heat in the next step to warm your press.
3. Heating Water
Heat 34 ounces of water using your kettle or other water-heating method until it reached 205 degrees Fahrenheit or 96 degrees Celsius. Temperature is incredibly important because water that is too cool won’t fully extract the flavors and oils from the coffee. Water that is too warm can burn the grounds and create a bitter, unpleasing flavor.
4. Brewing
Once your water is at temperature, add your ground coffee to the warmed french press. Fill with half of the water, slowly over 20 seconds, by pouring in a slow stream directly onto the ground coffee. There should be enough water to ensure all the grounds are covered.
Wait 40 seconds before staring, then spend 10 second stirring, ensuring all the grounds are saturated and evenly blended.
Fill the press with the remainder of the water over another 20 second period.
Once the french press is full, cover it and set your timer for 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
5. Enjoy!
Once the timer finishes, start pressing. Do so slowly until all the grounds are pressed.
Pour into your cup of choice and enjoy! We recommend pouring the rest of the coffee into a different container to prevent the grounds from continuing to brew in the french press.
Your Source for Fresh-Roasted Coffee
Kenmore Coffee Company is a small business dedicated to making sure everyone has access to the best quality coffee. Our coffee is hand-roasted using manual equipment (no fancy computers, here) in small batches. When your coffee arrives at your door, it’s as fresh and delicious as possible.