I’ve been a closeted coffee guy for a couple years. I go out of my way to order beans I really like (a robusta variety called Indian Parchment), and this might be sacrilege on this board, idk, but I was perfectly happy running a Keurig with reusable cups I’d fill with my own grounds.
Now, I have access to a nice 1.5l french press. I looked up how to use it and it seemed easy enough so I gave it a shot, and sure enough even after my handful of fumbling attempts and some trial and error, my coffee is leaps and bounds better than what the Keurig can produce. So, here’s where I’m at:
I have a weird little antique hand crank grinder that, once I cleaned it up, actually works great and can produce a nice coarse grind. My press is a stainless steel 1.5L variety, can’t remember the brand, was given it by a friend. I like a strong cup so I aim for a roughly 13:1 ratio of water:ground. However, I’m without a food scale so I’m using a calculator to convert to cups and tablespoons. I usually put the grounds in first, then pour boiling water over top. Let it sit for about 3.5-4 minutes, then press, then pour.
I know my first step to really dial in my consistency is a scale, so that’s on the list. Any other tips to step my game up?
I really like James Hoffmann’s French Press technique: Hoffmann’s Ultimate French Press
This guide is the best. I highly recommend it.
I’ll definitely check that out when I get a few minutes, thank you!
The Hoffman video gets passed around a lot, but it’s not gospel.
The main drawback with his method is that at 8 minutes of brew time, it takes too damned long.
I find that a regular brew time between 3 and 4 minutes, depending on the grind size, freshness, and roasting style of the beans, works just as well.
The finer the grind, and the fresher the beans or grounds, the shorter the needed brew time gets.
Medium roasts are more “delicate” and become over-extracted, i.e. sour or astringent with longer brewing time past the aforementioned 3-4 minutes.
Darker roasts are more tolerant of longer brewing and can steep for 5-8 minutes without being over-extracted.
You’re doing pretty much everything right. The key is to zero in on the grind and getting consistent with that, keep the water temperature the same and brew with it right off the flame and personally I would “bloom” the grounds by getting them just wet enough to, well, they bloom you’ll see, then fill halfway, stir a bit with a spoon and then fill to the top and complete the brew.
I don’t think you need to bloom coffee grounds when using a French Press as you’re about to totally immerse the coffee in water anyway. It does look neat, though!
When our espresso machine kicked it I was using a French press again for a while and did the bloom thing for the first time based on some advice from who knows where. I should have done an A-B test comparing bloom to not bloom, because I’m skeptical that it matters.
Interesting, maybe just a preference thing? I’ll give it a shot either way to see what happens.
No idea but I’m curious to hear what you find!
Most coffee brew has some type of pre infusion with the hot water, espresso, pour over, dripper…if you don’t bloom you miss out on all the volatile oils that pop off the surface of the fresh grounds.
Trust. And pre infuse 🙏
Awesome thank you for the input. I do think I’m pretty happy with the grind, although I’ll look into adjusting that just to play around. I’ll also give your bloom method a try
A scale is pretty much the only thing you need. If you really enjoy it and want to go further, good quality hand grinders with steel burrs can be hand for under $100 now. Timemore C3 and Kingrind K2.
Let it sit for about 3.5-4 minutes, then press, then pour.
I think the steeping time should depend on the type of coffee and roast. A friend showed me their method for lighter roasts: 10 min steep -> stir coffee -> let sit for 5 more mins -> press and pour. The darker the roast, the quicker it will extract.
When it gets warmer: pour cold water over slightly more coffee than usual, leave it overnight in the fridge, press and pour. I doubt you’ll be disappointed if you like robustas.
Okay very good to know. I only read a brief blurb about steep times, they gave 4 minutes as a starting point so I figured I’d try that but this weekend when I have some more time I’ll try something different (I have an 8 pound bag of beans so I’m perfectly happy experimenting😅)
As for cold brew, I’ve done it quite a few times and been happy with it but never tried pressing it after, just poured it through a filter so I’ll give that a shot next time I do cold brew.
Note: I have no experience brewing or drinking robusta varieties or blends, but I figure the basics are the same/similar to arabica.
For immersion brew methods such as the French press, you get a huge dropoff in extraction rates as time goes on. A two minute steep will be massively underextracted compared to a four minute steep, but in my experience a four minute steep and a 10+ minute steep will be pretty similar in terms of extraction. A bonus of a longer steep time is that the coffee will be at a better tasting temperature.
