French Press Brew Guide

French Press With a baratza grinder and cup
 
 

This French Press recipe is unique in the long steep time and the fact that you don’t use the plunge feature of the press. We adapted this French Press recipe from James Hoffman. If you need to adjust the recipe to serve fewer cups, we recommend a brew ratio of 1:16 (coffee:water).

EQUIPMENT:

8-cup french press

INPUTS:

55g coffee (Our grind size is #20 on Baratza Encore, about a medium grind, suitable for drip coffee)

900g fresh filtered water just off a boil (208f on a temperature controlled kettle)

BREWING STEPS:

  1. Grind your coffee and pour into the French press. Start a timer counting up from 0.

  2. Pour 900 grams of water directly into the coffee making sure to saturate all of the grounds quickly and evenly. At four minutes, gently spin the carafe in a circular motion until the crust begins to break up. Skim the grounds off of the top with a two teaspoons.

  3. Now leave the coffee alone for 4-6+ minutes. The fine particles will begin to fall into the bed of grounds at the bottom, the longer you wait, the fewer non-soluble particles will remain in the liquid - this is what we want!

  4. Place the lid on the French press but do not plunge. We want the plunger just sitting on the top of the brewed coffee, it will act as a filter for any large particles.

  5. Gently pour the coffee into the cup (hold the lid while pouring as it won’t be as secure without the plunger engaged)

  6. Will yield about four 8oz cups. Enjoy!

PRO TIPS:

If you leave the lid off the press while brewing - it will create higher extractions. The resulting coffee will be slightly cooler, however.

For hotter coffee, wrap the press in a tea towel and rest the lid on the top while brewing.