Brew Guide: How to brew coffee with the French Press

The French Press – so simple, so tasty! In the following Brew Guide, we will show you how you can easily brew your coffee in the French Press in six steps.

The French Press, also known as the "press pot", originated in France and was invented around 1850. The patent, however, was only secured by the Italian designer Attilio Calimani in 1929, after he had improved the press pot over many years.

The French Press is a "full immersion" brewing method - which means that the coffee is in direct contact with the water during the entire brewing process. Compared to the filter method (e.g. V60), the coffee oils are not filtered out, which makes the coffee taste particularly tasty and leaves a full mouthfeel.

So simple – so tasteful

A big plus of the French Press is that you can brew a larger amount of coffee relatively easily and mistakes during the brewing process are more easily forgiven than with hand filters or espresso, for example. And at the latest with the help of our brewing recipe on the side, nothing can really go wrong!

What equipment you need

● French Press
● Kettle
● Coffee grinder
● Scale
● Timer
● Delicious filter coffee (e.g. our Santiago, Brazil)

Key data

● 30 g ground coffee
● 500 ml filtered water – 96°C
● Grinding degree: very coarse
● Extraction time 4 minutes

Easy brew in 6 steps

Step 1

Fill the French Press with filtered hot water to warm it up. This way, the temperature does not drop massively over the extraction process.

Step 2

For a 500 ml French Press, we recommend 30 g of coffee beans. Pay attention to the size of your French Press and adjust the proportion of water to beans correctly. The ratio of 60 g coffee to 1 L water is a good orientation.

Step 3

Boil the brewing water to a temperature of 96°C.

Step 4

Put the ground coffee into the French Press and pour all the brewing water in circular motions. It is important that the entire coffee bed is covered with water. Then stir 8-9 times and put the plunger on. Important: Do not press down the press.

Step 5

After 4 minutes remove the lid and skim off the foam floating on top. This is best done with two spoons. Then put the press back on. Again, do not press down the plunger so that the coffee is not stirred up again. The press only serves to prevent the coffee grounds from running into the cup during infusion.

Step 6

Now you can pour and serve your coffee. Note: If you don't pour the entire coffee directly into your cup, pour the remaining liquid into a separate container. If the coffee sits in the pot too long, it will extract more and may taste bitter.

Happy Brewing!

written by

Ken Braz

Ken is a senior barista at Röststätte Berlin and can usually be found at our café in Hackesche Höfe. In addition to his barista work for us, he also runs a coffee blog and is very active in the coffee community. In the Röststätte blog, he is your expert on the subject of brew recipes and his work as a barista.

website

www.roeststaette.com