French Press
Overview
The French Press utilises the 'steeping' method of brewing coffee. Instead of using water passing through the coffee grounds, the coffee and water mix together to provide a uniform extraction of flavour and taste.
Filter Mechanism
The filter mechanism in a French Press is a metal mesh disc that filters out the larger particles of coffee, but tends to let the finer pieces through. This can be a good and a bad thing depending on your point of view - as it can lead to a thicker bodied coffee, but with more sediment than you’d get from other brewing methods.
Grind Profile
A coarse ground coffee will work best for this method.
Technique
- Grind 7.5g coffee per 100ml of water just before brewing begins
- Boil fresh water
- Place the coffee grinds into the bottom of the French Press and add the boiling water - At this time you could choose to place the French Press on a set of scales should you wish to be ultra-precise in your ratio: Science tip – 100ml of water = 100g in weight
- Leave the coffee to brew for 2 minutes – don’t agitate or stir it during this time
- Take a large spoon and stir crusty coffee top – the coffee should now drop to the bottom of the press
- Scoop off the remaining floating sediment and discard
- Allow the coffee to continue brewing for another 3 minutes
- Place the plunger in the French Press chamber - slowly and steadily press down
- Serve and enjoy
