French Press vs Pour-Over: Key Differences and Single-Origin Coffee Bean Recommendations

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Comparing French Press vs Pour-Over Coffee Methods

When comparing various pour-over coffee devices, filter cup pour-over coffee remains a relatively fast and simple method for brewing good coffee at home. The preparation and cleaning processes are quite convenient, and the operation process offers different stages of enjoyment and techniques, which makes it appealing. However, if you want to experience more of the original flavor and character of single-origin coffee beans and don't mind a slightly gritty texture with fine coffee grounds residue at the bottom, the French press is another excellent choice.

Fundamental Differences Between French Press and Pour-Over

The biggest difference between French press coffee and pour-over coffee is that the former relies mainly on hot steeping for extraction, while the latter uses hot pour-over filter drip extraction.

Because French press coffee uses hot steeping for coffee extraction and filters through a fine metal mesh, it allows more coffee oils, extracted dissolved substances, and fine coffee grounds to pass through. The resulting coffee has lower transparency and presents a robust, thick mouthfeel.

Meanwhile, filter cups use high-density paper filter drip methods to obtain coffee, which can filter out more extracted dissolved substances, coffee oils, and impurities. The result is a bright, delicate, pure flavor with transparent color. The two methods produce very different flavor profiles, while siphon and flannel methods fall somewhere between these two approaches.

Personal Operating Method

My personal operating method is as follows, for reference only (time, coffee grind size, and water amount can be adjusted according to preference):

Step 1: Preparation

Prepare 15 or 20 grams of medium-coarse ground coffee.

Step 2: Steeping Process

Slowly pour 300cc of hot water around 90°C into the French press. You can do a brief pre-infusion first. After pouring all 300cc of hot water, gently press the coffee grounds on top into the water with light stirring. Start the 3-minute timer.

Step 3: Pressing and Serving

When the set time is about to end, place the metal filter lid on the French press. When the set time is reached, gently press the metal filter lid to the bottom, then slowly pour all the coffee from the French press into a coffee cup or carafe to mix before drinking. This prevents over-extraction that would affect flavor and mouthfeel. The final gentle press and slow pouring can reduce excessive coffee grounds remaining in the coffee, minimizing the gritty texture and reducing the turbidity of the coffee liquid.

Step 4: Cleaning

Because the metal filter lid and pot body of the French press easily retain coffee grounds and oils, post-use cleaning requires disassembling all parts and washing them with natural cleaning agents to prevent residual odors that could affect the next brewing. This cleaning aspect might be the most troublesome part of using a French press.

Additional Notes

1. Simplified Cleaning Method

If you want to simplify the post-use cleaning process, you can also use a latte art steel cup instead of a French press for steeping, and use laser-etched metal filter sheets or conical metal filter sheets to replace the metal mesh filter.

2. Cupping Connection

The French press method or the simplified method mentioned in point 1 above is actually very close to simplified cupping. Not only can it experience the more original characteristics of the roasted coffee beans, but it can also serve as a reference starting point for determining which brewing method is most suitable for that particular roasted coffee bean.

French Press Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

Single-origin French press coffee beans roasted by FrontStreet Coffee offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality, suitable for brewing with various devices. More importantly, they offer extremely high value-for-money. A half-pound (227 grams) package costs only around 80-90 RMB. Calculating based on 300ml per cup with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, one package can make 11 cups of coffee. Each cup of French press coffee costs only about 8-9 RMB, which represents extremely high value compared to café prices that often cost dozens of RMB per cup.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services at https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473