French Press Coffee Bean Recommendations_Usage Tips_Best Coffee for French Press

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Coffee bean recommendations: not too expensive, not too bitter or harsh, with balanced flavors.

Tips for using the French press, including how many times to press and more.

The French press is remarkably forgiving when it comes to coffee beans. If you want a balanced cup that is neither too bitter nor too harsh, avoid dark roasts; light and medium roasts are the better fit. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate and FrontStreet Coffee's Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise, for example, are excellent choices when you brew with a French press.

The principle behind French press coffee is simple: the water and the coffee grounds steep together, and then the two are separated. The liquid left after separation is your brewed coffee.

I. Before You Brew

Coffee beans, a French press (four-person capacity), a coffee grinder, and 600 ml of hot water.

II. Brewing Steps

1. For a four-person French press, weigh out 40 grams of coffee beans.

2. Grind them coarsely, with particles a little coarser than white sugar.

3. Tip the grounds into the press and shake gently to level them.

4. First pour: add 400 ml of 92°C water and let it sit for one minute (this step plays the same role as the bloom in pour-over).

5. Second pour: add 200 ml of 92°C water.

6. Fit the lid and let it steep for three minutes.

7. After three minutes, press the plunger down slowly and pour to serve.

So that is how you make coffee with a French press. Simple, isn't it?

For French press beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Costa Rica (easy on the wallet) or Panama.

The grind size should be a touch coarser than sugar (a photo can help you judge it).

Steeping time and water temperature work against each other.

A good starting point is a total steep of about four minutes at 92°C.

Once the water is in, press the grounds down gently so they are all submerged. When you are ready to drink, press all the way down to filter.

After the first taste, adjust one variable at a time: if the cup is too weak, use less water, steep a little longer, press a few more times, or nudge the temperature up a little.

If the cup is too strong, work in the opposite direction.

For beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends Latin American origins such as FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia or FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil. Their flavors are comparatively balanced and will show some nutty notes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The French press rewards beans with a full body and gentle acidity, which is exactly where Brazilian coffee excels. FrontStreet's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic Brazilian single origin from the well-known Cerrado region; the Red Bourbon variety is common across South America, and under a medium roast it delivers rich aromas of cream peanut, toast, caramel and hazelnut over a round body that is not sour and carries only a light bitter edge. It is one of the most versatile beans you can keep on hand, working just as well in a French press as it does in a pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE or siphon. If you would rather have a little fruit alongside the sweetness, FrontStreet's Brazil Queen Estate comes from Mogiana, close to South Minas, where the fertile red volcanic soil feeds the fruit; it is a rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character, and you can taste sugarcane sweetness, fruit and chocolate that other origins simply do not offer. The Brazilian beans in FrontStreet's espresso blends follow the same logic: low acidity, balance and a friendly price, plus chocolate and cream aromas that keep extraction stable.

The French press holds on to more of the coffee's oils and body than a paper filter, so grind coarser than you would for pour-over, keep the water a couple of degrees off boiling, and pour slowly; because these Brazilian beans are low in acidity and full on the palate, they stay sweet and smooth even when the steep runs a little long.