The Ultimate Coffee Brewing Tool for Impatient Coffee Lovers: French Press | How to Quickly Extract a Perfect Cup of Coffee

【FrontStreet Coffee Barista's Notes】Quick Guide for Impatient Coffee Lovers - Using French Press | How to Quickly Extract a Great Cup of Coffee?

As an impatient coffee enthusiast, I've been researching how to use a French press to quickly yet fully extract a flavorful cup of coffee in the shortest time possible. Previously, we've covered French press operation methods, grind size settings, flavor differences between pre-infusion and post-infusion techniques, and conducted research on steeping times. Today, I want to explore how to quickly extract coffee in just 1 minute using steeping and stirring methods, and examine what kind of flavor profile this produces.

This time, we'll test using "Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha" beans to compare flavor profiles with different steeping and stirring times within 1 minute. The comparison times will be 10s, 20s, and 30s.

【Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha】

Country: Panama
Region: Boquete
Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda
Altitude: 1600-1800 meters
Processing: Traditional Natural
Variety: Geisha
Harvest: 2018

When we typically use a French press for extraction, we steep for 3 minutes. This serves as our flavor reference for this experiment.

Parameters: 89°C/1:15 ratio/15g coffee/grind size BG-6M (48% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Method: Pour water directly to 230g, wait 3'00" then press, total time 3'40" to complete.

Flavor: Citrus, jasmine, tea aroma, lemon, kumquat, honey, cream. Overall mouthfeel is relatively rich and smooth, with intense aroma and distinct layers.

For impatient coffee lovers like myself, waiting 3-4 minutes feels too long. So, can we shorten the extraction time to about 1 minute by stirring while maintaining the same grind size and water temperature?

Experiment 1: "Steep 30s" vs "Stir 30s" (pressing to complete pour takes about 30 seconds)

"Steep 30s"

Parameters: 89°C/1:14 ratio/15g coffee/grind size BG-6M (48% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Method: Pour water directly to 210g, steep for 30s then press, total time 1'00".

Flavor: Orange, citrus. Overall relatively light, with indistinct layers and insufficiently rounded acidity.

"Stir 30s"

Parameters: 89°C/1:14 ratio/15g coffee/grind size BG-6M (48% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Method: Pour water directly to 210g, stir for 30s then press, total time 1'00"

Flavor: Grapefruit, orange, green tea, jasmine fragrance, plum, juicy sensation, cherry tomatoes. Overall mouthfeel is relatively full, with distinct floral and fruit notes, clear layers, and persistent aftertaste.

After comparing "Steep 30s" and "Stir 30s" within about 1 minute, we found:

The "Steep 30s" coffee was under-extracted - the short time prevented many coffee compounds from fully extracting, resulting in a relatively light overall profile. In contrast, "Stir 30s" achieved a balanced extraction rate, delivering a fuller mouthfeel with distinct floral and fruit notes, clear layers, and persistent aftertaste.

Could combining stirring and steeping create a more complete flavor profile? What changes might occur?

Experiment 2: "Stir 20s, Steep 10s" vs "Stir 10s, Steep 20s"

"Stir 20s, Steep 10s"

Parameters: 89°C/1:14 ratio/15g coffee/grind size BG-6M (48% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Method: Pour water directly to 209g, stir first for 20s, steep for 10s then press, total time 0'39".

Flavor: Noticeable astringency, oolong tea, brown rice. Overall mouthfeel and flavor characteristics are not prominent, with indistinct layers.

"Stir 10s, Steep 20s"

Parameters: 89°C/1:15 ratio/15g coffee/grind size BG-6M (48% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Method: Pour water directly to 210g, stir first for 10s, steep for 20s then press, total time 1'02".

Flavor: Sugarcane, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, floral notes, nuts, green tea. Overall mouthfeel is relatively thin with insufficiently persistent aftertaste.

Through this French press stirring experiment comparison, we can clearly see that when comparing "Stir 20s, Steep 10s" and "Stir 10s, Steep 20s" both within about 1 minute:

In "Stir 20s, Steep 10s," I believe the longer stirring time and shorter steeping time accelerated the coffee extraction rate, causing easily soluble and less soluble molecules to fuse together. This resulted in coffee with noticeable astringency, unremarkable overall flavor, and indistinct layers. "Stir 10s, Steep 20s" performed relatively better, with longer steeping time concentrating flavors on fruit's sweet and sour notes. However, the shortest extraction time meant many compounds couldn't dissolve in water promptly, resulting in lower saturation and a thinner mouthfeel. This indicates lower extraction rate, but overall it's prominent in fruit sweet and sour notes, clean, and refreshing like drinking a glass of juice.

Conclusion

After experimental comparison, I personally feel that if you prefer the sweet and sour notes of fruit, with clean and refreshing juice-like sensations, I suggest you try the "Stir 10s, Steep 20s" method for brewing. If you prefer a fuller mouthfeel with richer layers, you can try the "Stir 30s" method for brewing.

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