French Press Coffee Brewing Techniques: Understanding the Differences Between French Press and Espresso Coffee

Introduction

Recently, while chatting with customers, FrontStreet Coffee noticed that many coffee enthusiasts want to buy an espresso machine to make Americano or latte at home, but are discouraged by the price. People buy espresso machines mainly to get a rich coffee base, then add their preferred ingredients according to taste. That rich coffee base, however, does not necessarily require an espresso machine -- a French press can do it.

Do You Really Need an Espresso Machine to Make Espresso?

Without an espresso machine, we can understand espresso as a very concentrated brew. So whether you use drip or immersion brewing, you can obtain high-concentration coffee by reducing the coffee-to-water ratio. Of course, coffee made this way cannot be compared to espresso from an espresso machine. Whether made in a French press or by pour-over, the richness and body of high-concentration coffee still do not match true espresso, and it cannot achieve the golden crema found on espresso.

Little Science: What is the Crema on Espresso?

When an espresso machine extracts espresso, the coffee grounds are ground extremely fine and extracted under high pressure of up to 9 bar. When hot water passes through the coffee puck, the carbon dioxide in the grounds cannot be released because of the high pressure, creating a supersaturated state where the water cannot release the CO2, which dissolves directly into the coffee liquid. The high pressure also forces the oils contained in the coffee to separate from the puck, and the hot water carries them out.

After extraction is complete, when the coffee liquid flows out of the machine, atmospheric pressure returns to normal. The carbon dioxide still remaining in the coffee liquid prepares to return to the air, but meets the oils in the liquid. The oils trap the carbon dioxide attempting to escape. That is how this layer of crema forms.

Although French press espresso does not have golden crema, it can retain the coffee's original oils. Unlike drip coffee, with no paper filtration the oils and very fine particles stay in the cup, giving a smooth mouthfeel but lacking some clarity.

How to Make Espresso with a French Press?

Normal French press black coffee typically uses a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio to directly extract coffee of an appropriate concentration. Since it requires 4 minutes of steeping, the grind size is 75% retention on a #20 sieve (coarse sugar size) to avoid over-extraction. Making espresso with a French press, however, requires a low coffee-to-water ratio to extract high-concentration coffee liquid. Use 20 g of coffee at a 1:4 ratio to extract 75-80 g of coffee liquid. The grind size needs to be relatively finer, with 80% retention on a #20 sieve (fine sugar size), water temperature at 92C, and, since the grind is finer, steeping time reduced to 3 minutes.

How to Make Americano with a French Press?

Coffee made in a French press is considered black coffee and cannot be called Americano; the overall experience is similar to pour-over coffee. FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate how to make black coffee using Ethiopian Natural Red Cherry in a French press, using a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, a grind size of 75% retention on a #20 sieve (coarse sugar size), water temperature at 94C, and 4 minutes of steeping time.

Pour the ground coffee into the pot, then add 225 ml of hot water. Pull up the plunger, cover with the lid, and wait for 4 minutes. Then slowly press the plunger down until the metal filter reaches 1/4 of the pot height, preventing fine particles at the bottom from rising to the top. After extraction is complete, pour out all the coffee liquid before tasting, to avoid the grounds continuing to extract and making the coffee bitter.

Coffee flavor profile: a full-bodied texture like berry juice, with noticeable sweetness and a black-tea-like aftertaste, overall rich and robust, but lacking clarity.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A few rules of thumb from FrontStreet Coffee: the French press is a full-immersion brewer with a metal filter, so the coffee keeps more of its oils and lands heavier and fuller in the mouth -- which is also why it is not the tool for anyone who dislikes sediment or fine particles.

Because immersion keeps the grounds in contact with hot water for longer, the method suits medium and dark roasts better than light ones; a light roast tends to pull out higher acidity that masks its floral and fruit notes. FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling is a natural fit. It is screened with three hand sorts and one machine sort so the beans stay even and translucent, and at a medium-dark roast it gives spice, caramel, cedar, and dark chocolate, which arrive thick and oily in a French press.

If you prefer something perfumed and sweet, the Strawberry Candy Geisha blend -- a Costa Rican honey process combined with washed Panama Geisha -- shows rose, citrus, grape, and dried blueberry in the pot, and turns to strawberry gummy when you add milk.

For the grind, FrontStreet Coffee suggests coarse sugar -- EK43s setting 10.5, or 26 on a hand grinder -- closer to small gravel than fine sand, since too fine a grind lets particles through the metal filter and leaves sediment in the cup. Use a 1:15 ratio (15 g of coffee to 225 g of water), which lands around 1.1-1.2% strength. For water temperature, water boiled and rested 2-3 minutes sits near 90C; because the French press is filled in one go with no stirring to lift extraction, FrontStreet Coffee suggests running 1-2C above your usual pour-over temperature. Start with a 4-minute steep, then press slowly and pour carefully so the grounds at the bottom stay put.