An Introduction to Coffee Brewing Methods: How to Extract Flavor from Coffee Grounds

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FrontStreet Coffee - French Press Brewing Guide

1. Grind Size

Regardless of what grind size you use to grind coffee, you should use a high-quality flat burr or conical burr grinder, not a blade grinder, as this brewing method can easily lead to over-extraction. So what is the correct grind size?

We recommend using a coarser grind setting, somewhat like small pebbles rather than fine sand. If ground too fine, it might cause water to extract the coffee grounds too quickly. This might not be an issue for other immersion brewing methods, but if using a French press with too fine a grind, fine coffee particles might penetrate the metal filter, resulting in brewed coffee with a lot of sediment.

2. Coffee Amount and Water-to-Coffee Ratio

The water-to-coffee ratio is a simple formula, meaning how much water matches how much coffee grounds. A common ratio is 1:15 (for example, 15g of coffee grounds to 225g of water). You can start with this ratio and adjust the amount of coffee or water in subsequent brews according to your preference until you find your favorite ratio.

3. Water Temperature

Water temperature is another variable for experimenting with coffee flavor. If you don't have a thermometer, you can let boiled water stand for 45 seconds (adjust according to ambient temperature) and brew at approximately 90°C. If you want to control the flavor of your brewed coffee, we recommend purchasing a temperature-controlled pour-over kettle.

4. Brewing Time

Brewing time typically falls between 3 to 5 minutes. If brewing darker roasted coffee, 5 minutes might be too long; if it's light roast, 3 minutes might be too short. So we recommend starting with 4 minutes.

5. Brewing Process

Pour the ground coffee into a preheated French press, then slowly pour in hot water, ensuring all coffee grounds are saturated. Initially, use about twice the amount of water as coffee grounds to pre-infuse (for example, use 30g of water to bloom 15g of coffee grounds).

At 30 seconds, stir gently a few times, pour in the remaining hot water, and place the plunger on top. Don't press down yet. When the coffee grounds have steeped for 4 minutes, slowly press the plunger to the bottom and carefully pour out the coffee, avoiding stirring the coffee grounds at the bottom of the pot.

- If the plunger is somewhat difficult to press down, it means the coffee is ground too fine; if the coffee grounds settle and there's too little resistance when pressing, it means the grind is too coarse.

Knowledge point: 8-14 days after roasting is the optimal flavor period. The longer coffee beans are stored, the more you need to adjust the grind size.

Conclusion

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center that loves to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation just to help more friends fall in love with coffee, and we hold 3 discounted coffee events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest price. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for 6 years!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473