French Press Coffee Guide: Ratio, Temperature Parameters, and Step-by-Step Instructions for Immersion Extraction

"What coffee brewing equipment is suitable for coffee beginners who don't know how to pour-over?" When faced with this question, FrontStreet Coffee first recommends the French press, which is easy to operate and convenient. What makes the French press so appealing that it can win over coffee enthusiasts who can't pour-over?

French Press Coffee Extraction Principle

The French press originated in France around 1850. It's a simple brewing device composed of a heat-resistant glass body and a metal filter with a plunger. The device was originally invented for brewing tea, but someone had the innovative idea to put coffee grounds in it and discovered that the brewed coffee was remarkably rich and mellow. After reducing the pore size of the metal filter, the French press became widely used by coffee enthusiasts.

The French press mainly extracts coffee through immersion. Within a fixed capacity, a certain amount of water evenly dissolves substances from the coffee grounds. During the extraction process, the main influencing factor is time. The longer the immersion time, the more substances are extracted from the coffee until it reaches saturation - that is, the longer it brews, the stronger the flavor.

At this point, some friends might ask FrontStreet Coffee: "Will the long immersion time of a French press extract undesirable flavors?"

When we say "long time" here, we don't mean actually soaking for ten or twenty minutes. Generally, the immersion time for a French press is 4 minutes, the water temperature for brewing coffee is set between 88°C-91°C, and the coffee grind is relatively coarse. Since the glass body of the French press doesn't retain heat for very long, the water temperature will continuously drop during the immersion process. At the same time, the coffee grounds are coarser, so the flavor compounds are released slowly. Four minutes is the optimal immersion time for making coffee with a French press, but it should not exceed 6 minutes. After 4 minutes of immersion, press down the filter, and then pour the coffee into another container before tasting.

What are the characteristics of French press coffee?

1. Compared to drip pour-over coffee, immersion-style French press coffee has a richer and more full-bodied texture!

The French press filters coffee grounds through a metal filter, and the pore size of the metal filter is larger than that of regular filter paper. During the filtration process, it retains most of the coffee oils. FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that coffee made with a French press has a thin layer of oil on top. In contrast, common pour-over coffee is made by pouring water through the coffee grounds and high-density filter paper. When the coffee liquid passes through the filter paper, most of the oils are filtered out, and the resulting coffee is noticeably much cleaner. Although it's richer than pour-over coffee, it also leaves many fine coffee grounds due to the metal filter design. It's quite common to find coffee grounds at the bottom when drinking a pot of French press coffee.

2. French press coffee highlights the original flavor of coffee more prominently

The extraction method of the French press is similar to cupping, both being immersion extraction. The advantage is that it minimizes human factors and best represents the original flavor of the beans, making the coffee flavors more concentrated. What are human factors? For example, in pour-over coffee, the speed and height of pouring water can change the expression of coffee flavors, or different filter cups will produce different flavor expressions. However, this doesn't apply to French press - only three factors can affect the flavor of French press coffee: grind size, water temperature, and immersion time.

How to use a French press to make coffee?

For this brew, FrontStreet Coffee selected the Mozart coffee beans from the Costa Rica Musician Series. This is a coffee with fermented fruit notes, white floral aromas, and distinct sweet and sour notes. The brewing parameters are as follows:

Coffee amount: 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Medium-coarse grind (68% pass-through rate on standard #20 sieve)

Water temperature: 90°C

Immersion time: 4 minutes

First, preheat the French press with warm water, then discard the water. Pour the ground coffee into the French press, with a slightly coarse grind, then add 225ml of hot water (90°C). The pouring motion can be relatively quick (complete in about 3 seconds) to allow the coffee grounds to tumble and increase extraction efficiency. After pouring, lift the filter screen, put the lid on, and immerse for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, gently press down the plunger to about 1/4 of the way down the pot to avoid fine grounds at the bottom flowing to the top. After pressing, you can pour out the coffee liquid to enjoy.

Yes, making coffee with a French press is just that simple. How does the Mozart coffee taste when made with a French press?

After pouring the coffee, FrontStreet Coffee detected rich fermented notes of raisins, with a berry juice sensation on the palate, orange blossom aroma, distinct fermented characteristics, and a pineapple-like sweet and sour sensation.

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