How to Brew the Most Delicious French Press Coffee
Making French press coffee is so easy, you can be half asleep and still nail it
by team AGNPA carafe of French press coffee adds a certain je ne sais quoi to any table, whether you’re brunching at home or al fresco at a favorite spot in the city. But despite its air of sophistication, it’s actually one of the most straightforward and accessible ways to brew coffee. (The only easier way is brewing with a drip coffee maker, which honestly isn’t worth the massive step down in quality.)
French press simply involves steeping grounds in water, then separating them out with a fine metal mesh to produce a well-balanced and full-bodied coffee. Here’s how to make the perfect cup of French press coffee at home.
Pros and cons of French press coffee
Making French press coffee has two primary advantages over other methods: control and batching. “French press is my preferred method for making larger quantities of coffee at once while not having to stand over your pot the whole time,” says AGNP founder Patrick Janelle. “This is the way to go when you're entertaining.”
Advantages of French press
Control: Unlike true set-it-and-forget methods like drip, you can easily tweak the coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, brew time, and more to adjust the flavor to your preference.
Flexibility: French press is more forgiving than methods like pour over—you don’t have to be as exact with your ratios for a good cup.
Easy brewing process: Once you’ve established your ratios and brew time, the process couldn’t be easier: mix the water and grounds and let it sit. That’s it!
Batching: If you have a big press, you can easily make large amounts of french press coffee at once.
Disadvantages of French press
Fussiness: With control comes some degree of fussiness. Tweak the coffee to water ratio too much or use too fine a grind on your beans, and you may get a watery, overly strong, or gritty cup.
A more rustic cup: Because the grind of the beans is more coarse and the French press filter is made of metal mesh and not paper, the resulting coffee tends to retain more body and even a little of the grit from the ground beans. But depending on your preference, this may not actually be a disadvantage.
What you’ll need
High-quality coffee beans
According to coffee expert Chi Sum Ngai, cofounder of Coffee Project NY, your cup of coffee will only be as good as the coffee beans you use. Any roast profile works, but because the French press is meant to create a richer, fuller-body coffee, Sum prefers a medium roast.
A burr coffee grinder
For the freshest cup, grind your coffee immediately before brewing. It’s essential to use coarse ground coffee here—think breadcrumbs or kosher salt. This size absorbs water slowly as it steeps, ensuring that the flavor doesn’t get too strong. Fine grinds release their flavors too quickly, and those smaller particles can get through the filter, clouding the result.
A burr grinder will produce the consistently sized, coarse grinds you need. In a pinch, you can pulse your beans with a blade grinder, but the results won’t be as even or precise. Or ask your favorite cafe to grind your coffee with their commercial-grade equipment.
A digital kitchen scale
You can use measuring cups and spoons, but a digital scale streamlines the process and ensures a great cup of French press coffee every time.
A French press
Your French press coffee maker can be a great way to show off your personal aesthetic.
Timer
While you can adjust your brew times, you should still keep track of them: too long and your coffee will become bitter, not long enough and it’ll be weak. Zeroing in on the right time for your taste makes all the difference in achieving a perfectly balanced cup of coffee.
How to make French press coffee
Boil your water to about 205 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re using a 32-ounce press, you’ll need about four cups of water, plus a little extra to rinse the press.
Measure your coffee. The most straightforward route is to start with 1/2 cup of coffee for four cups of water. But if you’re nerdy about your coffee prep like we are, Sum suggests a coffee to water ratio of 1:15 for a stronger cup, and 1:20 for a weaker cup.
“For every gram of coffee you use,” she says, “add 15 to 20 grams of water.” So if you start with four cups of water (which weighs about 946 grams), you’ll need between 52 and 63 grams of coffee (about 1/2 cup), depending on your preferred ratio.
Following these steps to a tee will help you find your bearings, but in the end, simplicity is what we love about French press. As the process becomes more and more familiar, you’ll be able to eyeball the ratios and still have a totally satisfying cup of coffee. (We’d never recommend being this fast and loose with other brewing methods—French press is really where you have that freedom.)
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