The French Press, or press pot, is one of the most widely used methods of preparing coffee. There's many reasons for its popularity (ease, portability, relative cheapness, boldness of flavour) and models can now be found in stores ranging from Caffe Rosso to Home Outfitters. However, the proliferation of the French Press doesn't mean that it's used properly. In fact, false assumptions abound about the method.
According to some, you don't need as good a grinder to get as great cup of it as you for an espresso or Aeropress. That's completely false. You must have a decent grinder to make decent coffee, regardless of preparation method; all that the French Press means is larger particles. Another assumption, which is similar to the grinder problem, is that the French Press doesn't require as much attention to details as say, a pourover; this often translates into a French Press being left for 10 minutes after the initial pour while the drinker goes to take a shower. Again, that doesn't work. Using a French Press doesn't mean that you can focus less on the specifics. If you want a good cup of coffee, you have to be invested in it. But it doesn't mean that it has to be difficult.
So with that in mind, here's the process for making an absurdly excellent French Press. As I always mention in other blogs, this isn't a true recipe for success. There's always other variables ranging from water quality to the roast date of the beans, so it's really a generalization that this will make an absurdly excellent French Press. But, if you follow these 10 steps (which have been modified from Intelligentsia and Scott Rao), there'll be a much better chance of making that elusive cup.
The tools: French Press, scale, timer, kettle, great grinder.
1. Make sure that your French Press is clean. It should be cleaned after it's used, but ensure that it is. Otherwise, you'll be enjoying stale remnants of your last brew.
2. Weigh out 36 grams of coffee. If you want two cups, double it (72 grams for other people like me who are terrible at math).
3. Preheat your French Press. To do this, boil some water, pour it into the press, swish it around a little and dump it back out. This essentially revs the French Press' engine up for use. I'm sure there's a scientific reason for it, but I'll stick with the car analogy.
4. Grind the 36 (or 72) grams of coffee using a coarse setting. The coarseness of the grind ensures that coffee particles don't make their way through the screen and result in you drinking sludge.
5. Dump the coffee in the preheated French Press, which should be sitting on a scale by this point. If it's not, do it. Tare the scale.
6. Pour 500 (or 1000) grams of water a minute off the boil over the grinds. Pour it slowly, and be careful to saturate all of the grind. As soon as the first drop hits the first coffee particle, start the timer.
7. Partially plunge the filter screen about a half-inch below the surface. This ensures that all of the coffee has equal extraction, rather than having a handful of grinds sitting on the surface.
8. At four minutes, plunge the filter screen all the way down. Do this slowly and carefully. Intelligensia recommends skimming the grinds off of the top of the bloom, but we don't do that around here.
9. Pour the entire French Press out into a cup. Don't let some of it sit in the bottom of the press, otherwise the coffee will continue to steep (and will likely over-extract the beverage, which will cause nasty bitterness).
10. Blog or tweet about how amazing your coffee is. Or, come in to tell us.
The French Press can be an incredibly simple and effective way of making a delicious cup of coffee that features a strong body and smooth mouthfeel. But don't be that person who doesn't clean their press, or uses a blade grinder, or steeps the brew for 15 minutes. When you do that, you'll potentially butcher a product which has taken literally years to get to your kitchen; this isn't a guilt trip, but just a fact. If you have any tips that have worked for you in the past, let me know. Try and modify these tips, and hopefully they will help to create a beverage that excites your palette and honours the hard work that's been put into it every step of the way.