Brew Guide: French Press

If you've ever even thought about trying to make better coffee at home, odds are you have a French press lying around somewhere. What I love about the French press is the romance of it all- the perfect size for two people, simple and mobile enough for breakfast in bed, and the perfect, intentional after dinner treat. 

French press is a type of immersion brewing, which just means we essentially steep the coffee in hot water, instead of letting the water pass through the grounds freely. 

To make a French press, you'll need:

• 30 grams of freshly roasted, coarse ground coffee 
• 480 grams, about 16 ounces of filtered water 
• French press
• Spoon
• Scale (or measuring cup & tablespoon)
• Timer

By nature, coffee from a French press has a thicker, heavier body. We recommend grinding your coffee immediately before use, but if you don't have a coffee grinder at home, you can select "Ground for French Press" at checkout. We also recommend weighing your coffee for consistency, but if you don't have a scale to weigh the coffee, this recipe calls for roughly five tablespoons of ground coffee.

• Weigh 30 grams coarsely ground coffee into the bottom of your French press
• Bloom* the coffee by adding 60 grams water, just off boil, to your French press
• Gently stir to ensure all coffee is saturated
• After 30 seconds, add the 420 grams of remaining water 
• Place the lid on the French press but do not plunge
• After four minutes, plunge the French press slowly
• Serve immediately

*With the French press, as well as with most other brewing methods, we are going to start our brewing process by blooming the coffee. A "bloom" is the process of saturating the grounds with water just enough to allow the gasses to escape. As a general rule, I use double the weight of water to bloom the coffee for about 30 seconds. (30g coffee, use 60g water to bloom). Try to make sure you touch every bit of coffee during your bloom. If your coffee is fresh, you will see the bed of grounds begin to rise up and bubble.