Recipe

French Press

Full-bodied, oily, classic. The most forgiving method on Earth.

Ingredients

Coffee

30 g, coarse

Water

450 g at 94 °C

Equipment

• French press (500 ml or larger)
• Burr grinder
• Kettle
• Scale
• Long spoon

Step-by-step method

1. 1

   Boil water and rest 30 sec to ~94 °C.

2. 2

   Pre-warm the press by filling with hot water, swirling, and discarding.

3. 3

   Grind 30 g of coffee very coarse (like coarse sea salt or breadcrumbs). Fine grounds make sludge — coarse is mandatory.

4. 4

   Add grounds to the empty warm press, place on scale, tare.

5. 5

   Start a 4-minute timer and pour 450 g of water in 15 sec, saturating all grounds. The bloom will form a thick crust on top.

6. 6

   Don't stir yet. Place the lid on with the plunger pulled all the way up to keep heat in. Wait until 4:00.

7. 7

   At 4:00, remove the lid. Use a long spoon to break the crust by pushing the floating grounds down — stir twice gently in a back-and-forth motion.

8. 8

   Skim off the foam and any floating grounds with two spoons (this dramatically reduces bitterness).

9. 9

   Replace the lid. Wait 5 more minutes — this lets the fines settle to the bottom for a cleaner cup.

10. 10

    Press the plunger down very slowly (30 sec to bottom). If you feel resistance, stop — pressing too hard pushes fines through.

11. 11

    Pour immediately into mugs. Don't leave coffee sitting on grounds in the press or it will over-extract.