The french press is a brewing method that uses a plunger with a fine mesh filter that when force is applied, pushes the coffee grounds to the bottom of the carafe leaving you with a unique coffee. Interestingly enough, the french press was actually patented by an Italian designer named Attilio Calimani in 1929.
The french press requires a coarse grind on the coffee. Too fine and the plunger won’t plunge very easily and/or the finer grounds will go through the mesh filter. The grounds are put into the carafe and hot water is added to the coffee and allowed to steep before the plunger is pushed. I prefer about 55 grams (2 ounces) of coffee to the standard 34-ounce press. Heat your water to around 205 degrees F. Add the water making sure you saturate all of the grounds. You can stir this with a long spoon or chop stick but not too aggressively. I let it steep for 3 minutes. Too long and you will start to bring out bitter flavors in your coffee.
When you are ready to use the plunger, press using a firm but slow plunge. Because we are not filtering out the oils of the coffee, we want the oils to distribute throughout the coffee. With this slow plunge, we are helping to emulsify the oils into the coffee giving you a fuller body and a nicer mouth feel when drinking the coffee.
I recommend these French Presses:
Grosche- love the design
Bodum – Cheap and good
Sterling – If your looking for a double wall design
Thanks
Kevin
