How To Perfect French Press Coffee?

French Press is an ideal choice for nice-tasting coffee, but you can even make it nicer and nicer with some tips. My honest article today will reveal you some tips to perfect your French Press coffee. Let’s follow.

how-to-perfect-french-press-coffee

1. Brewing Process

There are some points you need to remember during brewing time for the great coffee in the end.

Measuring The Coffee

There are two ways to measure coffee, by weight and by volume. And it is commonly believed that weighing is better than using volume. But in case of French Press, the two ways are equally fine. So we will present both of the methods.

Measuring By Weighing

There aren’t any fixed rules about the brewing ratio for French Press because machine can produce great tasting coffee in spite of different measurement. But it is commonly recommended the ratio of between 10:1 and 18:1. If after trying this ratio, you want some difference for your own taste, let’s try until you find the perfect flavor.

Measuring By Volume

When it comes to using volume, the recommended starting point is 1 tablespoon of coffee for each 4 fluid ounces of water. Some stronger recipes recommend 3 ounces of water each 1 tablespoon. And you may add more amount of coffee to suite your own desired taste. And here is a general range to start.

  • 3 to 4 tablespoons for Bodum 3 cup (12 ounces)
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons for Bodum 4 cup (17 ounces)
  • 9 to 10 tablespoons for Bodum 8 cup (34 ounces)
  • 13 to 15 tablespoons for Bodum 12 cup (51 ounces)

Grinding Coffee And Heating Water

Before grinding the coffee, you should heat up some water. And remember that French Press is best-matched a coarse grind.

Pouring Coffee And Water Into French Press

Pour the ground coffee first. About the water being heated, let it boil, then wait about 30 seconds for it to lower to around 200° F- that is an ideal water temperature. During the waiting them, set the timer and then pour the water over the coffee grounds.

As your add water into the machine, you may find a bloom at the top which make the coffee clumped or not in contact with the water. To minimize this, slowly pour water in a controlled manner.

Stir or Not?

Yeah, while the water is slowing poured, you cannot completely avoid coffee grounds which are clumped at the top and not in contact with water. Make a gentle stirring solve the problem.

After that, vertically put the plunger on top of the coffee pot, do not press it down immediately. This will reduce heat loss.

Pressing Down Slowly

French Press often brews coffee in the range of 2.5 and 6 minutes, of which the most commonly cited time is at the point of 4 minutes.

Personally, I prefer 3.5 minutes which allows complete extraction and rich but not too heavy coffee to me. And you yourself can also decrease this number to for your personal preference.

When it’s time to press down the plunger, do this gently- slowly and evenly. Let some but not too much resistance. If you do not make any resistance, then remember to grind a little finer at first. And if get used to making very strong pressing down, then you should use a coarser grind at first.

Serving Coffee

This point simply means pouring and enjoying your coffee. Coffee brewed by French Press comes with some sediment. I really do not like it and I often leave ½ to 1 inch of coffee in the press pot to avoid it. Also, I leave the last drops each mug. Actually, the sediment is not matter, but I want  to enjoy coffee in the way that the last coffee drops are as good as those at the first.

2. Possible Issues Of Bad Coffee And Solutions

During the time using French Press, you must have made some mistakes, which results less-than-wanted coffee. So here, to make sure that you can still have perfect coffee, we would like to present some of the common mistakes and equivalent solutions.

Weak Coffee

The reason behind this problem might be too coarse ground, so grind it a little finer in next times. In addition to this, remember to let the coffee steep within 3 to 4 minutes.

Bitter Coffee

This issue is normally caused by too fine ground, so use coarser ones next times. In case the coffee appears dark roasted, next time, use fresher coffee and decrease the brewing temperature to 195 F.

Too Strong Coffee

Apply the 3-minute-steep. Do not leave the brewed coffee in the glass beaker after brewing. Transfer it to a thermal container. Also, remember that if you get used to drinking drip coffee, French Press coffee will taste stronger at first.

Thick Sediment

This problem is commonly related to the filter. When the filter is not well-fit against the glass, it makes chance for the coffee sediment to go into the upper chamber. That maybe the case that the filter is damaged, so purchase a new one and replace.

Sediment Woes

French Press coffee is great, but it always leaves more sediment in comparison with traditional brewers do. That is because it has a tighter filter. So to deal with this issue, cut up the paper filter.

Too Long Waiting For The Water To Boil

Heat water is necessary for a nice French Press coffee, so it’s so annoyed if it takes too long to have the water boiled. So to shorten waiting time, do not you’re your kettle completely. If the issue doesn’t improve much, think of investing in an electric kettle. It is the best choice you can make.

Unstable Grind

Unstable grind means some of your coffee is coarse ground while some is fine ground. This is a common problem among the machine of $20 blade grinders. So to solve this issue, try with a better grind for a blade grinder. And a burr grinder is the best option.

French Press deserves our investment, but make it more perfect by following the suggestions above. A lot of users do and gained amazing result. So are you ready to give a trial?

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