The French press was the first method I used when I came to Canada because it's very affordable and easy to use. One of the best things about it is that you don’t need to buy paper filters. The French press works by immersing ground coffee in hot water, and then separating the grounds from the brewed coffee by pressing down the filter.
What you need:
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French press
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Coffee beans, ground to medium-coarse
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Hot water (just off the boil, around 94°C)
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Timer
Step 1: Measure your coffee and water
For the French press, I usually use 15 grams if it’s a small, single-cup press.
If you’re using a larger French press, use the 1:15 ratio — for every gram of coffee, use 15ml of water.
Examples:
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20g of coffee → 20 × 15 = 300ml of water
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15g of coffee → 15 × 15 = 225ml of water
If you don’t have a scale, you can use tablespoons, 2 tablespoons is approximately 15g. Then just fill the French press with water up to the top line.
Step 2: Heat the water just off the boil. If you have a kettle with temperature control, that’s perfect, just warm the water until it reaches about 94°C. If you don’t have a way to control the temperature, don’t worry, just boil the water and wait about 3 to 4 minutes.
Remember, we don’t want super hot water because we can burn our precious coffee and make it taste bitter.
Step 3: This step is not mandatory, but I like to do it. I pour a little bit of hot water into the French press just to warm it up and clean it a little bit. After that, discard the water and proceed to add your 15 grams of coffee.
Step 4: Start your timer and pour in about half of the water. Let the coffee sit for 30 seconds, this allows it to “bloom” and release gases. Then pour in the rest of the water.
Step 5: After 1 minute, give the coffee a gentle stir with a spoon to help mix the grounds evenly. In this step you can also place the lid on the French press, but don’t press the plunger yet, just let it sit on top. Let the coffee steep for another 3 minutes.
Step 6: After 3 minutes, press the plunger down gently and steadily. Pour your coffee right away. I like to pour all of it into my mug.
If you leave coffee sitting in the French press, it will over extract, and that can make it taste bitter. To avoid this, always pour it out right after plunging.
Serve and Enjoy!