French Press – the most popular and versatile device for preparing coffee
Coffee Making Guide: How to Make Delicious Coffee?
While it’s easy to brew coffee in a French press, it’s useful to know a few nuances that will help you make your coffee even more flavorful and delicious.
Preparation: what do we need?
Freshly roasted quality coffee beans. We have already mentioned that this way of preparing coffee brings out all the qualities of coffee. If the coffee is bad, you will feel the bad taste even more; if the coffee is good, its qualities will also be more pronounced.
The best choice is freshly roasted speciality coffee.
This coffee has a special aromatic depth and complexity that makes it ideal for this type of preparation.
electronic scale. All Devices for making coffee are special because they are essential to the preparation of coffee since the exact ratio of coffee to water and the timing of brewing are crucial. electronic scales help to accurately weigh the coffee and track the time.
And depending on the result, you know which parameters you need to change in which direction.
Coffee grinder. We believe that only freshly ground coffee can produce a drink with maximum aroma and flavour. the coffee grinder is, therefore, one of the most important “players” in the preparation of coffee.
They find out here how to choose the right coffee grinder. Recommended grind: medium to coarser (depending on the technique you choose).
kettle and water. The most important rule is that the water must taste good. Choose only fresh, filtered and soft water.
You can experiment with spring water. As for the temperature of the water, just boil it to 100 degrees. When you take out the kettle and pour out the water, it will have naturally cooled a few degrees, and that’s the ideal temperature.
As for the kettle, you can use a regular kettle, but we recommend looking for special kettles.
Keep an eye out for those that are suitable for making coffee. These have a narrow spout that makes it easier to pour out the water evenly.
French Press coffee press. It can be from any manufacturer, from any material and in a size that suits you.
Cups. Beautiful and comfortable cups make drinking tastier. So prepare your favourite cups in advance.
The recommended size is for black coffee cups.
The classic way of preparing coffee
This method is a quick and easy way to prepare delicious coffee:
Weigh the coffee beans. The right ratio of coffee and water is crucial for a delicious coffee. As a traditional starting point, we recommend 70g of coffee per 1L of water.
If your coffee press is smaller, e.g. B. 500 ml, use 35 coffee.
Coarsely grind the coffee. The coarser the grind, the less bitter the coffee will be and the less sediment will remain in the brew.
Place the coffee in a coffee press and slowly pour in a third of the water.
Wait a minute (this is the “blooming” phase, during which the gases contained in the coffee are released and the aroma of the coffee diffuses).
Stir and slowly pour in the remaining water.
Wait another three minutes and stir again.
Slowly lower the ram. The longer the coffee sits in the water, the stronger and more bitter it becomes. If you like strong coffee, lower the tamper later.
Immediately pour the coffee into the cups.
Coffee world expert James Hoffmann recommends
The world-renowned coffee expert James Hoffman is constantly experimenting and giving useful tips on how you can make your coffee even tastier with different preparation methods.
His French Press method is a bit more complicated and time-consuming than the classic method, but you get an even “cleaner” coffee – with even fewer coffee grounds (which usually cannot be avoided)! We share:
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- Grind the freshly roasted coffee beans to medium grit. Recommended ratio: 60-70 g of coffee – 1 litre of water. Put the coffee in a French Press.
- Bring the water to a boil and pour in the entire amount at once.
- wait 4 minutes.
- Stir the coffee crust that has formed on top with a spoon. Most of the coffee grounds sink to the bottom and some float to the top. Remove it with two spoons and dump it in the sink.
- Wait for 5 to 8 minutes. During this time, the coffee grounds have “sunk” completely and the coffee tastes better by the minute. Besides, the coffee is still too hot to drink anyway.
- Apply the plunger, but only lower it until it makes contact with the coffee liquid (do not press deeper). Otherwise, there is a risk that the coffee grounds will be thrown up.
- Pour the coffee gently into the cups.
How do you make cold brew coffee with a French press?
One of the latest coffee trends in recent years is cold-aged coffee, also known as a cold brew. Coffee brewed in this way is not only less acidic and bitter but also has a special sweetness and depth of flavour.
It’s especially delicious in hot weather when served with ice, it’s the perfect topping for vanilla ice cream, and baristas use it as an ingredient in a variety of cocktails.
Although cold-aged coffee for the coffee maker was developed, you can also prepare it with a French press.
How to prepare it:
- Choose high-quality, freshly roasted coffee beans. For cold roasted coffee are single-origin coffee beans ideal? are particularly popular African coffees, which can be perfectly brewed in this way. Recommended ratio: 200 g of coffee – 1 litre of water.
- Grind the coffee just before brewing. The recommended grind is medium coarse.
- Put the coffee in a coffee press and pour in half of the prepared amount of water. We recommend using cold-boiled water.
- Stir and pour in the rest. Cold water and coffee are difficult to mix together, so be patient and wait until the water and coffee are smooth.
- Apply the plunger, but do not press. Place in the fridge and leave for 12 hours.
- After taking the coffee press out of the fridge, remove the lid and slowly stir the coffee crust that has formed on top. Slowly push the plunger down.
- To prevent the aroma from changing further, pour the coffee into a separate container. If you want less sediment in the coffee, you can also use a paper filter.
- Pour into cups. Serve alone, with ice or pour over ice cream.
- The rest of the coffee will keep in the fridge for about a week.
- Enjoy!
You can even make frothed milk with the French Press!
The coffee press can be used for more than just hot or cold coffee. There is a special milk frother, but you can also use a French Press to create the perfect milk froth. Use both cow’s milk and plant milk. If you choose plant-based milk, pay attention to the Barista milk line, which is specially designed for milk foam whipping. How to do it?
- Heat the milk to 60-65°C. It is very important not to exceed this temperature because as soon as it reaches this value, the proteins begin to break down and the milk changes its taste. We recommend using one special thermometer.
- Pour the milk into a French Press coffee press.
- Push the tamper down and raise it several times until you reach the desired thickness.
- Pour the milk directly into the cups. If you want to try the art of latte art, pour the milk into the included milk jug. Swirl the milk in the jug to remove bubbles and pour over the coffee.
Not only for coffee but also for tea
Although a French press is primarily intended for making coffee, it also doubles as a teapot in many homes. The French Press’s plunger perfectly separates the tea leaves from the tea liquid, allowing you to enjoy a delicious drink.
All you have to do is have a tasty loose tea to choose from, pour the chosen amount into the coffee press, fill it with water at the temperature recommended by the manufacturer and let it steep for the indicated time).
After that, all you have to do is push the plunger down and pour the tea into the cups.
However, since the plunger does not insulate the tea from contact with the water, the process of spitting out the tea continues. We, therefore, recommend pouring out the tea all at once or pouring it into another container.
After all
We hope we’ve inspired you to buy, or at least rediscover (if you already own one) the most popular and versatile coffee-making tool – the French press.
We wish you delicious coffee and pleasant coffee experiments. Enjoy!
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