Coffee in America is about as ubiquitous as hot dogs and apple pie. In fact, we’d guess that you’d be pretty hard pressed to find a home in most places that doesn’t prominently feature a coffee machine in the kitchen. Just to be sure, we did a little research and it turns out that 54% of Americans over 18 drink coffee every day, and the average number of cups a person consumes each day is 2.1 – many of whom brew their coffee at home.
And while it’s probably safe to say that most of those people are using a standard drip coffee maker or the one-cup king of coffee – the Keurig, there’s still a sizeable portion of people using the traditional french press.
What’s a french press? A french press is a basic coffee brewer that consists of a large glass beaker with a fine mesh sieve on top that’s pushed down into the grinds to brew the coffee. There’s a couple of benefits to using a french press. For starters, it’s said that it’s easier to extract the flavor of the coffee beans from french press brewed coffee, and using this type of brewing device gives you more control over your coffee – from the strength to the flavor. But, if you’ve never used one before, you might be a little baffled as to how to use it. No problem! We’ve got an easy how-to that will walk you through the process, step by step.
How to Use a French Press
Using a french press is pretty simple, but you will need to have a few things in order before you begin. First, for the best results, you need to purchase whole coffee beans and grind them fresh before you make coffee. You can pick up a small coffee bean grinder for $20 at most major stores and whole bean coffee generally isn’t more expensive than buying it already ground. You’ll also need to boil water, and while you can do that in a saucepan on the stove, it’s infinitely easier with a stove kettle or electric water kettle.
Now that you have your supplies, you’re ready to get started.
Grind Your Coffee Beans
Start by grinding your beans. You’re going to want to find a good middle ground between being ground into a fine powder (like you get with pre-ground coffee) and grounds that are too thick. Shoot for the size and consistency of sea salt to start, and experiment a little with each brew to find the perfect consistency for you. Either way, you’ll want your beans to be ground more coarse than fine. While you’re grinding the beans, put on the hot water to boil so it’ll be ready when you need to brew.
Add Ground Coffee to the Beaker
Once you’ve ground the coffee, add the grinds to the glass beaker. Just dump them in there. You should have a ratio of about 1:10 – 1 part coffee to 10 parts water. If you’re eyeballing it (and that’s what we always do), try to get around 3/4 of an inch into the bottom.
Add Boiling Water
Once the water is boiling, add it to the grinds in the beaker. Let the coffee sit first for 30 seconds, and then gently stir the grounds around into the water, making sure to mix it up well. Next, let the coffee sit and brew for 7-8 minutes so that the flavor of the coffee can be extracted from the grinds.
Plunge It
Once you’ve let the coffee sit and brew for a bit, it’s time to use the strainer. Push the plunge handle down so that the fine mesh sieve pushes down the grinds, while the coffee rises to the top. Once you get it to the bottom, you’re ready to sample your brew.
If you aren’t going to immediately drink the coffee in the french press, it’s important to move it to a thermos or other container that will keep it warm. Otherwise, the coffee will continue to brew, which can warp the taste or turn the coffee bitter and you don’t want that.
