Three common mistakes when brewing French press coffee

I believe everyone has experience or ideas of brewing coffee at home. There are many ways to brew coffee, including drip coffee, hand brewing, cold brew, siphon pot, moka pot and other different methods. One of them is the most convenient French press. I believe everyone has some experience or has one in hand. But we often drink not very good coffee in this simple and long-standing utensil. It is not because the French press cannot brew good coffee, but people often ignore these three points!

The coarseness of coffee from a French press

We often see the coarseness scales on coffee books and coffee grinders. There may be a column that says the coarseness suitable for use with a French press. The coarseness of the coffee ground at this coarseness is usually the coarseness shown in the picture below.

Most books or coffee articles will say that you need to use a French press with a certain coffee grind. This coffee grind is called Coarse. Although the French press coffee brewed with this grind can beat a lot of people, after all, it is considered a step into the door! But we often find that this coffee grind has several fatal flaws:

This coarseness makes it difficult for hot water to release the essence of the coffee itself, after all, the particles are still too large.

If this coarseness is used, it is difficult for the grinder to control the average coarseness of the coffee. As shown in the picture above, we can easily see the large average size difference of the coffee particles. This problem comes from the design of the grinder structure of the coffee machine itself.

In fact, we can use a slightly finer scale to grind the coffee beans, which will make the coffee beans more evenly distributed and the taste relatively richer. The amount of beans used can also be slightly reduced. Just like in chemistry, the surface area obtained by a smaller coarseness will be larger. But it is worth mentioning that it is best to grind the beans when they are used, otherwise the surface of the ground coffee will oxidize and lose its flavor, making it more difficult to extract good coffee. The coarseness of the coffee is approximately the coarseness on the right side below, which should not exceed the coarseness in the middle. If there are pictures on some bean grinders to indicate the corresponding coarseness, you can directly use the Pour-over hand-brew coarseness, which will be finer than the traditional French press coffee powder!

Will fine grinding lead to over-extraction? Many people would have such concerns. But think about the parameters of our daily cupping: 93-94℃ water temperature, 1:18.18 coffee powder to water ratio, 4 minutes of soaking before breaking the grounds, coffee powder still soaked in the cupping bowl, and then sucking! Suck until it cools down! The grind size of the cupping is much finer than that of the French press~ So what are you afraid of?

The ratio of coffee powder to water

Although there is no so-called golden ratio for brewing coffee, after all, everyone has different tastes! Some people may prefer to drink stronger coffee, but some prefer a lighter coffee aroma. But there is also a golden ratio for brewing coffee in the circle, which is 1:18, about 18 grams of water for every 1 gram of coffee powder. But this also caused a huge problem! Because the French press we brew does not soak it all the time like the cupping, the French press is closer to a kind of coffee that is "brewed" like tea, and it has to be poured out and drunk after brewing. So the amount of coffee we use may be a little more than the golden ratio mentioned above. The editor would recommend a ratio of about 1:16, that is, about 1 gram of coffee powder corresponds to 16 grams of water. But this is based on the editor's personal taste and the above coarseness. If you have a stronger taste, you can try to change the ratio to about 1:14, and the opposite is true for those who have a lighter taste!

Brewing time for French press

It is often said that the brewing time of a French press should be 4 minutes, but I think this time is really not enough! I also used this rule when I first started playing with coffee, but the regular 4 minutes is really short. If you really brew according to the original coffee fineness of the first point and only use 4 minutes, you can only say that the coffee will be consumed quickly and you will not be able to experience good coffee!

For some experts in cupping, four minutes is just to make the outer layer of coffee soak. After brewing for four minutes, we can use a spoon to gently stir the surface of the French press to let the coffee grounds slowly settle down. Then use a spoon to gently scrape off some of the coffee grounds or white bubbles on the surface (just like breaking and scooping grounds in cupping). Of course, what is removed is not the so-called crema layer, but more of the ultra-fine powder to improve the cleanliness of the coffee taste. Then gently press down the handle of the French press once and wait quietly for a while. After the coffee inside has settled, you can pour out the coffee carefully. In this whole process, the coffee has been extracted in perfect contact with hot water in the French press for about 6 to 8 minutes. The editor prefers the total extraction time to be around 6 minutes, which is half longer than the conventional 4 minutes!

French press coffee brewing steps:

1. From the thickness of a normal hand-brewed coffee pot to the medium thickness, between the thickness in the middle and on the right.

2. Increase the amount of coffee powder to a powder-water ratio of 1:16, and use an electronic scale to measure the ratio of coffee to water!

3. After brewing, wait for four minutes for the coffee to perfectly combine with the water.

4. Use a spoon to remove some impurities and some white foam on top.

5. Slowly press down the handle of the French press, but don't press it all the way to the bottom.

6. Wait for the coffee to settle slowly.

7. After settling, you can slowly pour out the coffee and enjoy it!

in conclusion

The French press is one of the first tools I used when I first came into contact with coffee. After all, it is easy to obtain, convenient to use, and affordable. However, the effect obtained in the long-term brewing process is not satisfactory. However, after many attempts and learning from many aspects, I have improved the quality of the brewed coffee. Finally, I have sorted out these three points and hope that they can help you, so that you don’t go through the wrong path I went through before!

By the way, another point worth mentioning is that I recommend that you use light-medium roasted beans to make coffee, which will taste better! If you like it, you can also help me click "Like" so that I can help more people who love coffee!

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