Preparing coffee in the French Press

WHAT IS A FRENCH PRESS?

It's a teapot you've probably seen somewhere before. It's nothing new. The French Press was patented as a new invention in the 1930s. Aswell as coffee, this gadget is perfect for making loose-leaf tea and even whisking up milk for a homemade cappuccino.

The French Press has a simple design. Itis most often a glass or stainless steel teapot, which is equipped with a plunger with a metal filter. The plungerallows the coffee grounds to drain to the bottom of the teapot. It prepares not only a cup of hot coffee. TheFrench Press is also great if you've fallen in love with the summer coffee shop hit - cold brew.

WHAT IS FRENCH PRESS COFFEE LIKE?

It is designed for all those coffee lovers who want to indulge in good coffee in a larger volume. French press coffee is one of the alternative methods of coffee preparation. It is filtered coffee because thecoffee grounds are filtered during the preparation process and you only have pure, delicious coffee in your cup.

It is thepurity of the coffee that is not as clear as, for example, the coffee brewed in a Hario V60. The metal filter at the end of the plunger, which ensures just the separation of the log from the coffee, has a higher permeability than the paper filter in the aforementioned dripper. This is why the coffee from the French Press has a certain texture, as the small, almost dusty particles of coffee get into the coffee through the metal filter.

This may suit coffeedrinkers who are looking for that texture in their coffee. The French Press may appeal to those of you who are used to the Czech coffee classic called "turek". Working with the French Press is basically quite simple, perhaps just a step longer than in the preparation of that "turk". But coffee from French Press is (unlike "turk") a big leap more tasty and especially healthier!

Making coffee in a French Press is one of the easiest ways to make filter coffee at home or even outdoors.

WHY NOT DRINK A "TURKA" AND USE A FRENCH PRESS TO MAKE COFFEE

You can read about the manyhealth benefits ofcoffee besides its enticing aroma and especially its taste in ourother articles. For example, how it helps regulate theoveractivated HPA axis or how it prevents cancer. At the same time, its positive effects are conditioned by the correct dosage. This is individual according to everyone's ability to metabolize caffeine.

Another condition for healthy coffee drinking is the correct preparation, where it is recommended to limit the extraction time . If you leave the coffee grounds in hot water for too long - as is the case with theCzech "turk" - you will extract substances that are not very good for human health, rather the opposite.

The ideal coffee extraction time when using French Press is 4 minutes. If you leave the coffee to infuse longer, the coffee will become bitter and substances that are not healthy will start to infuse into the coffee, as is the case with the Czech version of Turkish coffee. After pressing the plunger and thus separating the coffee grounds at the bottom of the French Press, immediately transfer the coffee into cups or another container. This will end the extraction.

To make a French Press, all you need is coffee, a grinder, a scale and hot water.

FRENCH PRESS - PREPARATION

Like any alternative coffee preparation method, the French Press needs a degree ofcoarseness. For the French press, a really coarse grind is required , like a sugar crystal. If the coffee beans were ground finer, the coffee would not be good as a result - over-extracted and the fine grind would make filtration a problem.

You will need:

French Press instructions for making coffee

FRENCH PRESS: COFFEE QUANTITY

In our recipe, we base the basic ratio of coffee and water for this technique on 1:16, i.e. 6g of coffee per 100 ml of water. You can keep this recipe when making a larger or smaller French Press. If you prepare, say, a half-litre French Press use 30 g of coffee. However, you can adjust this ratio according to your taste. Do you find the coffee weak? Do you need it stronger? You can adjust the ratio of coffee to water to, for example, 1:14.

FRENCH PRESS: HOW LONG TO STEEP

For making coffee in a French press, an extraction time of up to 5 minutes is ideal. However, you can also adjust this time to suit your tastes. Depending on your brewing technique and the coarseness of the grind you choose, you can even extract French Press for longer. For example, as per the recipe of the famous "coffee guru" James Hofman.

He prepares it with 30 grams of medium coarse ground coffee and 500 grams of water and has stretched the extraction time to almost 10 minutes. Halfway through the time, he broke the coffee crust at the surface and let the coffee sit naturally to the bottom. He eventually set the metal filter on the plunger of the French Press just barely at the surface of the coffee, like a sieve for when pouring the finished coffee into the cup. This method is strikingly reminiscent of the cupping technique.

WHAT KIND OF COFFEE FOR THE FRENCH PRESS?

French Press is one of the filter coffee preparation methods, so it will be advisable to use filter roasted coffee. In general, longer coffee residence time in water, which is what the French Press encourages, leads to higher extraction. Darker roasted coffee, because of its ability to extract more easily, will need a shorter leaching time than lighter roasted coffee. So choose thecoffee you like to prepare and adjust the brewing recipe accordingly.

THE PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING COFFEE IN A FRENCH PRESS

Pour the ground coffee into the bottom of the French press. Be sure to measure the correct amount of coffee and water. Generally, approximately 60 g of coffee per 1 litre of water. The correct coffee to water ratio is one of the keys to a good and consistent cup. For a 300 ml French Press, we use 18 g of coarsely ground coffee.

First, pour only a little hot water over the coffee, which has 92 - 96 °C. The amount of water you use for the first pour should be 2 and 3 times as much as the amount of coffee. So in our case, we pour54 g of hot water on the dry coffee .

Stir the resulting coffee "mash". The coffee will start blooming. This initial pouring soaks the coffee and prepares it for proper extraction. This will make the coffee tastier and more expressive. Let the coffee bloom like this for 30 seconds and then slowly pour in the rest of the coffee in a circular motion.

Allow to infuse for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir the coffee gently with a spoon during the infusion to encourage extraction. After a maximum of 4 minutes ,insert the plunger and slowly push the coffee down.Immediately pour the finished coffee into cups. Even if you don't want to drink all the coffee right away and want to save it for later, it is definitely better to pour the coffee into another container. For example, in a thermos.

FRENCH PRESS INSTRUCTIONS FOR AN EVEN BETTER CUP OF COFFEE

Boil water in a kettle and pour it into an empty French Press first. This step will ensure that theFrench Press preheats beautifully and stays warm throughout the brewing process. This will ensure that all the flavours from the coffee reach your cup.

Grind your favourite coffee as you go. It's always best to grind your coffee just before brewing. This way, the important aromas and flavours are not lost. Ground coffee loses its aroma after only 15 minutes of grinding.

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