First a couple thoughts about measurements. Did you know that many French press makers use a European cup standard (which is 4oz)? Please verify the brewing capacity in fluid ounces of your French press!

Using your kitchen scale, measure out enough beans to achieve a 1 to 16 (bean to water) ratio. For example, if you’re using an 8-cup Bodum French press (that’s 32 fluid ounces or 907 grams), you’ll need 57 grams of beans.

Using filtered water, heat the water to 195F—205F. If you don’t have a temperature-controlled electric kettle, a stovetop kettle works, too. Just bring the water to a boil, remove it from the burner, and let it set for a minute to cool down to the right brewing temperature.

While your water is heating up, grind your beans to a coarse-sized grind. That’s the consistency of rock salt.

Pour ground coffee into your French press carafe.

Add the water to your grounds in the carafe. Let the coffee and water slurry steep for one minute. You’ll notice a crust forming on the surface. This is called the “bloom” and it’s caused by the release of gasses from the interaction of the hot water and grounds. Take time to smell the wonderful aroma.

Use a wooden spoon to gently stir and break up the crust.

Put the lid on the carafe, with the plunger pulled all the way up. Let the coffee steep for another three minutes, and then meditate on the yumminess you’re about to enjoy.

Gently push down on the plunger until it stops; serve immediately.

Pro Tips

  1. So you don’t have to do any higher math before your first cup in the morning, write down on a sticky note the amount of beans (using the 1:16 ratio) you need to grind for your typical batch size. Post it on your bean container!
  2. If you don’t immediately serve all the brewed coffee, decant the remaining coffee to another container. If coffee is left in the French press carafe it will continue to brew and may become too bitter to enjoy.
  3. If your coffee tastes bitter or sour, it’s likely that your grind was too fine and the coffee over extracted. Increase the coarseness of the grind size. If your coffee tastes flat or watery, it’s likely that your grind was too coarse so grind it finer.
  4. You can also adjust the ratio to dial in the perfect cup. Use more coffee (like a 1:15 ratio) for a fuller taste or less coffee (like a 1:17 ratio) for less robustness. Experiment, but only change one variable (like grind size or ratio) at a time so you know what is driving the changes in the taste of your cup.
  5. Throw your spent grounds into your compost bin and use it in your garden!
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