You're Using a French Press Wrong!
This is another blog post by my guest blogger, who has now dubbed himself the 'Coffee Guru'. As a trained Starbucks barista and coffee master he's the best person to give you the best tips and tricks for quality coffee at home.
Hello there peeps and welcome back to another instalment into the weird and wonderful world of coffee culture. Today we will be tackling the widely popular and commonly known cafetière or similarly recognised as a French press.
But we'll call it a press to avoid confusion. So where does it come from you might be wondering and if its indeed of French origin? Well to answer your questions, yes. The press was indeed developed in France by two French men but not for the purpose it now serves. Back then, it didn't have a proper seal. It was first developed by two Frenchmen known only as Mayer and Delforge.
An Italian man named Ugo Paolini made a device for separating tomato juice and thought that it could be turned into a coffee pot with a plunger and so the press was made and sold commercially.
Well, that's enough history, for now, let's talk about pressed coffee and why you should choose to invest in this bit of kit.
A press is easy to use and offers to highlight the bold characteristics of the coffee you have in question. It does have the benefit of allowing the naturally occurring oils in the coffee to pass through the metal filter. These oils contain flavour and aromas, which are indicative of the coffee. So if you're wondering whether to invest in a press, I would highly recommend it as you explore different coffees from around the world. It will be a helpful tool for you to establish your palate and distinguish between different flavour notes.
What you'll need,
- 1x Ground medium to medium-fine coffee
- 1x French press/ cafetière
- 1x scale (Metric if possible)
- 1x timer (A clock will do)
And well besides the clear boiling water that's it. With a press, you have to use a medium to medium-fine ground coffee beans. Measure out the coffee you'll need. Remember, in my previous blog about how much to handle? It's best to start with 10 grams of coffee per 180 millilitres of water. Adjust to suit your taste buds, more coffee for a more potent bolder brew and less coffee for a weaker blend.
Preheat your press with boiling water; again, this is always a good habit to get into as it also cleans any dust or debris away. Once preheated take the plunger out of the press and add the coffee to the bottom of the press. Pour in the water, please make sure it is just off the boil and pour the water in the centre until halfway. Use a spoon to stir the grounds, so all the coffee is exposed to the water.
Once the water has hit the grounds, start the timer for four minutes. Place the plunger on top but don't plunge it down yet until the four minutes is up. When it's gently pushing the plunger down, so the grounds are forced to the bottom. And that's it really; it'll be good for twenty minutes.
Another tip, decant the coffee to stop it from extracting. This will prevent the coffee from going bitter to quickly. Remember when the coffee is in contact with water, it's removing and if it over-extracts the coffee will taste bitter.
To clean the press, take out the plunger and rinse with warm soapy water but don't scratch the media with a rough sponge. The plunger unscrews if you ever need to replace the metal mesh. Also I suggest you deep clean it occasionally by removing this mesh and rise away any grounds that might have built up in the mesh. Keep your equipment clean, and you'll never regret it.
That's it, for now, guys, keep exploring.