French Press Recipe
Make French Press Recipe in just 10m. Get the full recipe with step-by-step instructions at pekinthechef.com.
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Ingredients
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Coffee
Finishing
Method
Prepare Equipment
- 1
Warm the press
Preheat the French press and serving vessel by rinsing them with hot water (use about 60 ml). This helps maintain brewing temperature. Discard the rinse water.
- 2
Measure and grind
Weigh 56 g of whole beans and grind them to a coarse grind, similar to breadcrumbs or sea salt. The ratio here is about 1:16 (coffee:water) for a balanced cup; adjust to taste.
Brew
- 3
Add coffee
Place the ground coffee into the warmed French press.
- 4
Bloom
Pour 120 ml of the hot water (about twice the weight of the coffee) evenly over the grounds to saturate them. Start a timer and let the coffee bloom for 30–45 seconds. This releases trapped gases and improves extraction.
- 5
Add remaining water
At 30–45 seconds, pour the remaining hot water up to the 900 ml total (pour gently to avoid over-agitating the grounds). Leave about 1–2 cm headspace below the lid.
- 6
Stir
After adding the remaining water, give the slurry a gentle stir with a spoon to ensure all grounds are wet and distributed. Avoid vigorous agitation.
- 7
Steep
Place the plunger assembly on top of the press to retain heat but do not plunge. Let the coffee steep for 3 minutes and 30 seconds to 4 minutes total (counting from first pour). Total brew time commonly falls between 4 and 5 minutes including bloom; use 4 minutes as a baseline and adjust by 30–60 seconds for strength.
Finish and Serve
- 8
Plunge
At the end of the brew time, press the plunger down slowly and steadily with even pressure. Stop when the plunger reaches the coffee bed. If resistance is very high, pause briefly and continue; the motion should take about 15–20 seconds.
- 9
Decant
Immediately pour the brewed coffee into cups or a separate server to stop extraction and prevent over-extraction and bitterness.
- 10
Clean up
Discard used grounds (they make good compost), rinse the press, and wash the plunger parts to prevent stale oils from affecting future brews.