French Press
Four minutes of patience for the fullest cup in the house.
Same drink, three depths. Switch anytime — beginner steps assume no scale, barista steps assume no fear.
The French press is immersion brewing: coffee and water sit together, undisturbed, until the coffee has given everything it politely can. No technique to master, no pouring pattern — just ratio, time, and restraint at the plunge.
The method · Beginner
Warm the press
Swirl some hot water in the empty press and tip it out. A warm press keeps the brew from cooling mid-steep.
Add coffee and water
2 heaped tablespoons of coarse-ground coffee per cup. Pour all the hot water in at once, making sure no dry clumps float on top.
Stir once, lid on
One gentle stir to sink the crust. Rest the lid on top with the plunger pulled all the way up. Do not press yet.
Steep
Leave it completely alone. Four minutes. Make toast. Water a plant.
⏱ 4:00 timer in guided modePress slowly
Push the plunger down with slow, steady pressure — it should take about 15 seconds. If it fights you, your grind is too fine; if it drops freely, too coarse.
Pour everything out
Serve all of it now, even into a second mug. Coffee left on the grounds keeps extracting and turns bitter.
The method · Enthusiast
Weigh 16 g per 250 g water
A 1:15.5 ratio, ground coarse like breadcrumbs. Immersion is forgiving, but the scale makes it repeatable.
Water at 95 °C
Immersion loses heat fast, so start slightly hotter than you would for pour-over.
Pour, stir, cap
Pour all water in 10 seconds, stir gently to submerge the crust, and cap without plunging.
Steep 4:00
Resist the urge to peek — every stir mid-steep adds extraction you cannot take back.
⏱ 4:00 timer in guided modeBreak and skim
At 4:00, stir the crust once, then skim the foam and floating grounds off with two spoons. This is the single biggest upgrade to press coffee.
Wait, then press barely
Rest 4 more minutes so fines settle, then press the plunger only to the surface of the liquid — it is a lid, not a piston.
⏱ 4:00 timer in guided modeDecant gently
Pour slowly and stop before the last sip — the sludge stays behind and your cup stays clean.
The method · Barista
Hoffmann-style immersion
16 g : 250 g at 95 °C, coarse. The goal is maximum extraction with minimum silt — treat the press as a brewer, not a strainer.
Full steep, no plunge culture
Steep 4:00, break the crust, skim thoroughly.
⏱ 4:00 timer in guided modeExtended settle
Rest 5–8 minutes. Temperature drops are fine — you are settling fines, and press coffee served slightly cooler tastes sweeter.
⏱ 5:00 timer in guided modePlunge to surface only
Press just under the liquid line. Any deeper stirs the bed back up.
Cup and calibrate
Taste at 60 °C and again at 45 °C. Adjust ratio before grind: press coffee usually wants more coffee, not finer coffee.
↑ Level it up
The enthusiast version steeps 4 minutes, breaks the crust, skims the foam, waits, and barely presses — a technique borrowed from cupping tables that removes almost all the grit people blame the press for.
Questions we always get
Why is my French press coffee muddy?
Grind is too fine, or you pressed hard to the bottom. Go coarser, skim after the steep, and press only to the liquid surface.
Can I use pre-ground coffee?
Yes — ask for the coarsest grind available. Standard "filter grind" works; it will just carry a little more body and sediment.
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