French Press coffee is one of the classic manual brewing methods. Here is a quick guide for brewing great coffee with this method.

What You'll Need

• French Press Coffeemaker - 12 and 34 oz. sizes are common.
• Fresh Coffee - Whole bean is preferable; pre-ground needs to be medium-coarse to coarse.
• Coffee Grinder - See our blog article for suggestions.
• Fresh Water - Heated to just off-boil, around 200-203ºF.
• Kitchen Scale - Weighing your dose of coffee gives consistent results.

How Much Coffee?

• Weigh 2 grams of coffee for each ounce of water.
• For a 12 oz. press use 24 grams of coffee.
• For a 34 oz. press use 68 grams of coffee.

French Press Recipe

1. Heat the water to boiling and remove from heat source for 1 minute.
2. Grind your coffee but not too fine. Use a medium-coarse to coarse grind.
3. Place coffee in the press.
4. Add the heated water (which should be the proper temperature by now).
5. Give the grounds a quick stir to make sure they are all wet.
6. Place the lid on the press with the plunger in the up position.
7. Allow brew to steep for 4-5 minutes.
8. Press the plunger to the bottom of the press.
9. Serve the brewed coffee.

Bonus Tips

• Pre-warm the press with some of the boiling water. Be sure to pour it out before adding ground coffee.
• Pre-wet (bloom) the coffee. Add 1/3 of the water to the grounds, stir and wait 30 seconds for the coffee to bloom. Then add the remaining volume of water and place the lid, being sure to subtract 30 seconds from your brew time.
• To stir or not to stir? Tinker with stirring and not stirring for different extracted flavors.
• Keep the French press clean. Coffee oils accumulate easily.
• Grind size and brew time. Experiment with these brew parameters to dial in your preferred flavor profile. Smaller grounds and short brew times vs. larger grounds and longer brew times.

Ready to Brew the Perfect French Press?

It all starts with your favorite Sky Mountain Coffee selection. Shop our micro-roasted, specialty grade coffee today!