A French press is a device used in most modern kitchens today. It is a device that many many people have seen before, but how many people actually know how to use a French press?
A French press is used to brew fresh ground coffee beans and then separate them to release the coffee liquid after they have completely steeped in hot water. However, unlike its name, the French Press was first introduced by coffee-loving Italians in 1929, almost a century ago.
We can safely assume that this device has done well for itself if we continue to use it to this day. And for good measure, a French press really does wonders when it comes to brewing a hot cup of coffee.
If you have any doubts about how to use a French press or if you already do own one and just want to up your coffee game, please follow our guide to How to best use the new French Press you just bought!
Welcome to the world of the French Press
So, you saw a YouTube video of someone using a French press to make their coffee. Or you saw a neat little coffee gadget somewhere in a shop that you couldn’t stop thinking about. Or even you’re a complete coffee addict, and you just had to get your hand on a French press to up your coffee game.
Either way, from whichever path you have come from, rest assured this article is here to educate and enlighten you on the wonderous ways of using a French press for your next steaming hot cup of coffee.
You can be sure that once you have finished reading this article, you will know exactly how to use a French press, and you are going to want to go out and buy yourself a brand new French press, taking your coffee drinking experience to a whole new level.
Is coffee really worth the hype?
According to NCA, a whopping 64% of American adults have coffee every day as part of either breakfast or during work hours. So yes. coffee really is worth the hype. But what is it precisely about coffee that makes it so appealing to people to try?
Coffee is an energy stimulant, and depending on your tolerance for it. it can give you that energy-boosting kick right at the start of your day so you can be as productive as you can. Not only this but the rich aroma of the coffee beans is said to be an essential factor in the consumption of coffee itself.
Though coffee is famous and a favorite amongst American adults, as mentioned above, the Americans have got NOTHING on these European countries that consume way more coffee than them.
According to the International Coffee Organization in 2016. Finland is the country where the average person consumes 14KGS in coffee per capita! Sweden. Iceland, and Norway are not too far off from this crazy coffee addiction also. And why not?
Coffee has impressive health benefits, from improving one’s memory to lowering the risk of heart disease; coffee is the ultimate drink that people cannot grow tired of.
Plus, there are so many ways to prepare a fresh, steaming hot cup of coffee, like having latte’s, an espresso shot or even just having a straight cup of black roasted coffee beans. There is no limit to how people have customized this versatile drink to suit their tastes.
What exactly is a French press?
In layman’s terms, a French press is basically a coffee container contraption with a plunger attached at the top.
Hot water and loose coffee grounds are added to this gadget and the plunger is pushed down, separating the coffee grounds from the coffee mixture.
The whole point of this manual machine is that it allows a way for a better-tasting alternative to those instant coffee mixtures available everywhere in the market today as the user can use fresh, unprocessed coffee grounds in their coffee.
Using these fresh coffee grounds automatically elevates the flavor of any coffee type. Plus, the French Press is safe, easy to use. and because of its popularity and advancement, there are so many of these available in almost all sizes.
Because they are available in all shapes and sizes, they can be stored in all kitchens across the globe.
French Press vs. instant coffee
Everybody already knows how to make a quick and easy cup of instant coffee, but now you also know how to use a French press, so which is the best way to make that perfect cup of coffee?
You can’t deny that with the convenience that instant coffee gives and with the aesthetic and taste that a French press coffee gives, these are the two most popular ways to make coffee.
Instant coffee is exactly what you expect it is: instant. Jut put hot water into a cup and stir this mixture in. and voila!
You got yourself a hot cup of coffee in mere minutes. Because this coffee is so processed, there is a wide variety of flavors you can choose from: from decaf to vanilla, mocha, and even green tea coffee, all of these flavors you can find in the world of instant coffee.
With the pros established: let’s talk about the cons now.
Instant coffee might not be the healthiest alternative to your daily caffeine fix. They come pre-packed with all the ingredients already incorporated into the packet, such as creamer, preservatives, and even sweeteners.
Because of this: you don’t know precisely what is in your cup of instant coffee. For all you know, they can easily substitute out the ingredients listed and replace them with cheaper alternatives to cut costs. Here are the differences between using a French press and using instant coffee with a drip machine.
Plus, coffee is a natural anti-oxidant. This means that fresh coffee grounds are put into your cup of coffee, are good for you. When we’re drinking instant coffee, are you really sure that this highly processed pre-packaged, and already sweetened coffee powder is good for you? No! You cannot.
When talking about the French Press and the coffee you can make from there, that’s a whole other ball game.
Sure, it can take long: breaking out the French Press, boiling your water, grinding up your coffee grounds, and then waiting until the coffee and the hot water steep and THEN finally pushing the plunger down and getting your coffee. We get it; it’s a lot.
However, what you will be getting is a healthy, fresh cup of better-tasting coffee that’s superior to any instant coffee flavor anytime. You know what exactly is in your cup and how it got to be there. This control that you can have over what goes into your cup is definitively better than having some instant cup of coffee that you don’t even know what went into it.
How to use a French Press?
So know you have all the knowledge you need about the French press, you might still be wondering how to use a French Press. Well fear not, our caffeine-addicted readers.
Using a French press is extremely easy, and with the step-by-step guide that we have provided for you below you will be whipping up your own coffee without breaking a sweat:
Step 1: Preheat your French Press with boiling water. This helps saturate the coffee grounds before you pour in your boiling water.
Step 2: Measure your coffee grounds to water ratio so you know you’re not having watered-down coffee or you’re getting way too much caffeine. If you have whole coffee grounds, crush them to have a better, smoother taste.
Step 3: Add your freshly ground coffee grounds to the French Press.
Step 4: Boil your water. Remember to have your water measured out. so we don’t have any problems with that water to the coffee ratio we talked about earlier.
Step 5: Add your boiling water to the French Press. Let your coffee grounds and your water sit for a while. Letting your mixture sit for a while will ensure every coffee ground is saturated with water.
Step 6: Replace the cap onto the French Press and slowly push the plunger down. What you’re going to have is all the coarse coffee grounds at the bottom and all the coffee liquid squeezed out of them at the top.
Step 7: serve and enjoy!
The perfect French Press Ratio
So. now you know the steps involved in how to use a French press, it is time to share some other important pieces of information, starting with the perfect French press ration.
This is where we are going to start getting a little controversial. We know everybody has their own tastes and preferences and styles; that’s completely fine.
What we are here to do is to provide a basic guideline when it comes to brewing your coffee. The guideline exists to help you try it out for yourself, and if you’d like your cup of coffee another way, then you can alternate or create and mix according to your tastes next time! No harm, no foul!
The coffee to water ratio is something we’d like to discuss here. Whether you like your coffee more on the stronger side or if you are just a casual sipper. we suggest you use the 1:15 ratio presented by Crema.co.
For every 1 gram of coffee, you use in this ratio, use at least 15 grams of water. What this method does is that it completely dilutes the coffee (without overwatering it down) and makes the coffee give out its fresh coffee flavor when the plunger of your French Press is pushed down. So, 1:15 converts to every three tablespoons of coffee needs one whole cup of water.
Like most pages, this is just a suggestion and therefore is completely and utterly your choice to follow our recommended guideline or not.
How much coffee can a French press make?
Depending on the size of your French Press, you can easily brew a large quantity of coffee that can last you throughout the day.
Now, if you’re hosting a book club or have your friends over for a quiet night in, the average French Press that you can find in the market can easily make you 3 cups of coffee with the right amount of water and coffee grounds added to the Press; these are mentioned above.
Again, this really depends on the size of the French Press you have on hand. If you’d like to make more, you can simply repeat the process until you have the desired number of cups you need.
When buying your French Press, it’s always a good idea to navigate your options; maybe if you live alone or your family just doesn’t like coffee all that much, you can opt for a smaller version of a French press; similarly, if you’ve got a vast circle of friends and family and they’re all coffee addicts like you, you can buy a bigger size so you can be the best host and brew the best darn cup of coffee for any and all occasions!
Where do I find the perfect French Press?
Luckily, we live in a world where there is no shortage of products and companies are willing to give all their might just to sell us their products.
You can find French coffee presses anywhere. From good departmental stores that sell crockery and utensils to online forums such as Amazon and eBay. French Press is not something that is easy to miss or hard to come by.
There are even YouTuber Baristas with their stores now that can sell you a fantastic French Press with just a click of a button.
When buying your French Press, it is invariably a great plan to check your choices. If you are a single person, living by themselves, or the people you do live with are not actually a fan of drinking coffee, you should probably decide to go for a more modest variant of the French Press.
Or maybe you do have a lot of people in your life who love to drink coffee and are just as crazy about coffee as you; then your best option would be to splash out for the bigger, more extravagant size, allowing you to deliver the best coffee to as many people at the same time.
It really all depends on you and your preferences, so go crazy and research what will work best for you.
An excellent French press will also come in a variety of different prices depending on the material they are made of and who is selling them.
Some companies like Starbucks can charge you anything between $20-$200 for a French press. Of course, there will be variations no matter which product you choose to buy. the important thing to keep in mind is your own budget and your requirements.
Is French press coffee bad for you?
There have been discussions going around that address the concern that because a French press does not filter out coffee from a standard filter paper, the coffee must be not as healthy as that which is appropriately filtered through the filter paper.
The key ingredient that people say should be filtered out when making coffee is cafestol. This ingredient is said to aid in the rise of our body’s harmful cholesterol levels.
Countless people have done experiments where they take pressed coffee and strain it through paper towels, commercially available paper filters and the conclusion they come up with is that this whole issue of cafestol has been overly blown out of proportion.
According to blackoutcoffee.com, who consulted two doctors about this problem, they have advised that whoever is pressing their coffee is recommended to at least strain it through a commercially available paper filter. This way, cafestol is easily removed from the equation, and you can enjoy your cup of coffee with little to no worries.
Enjoy your new love of the French Press
Everybody loves coffee. This beverage has been around for millions of years and has been enjoyed thoroughly by our ancestors, and is now taking its time being enjoyed by us. As we’ve concluded in this essay, coffee is also highly versatile and can be enjoyed in a hundred million ways; and it is.
The Japanese enjoy their coffee a certain way; the French enjoy their coffee a certain way. There is no limitation as to how one can make or drink their coffee drink.
But the one way that we have described here is that the French Press is genuinely a fantastic way to brew your coffee to get those ultimate benefits out of it.
The French Press is convenient, easy, and highly pleasing to look at and use if you are an avid coffee drinker. They are as versatile as the drink itself, coming in all different shapes and sizes.
Now that you know how to use a French press, why not get yourself out to your nearest coffee shop and see if you can get your hands on the perfect new French press of your very own. Good luck, and happy coffee making!
Why Is A French Press Different?
French Press is a manual brewing coffee device that is a narrow cylindrical shaped carafe made out of glass, stainless steel, plastic, and stoneware. If you prefer to have a strong flavorful coffee, then this is what you’re looking for.
Using a French Press makes the brewing experience more personal, you can dictate how the flavor will turn out depending on how you brew your coffee.
