Advice on making the best coffee in a French Press.

gary82 · 19-03-2009 11:13PM #1

Hey guys,

Finally got my first grinder! Got one for €20 in town (Galway). Clearly nothing too fancy but a considered investment on a student budget. Moments later I picked up a bag of coffee beans in Mocha beans - the Peruvian ones.

Can you give me advice on how to get the best cup of coffee using the French press.

How long do allow it before pushing down the plunger?
How many teaspoons per cup?
etc etc

Thanks!

Gary

Gran Hermano · 19-03-2009 11:22PM

http://www.squaremileblog.com/2008/11/12/videocast-2-french-press-technique/

Shout if you need anything else.

RE*AC*TOR · 20-03-2009 07:23AM

Generally 4 minutes / 93 - 95 C water / 7-8.5g per 125ml

Of course you can change any of those to suit your own taste, those are only general guidelines.

Khannie · 21-03-2009 09:59AM

If it's a whirly grinder, shaking it while you grind will help give a more consistent size at the end (and this makes a big difference with the french press).

ch2008 · 21-03-2009 09:19PM

Try leaving out milk and sugar too if you usually take them. If its done right it should be great without. a hard step for some...

gary82 · 21-03-2009 10:07PM

Thanks for the responses lads!

I've had a fair few runs now, one of which was excellent imo but not sure what I did different that time! Since that I've tried to take note of quantities etc.

I'm not mostly getting a coffee that's a slightly strong harsh taste but also a bit watery (if that makes sense). It's not what I'd call full-bodied lets say!

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Generally 4 minutes / 93 - 95 C water / 7-8.5g per 125ml

Yeah I'm letting it steep now for 4 minutes and allowing the water to cool for a few minutes in the kettle after boiling. Unfortunately I've no scales so can't work out the grammage anywhere near that accuracy. I might price one but student budget and all that. I'm using two heaped teaspoons per mug at the moment - sound right'ish?

Khannie wrote:

If it's a whirly grinder, shaking it while you grind will help give a more consistent size at the end (and this makes a big difference with the french press).

Yeah it's the whirly grinder. I'm getting good consistancy alright. I'm not sure about the fineness of the "grind"* though. I known it's meant to be coarse but don't know what that means. It's much coarser than my flatmates bag of ground bewley's coffee (strength 5). I'll take photos of my next grind with a coin scale reference!

ch2008 wrote:

Try leaving out milk and sugar too if you usually take them. If its done right it should be great without. a hard step for some...

I'm a milk and sugar fan! I've tried what was considered good coffee, just back and it was good... but still prefer the extra body you get with the milk/cream.

Overall though, big improvement in coffee since the investment!

Oh and I'll have to start calling it a cafetière instead - my French housemates are confused by the national reference in this non-French appliance!

* : inserted in respect of the die-hard brewers who will say I'm bashing the beans, not grinding!!

eclectichoney · 21-03-2009 10:18PM

i'd say two heaped tablespoons might be a closer match - 2 teaspoons sounds very little as the spherical shape of beans means you can' go by volume really, so unfortunately you do need a scales!

I think Salter have an electronic one in argos for €13 - well worth it, not just for coffee!

eclectichoney · 21-03-2009 10:19PM

Oh and try gradually reducing the milk and sugar bit by bit - soon you won't need it at all!

gary82 · 21-03-2009 10:20PM

Oh no i meant 2 heaped teaspoon of the ground coffee. That sound better?

eclectichoney · 21-03-2009 10:44PM

Still sounds too little tbh - at a guess I'd say I use 2 heaped tablespoons worth in a mug, but in truth I weigh the beans (22g) and grind that amount and in it goes to the Bodum Colmbia without using spoons or anything. Welcome to the forum - I am also a french press lover

eclectichoney · 21-03-2009 10:48PM

Oh and in terms of grind coarseness - I use a grind that is more coarse than a powder, that is, there are some bits in it that look a bit like granulated sugar.

A bit like this:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1134/1474120864_c957be3ec5.jpg

gaeilgegrinds · 21-03-2009 10:50PM

How do you make it? Apologies for my greenness.

gary82 · 21-03-2009 11:12PM

eclectichoney wrote:

Welcome to the forum - I am also a french press lover

Thank you!

I think I'll grind it a bit finer next time. I'll photo before use.

Eyeing up Cofesa Espresso on Coffeebeans.ie - anyone tried it?

|Cofesa Espresso: This is the most popular coffee. 100% Arabica high mountain bean. Strong taste and full bodied. A blend of beans from Brazil, Mexico and Peru. This coffee has two different coloured beans. This is because 20% of the beans are “torrefacto” roasted. This is a technique of sweetening the bean before roasting. It helps add more crema to the coffee. You can see the two roasting types in the photograph. This is a medium body coffee.

Khannie · 22-03-2009 09:20AM

gary82 wrote: »

I'm not mostly getting a coffee that's a slightly strong harsh taste but also a bit watery (if that makes sense). It's not what I'd call full-bodied lets say!

That sounds over-extracted to me. More coffee ftw.

eclectichoney · 22-03-2009 11:40AM

Gary I measured the amount I use and it's between 2 and 3 heaped tablespoons, depending on your definition of heaped!

However you really can't beat a scales - precision will only improve your coffee

gary82 · 22-03-2009 11:47AM

eclectichoney wrote: »

Gary I measured the amount I use and it's between 2 and 3 heaped tablespoons, depending on your definition of heaped! However you really can't beat a scales - precision will only improve your coffee

Per mug? :eek:

I had another brew early this morning, ground the beans a good bit finer, and used a fair bit more. The result: muuuch better! It was that fuller coffee I was looking for. I'm going to pick up that scales this afternoon.

eclectichoney · 22-03-2009 12:50PM

Yep - per mug! As a guide you should get around 10 mugs out of a standard 227g bag i find.

gary82 · 22-03-2009 03:37PM

Picked up the scales this afternoon and tried 7.5g/125ml ... Niceeee

Maybe a small bit strong so will try a bit less next time.

IsThatSo? · 23-03-2009 09:41AM

IIRC I saw someone mention here that one coffee bean was approx 1g. This could be helpful for those who don't have scales and have the patience to count coffee beans

Congrats on the good coffee Gary82, its worth the effort.

eclectichoney · 23-03-2009 09:59AM

IsThatSo? wrote: »

IIRC I saw someone mention here that one coffee bean was approx 1g. This could be helpful for those who don't have scales and have the patience to count coffee beans

Congrats on the good coffee Gary82, its worth the effort.

I never knew that! I'm gonna count my beans tomorrow and see if it's true

IsThatSo? · 23-03-2009 01:22PM

eclectichoney wrote: »

I never knew that! I'm gonna count my beans tomorrow and see if it's true

Good thinking :pac:

Let us know.

gary82 · 23-03-2009 02:07PM

IsThatSo? wrote: »

IIRC I saw someone mention here that one coffee bean was approx 1g. This could be helpful for those who don't have scales and have the patience to count coffee beans

Myth busted!

Made a pot there and did a quick check and it was approx 7 beans/g . I'd guess it would vary a bit per bean-type so probably not worth doing up a conversion scale?

gary82 · 23-03-2009 02:39PM

Lads here's an A4 you can print-off to have in the kitchen with the 7-8.5g per 125ml scale. Should be of some use to ye!

It'll print best from the excel file but I've included a pdf as well for those without MS Excel (chunkier lines).

Thanks RE*AC*TOR!

Advice on making the best coffee in a French Press.

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