Brewing Guide

Introduction

How to prepare the perfect Press Pot

Using a Press Pot (aka French Press) is the easiest and best way to get truly excellent coffee at home. The keys to getting good results are: using high quality, fresh beans; grinding the coffee correctly; using clean equipment and filtered water; timing the process.

You’ll need a Press Pot, coffee, a grinder, a spoon, a timer and cups (and thermal carafe if preparing more than fits in the cups).

Step One

Grind Coffee

It is important that the coffee be ground coarse and that it be ground with a quality burr (rather than blade) grinder. By grinding the coffee coarse, you’re allowing for a slower and more even extraction, which results in a fuller bodied and more nuanced cup. Blade grinders chop the coffee rather than grinding it, resulting in uneven and unpredictable particle size. This leads to an uneven extraction, creating increased bitterness. In addition, the lack of consistency in particle size results in inconsistent and unpredictable results from pot to pot.

Step Two

Add Coffee to Pot

You’ll need one tablespoon (7 grams) of coffee for every 4 oz of water. in other words, if you have a 34 oz (8 cup) Press Pot, you’ll want to use 8 tablespoons of coffee. Feel free to adjust this amount based on your own personal tastes. Make sure the pot is clean and dry.

Step Three

Add Water

You should bring the water just to a boil (electric kettles are great at this). Pour it aggressively into the pot so that it saturates the grounds. The key is to saturate all the grounds evenly. You should move the stream around as you pour to facilitate this. Do not fill the pot entirely.

With many fresh coffees you will see significant expansion of the coffee in a sort of foam at the top of the liquid once you add water. This is known as bloom and is the result of the off-gassing of CO2 from the coffee. Adding too much water can result in a very messy countertop.

Step Four

Start Timer

You’re going to want to have a timer that counts down from 4 minutes and has an alarm at 4 minutes. It’s very important that you use a timer to guarantee high quality coffee.

Step Five

Stir Pot

After 1 minute, you should stir the grounds in the pot. If you need to add water to top off the pot, make sure it is right below boiling. Stirring the pot guarantees even and optimal extraction of all the coffee. In addition, it breaks down the bloom and allows you to combine the correct amount of water and coffee without spilling all over the place.

Step Six

Put Press-Top on Pot

Make sure you line up the spout and the corresponding opening in the lid.

Step Seven

Press the Pot

At exactly 4 minutes, you should push the press (slowly) into the pot to force all grounds to the bottom. You might have to press and then release and repeat to do this. Do not crush it with all your might – use some finesse.

Step Eight

Pour the Coffee

You need to do this as soon as you’ve pressed the pot. If you’re making more coffee than you can fit into a cup and want to hold some for later, pour the coffee into a thermal carafe. Do not simply leave the coffee in the Press Pot — it will get nasty quickly. If you want to avoid any stray grounds and sediment, you can pour the coffee through a mesh basket filter.