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How To Use a French Press: Instructions from top roasters!

How To Use a French Press: Instructions from top roasters!

One french press brew guide to rule them all.

The french press coffee brewer is a classic, for many people it's their first introduction to decent coffee at home. But despite the fact that you can find them for sale at every grocery and kitchenware store, they're surprisingly tough to get right. The big problem is that they require a super consistent coarse grind, which only high-end coffee grinders do well. As a result, we never recommend the french press for beginners. But if you have a great grinder and want to revisit a classic, the french press produces a very unique (and enjoyable) cup of coffee. For the most part, the french press is straightforward to use. Add coffee, add water, wait, plunge. Water should be 195-205℉ (a few minutes off boil). Some recipes recommend a stir, others recommend pouring some water, letting the coffee bloom, and then pouring the rest. Really, it doesn't matter what you do as long as you do the same thing every time, eventually you'll dial in the recipe just the way you like it. To help you remember how to use a french press, we compiled a list of french press instructions from top coffee roasters. Roaster, Coffee (grams), Water (grams), Time Blue Bottle, 40g, 400g, 4:00 Intelligentsia, 33g, 525g, 5:00 Stumptown Coffee, 56g, 896g, 4:00 Sightglass Coffee, 38g, 600g, 4:00 Ritual, 55g, 850g, 4:00 Sprudge, 53g, 850g, 4:00 Average, 46g, 687g, 4:10
That averages out to a brew ratio of 15:1, which sounds about right. And in case you don't have a scale, that's fine, there are only a few conversions you need to know. French press manufacturers like to think a cup is only 4oz, so an 8-cup french press only holds 32oz. There are 28 grams per oz, so here's how many grams a reasonably full french press holds: Cups, Ounces, Grams 4, 16oz, 448g 6, 24oz, 672g 8, 32oz, 896g 12, 48oz, 1344g

Here's one one trick we've come up with that greatly improves the press (especially if you have a less than stellar grinder). Pour the grinds into a strainer and shake it to get the finest particles out. At first it might seem like a lot of coffee is being lost, but when I shake 40g of coffee, only 3g of super fines come out. Here's how it looks: French press coarse grind

Taking those super fine grains out makes a HUGE difference, you'll have the best french press of your life. Not only will the coffee be less muddy, but 50% of the sour and 90% of the bitterness will be removed as well, without removing the pleasant acidity. That should be all the info you need to get started with the french press. Enjoy re-discovering a classic!

The Chemex Brew Guide: Compare Chemex recipes from top roasters!

The Chemex Brew Guide: Compare Chemex recipes from top roasters!

This is the last Chemex brew guide you'll ever need.

The Chemex is one of our favorite coffee brewers because it's easy to use, environmentally friendly, and makes an excellent tasting cup. Once you have your basic pouring technique down (basically just don't fill it all the way up so the coffee is stuck to the sides of the filter, keep it all as low as possible), the tricky part is dialing in the variables to match your own taste preferences. To help you, we've compiled this list of Chemex recipes from top roasters (and coffee subscription competitors). :) Basically everyone agrees on a 0:30-0:45 bloom, water temp in the range of 195-205℉, and a grind that's slightly coarser than average for a pourover (because the thick filters drain a little slower). The remaining variables are brew time and brew ratio. Here are how other brew guides compare: Roaster, Coffee (grams), Water (grams), Time Blue Bottle, 50-60g, 600-700g, 4:00 Intelligentsia, 33g, 525g, 5:00 Stumptown Coffee, 42g, 700g, 4:00 Sightglass Coffee, 40g, 600g, 4:00 Craft Coffee, 36g, 600g, 3:30 Mistobox, 38g, 600g, 4:30 Ritual, 45g, 700g, 4:30 Coava, 40g, 600g, 3:45 Average, 41g, 621g, 4:09
The table above measures water in grams because it's generally best to weigh your Chemex on a scale as you brew it, to keep measurements as accurate as possible. If you don't measure water in grams, you can go in fluid oz instead. To convert, 20 oz = 591 grams. You'll also notice your Chemex has a little glass bump on it. That bump marks the half-full line, but it can also tell you how much coffee you've brewed. Here's the bump volume based on Chemex size: Chemex Size, Bump Volume, Grams 3-cup Chemex, 7.5oz, 212g 6-cup Chemex, 15oz, 425g 8-cup Chemex, 20oz, 567g 10-cup Chemex, 25oz, 709g
That should be all the info you need to get moving in the right direction. Enjoy a delicious Chemex!