The French press is one of the devices that you can use to brew coffee. It is a glass flask with a special piston-filter and a lid that moves freely in it. A moving filter (plunger) allows you to separate the liquid part of the drink from the coffee grounds, pressing the latter to the bottom of the vessel.

Properly brewed ground coffee beans, infusing in a French press, reveal their taste qualities more fully and give the finished drink a rich taste.

Before brewing coffee in a French press and pouring it into mugs, the dishes must be washed, heated, doused with boiling water, and wiped dry.

After preparation, place the required amount of coffee in the container and pour it with hot water so that the liquid level is a couple of centimeters below the edge of the flask.

Stir the resulting mixture thoroughly. It is convenient to use a wooden spoon for this.

Now the vessel should be closed with a lid, having previously installed the filter located on it in the upper position. The drink should be infused for about 4 minutes (the longer the brewing time, the stronger it will turn out).

When the allotted time has passed, you can begin to separate the coffee grounds from the liquid part of the drink. To do this, gently press on the filter handle until it is completely lowered, pressing the grain particles to the bottom of the container. If the piston descends easily, then the grains were ground too coarsely. If, in order to lower the press, it was necessary to make considerable efforts, then the grinding is too fine.

Coffee in a French press is not as thick and bitter as a drink prepared or coffee maker. In its taste, there is usually a pronounced sourness.
The foam of bubbles (cream) on the surface indicates that it was made correctly and turned out to be lively and saturated. The absence of foam after 4 minutes after brewing may indicate poor coffee quality or the use of water at the wrong temperature.

The finished drink should immediately be poured into cups or placed in another container (for example, a thermos), because, remaining in the French press, it will continue to brew and eventually become too bitter.

After use, all parts of the French press should be thoroughly rinsed and cleaned, paying special attention to its filter. It often gets stuck in grain particles, so it is recommended to take it apart from time to time, processing each of them.

Important subtleties

To make coffee in a French press tasty and fragrant, you need to be able to use this device correctly.

The perfect drink can be prepared if you follow these simple rules:

• traditionally, it is customary to take 4 teaspoons of ground grains for 220 ml of water;
• it is better to take medium roasted grains of the same variety;
• the grinding of grains should be large or medium;
• if the grains were ground immediately before preparing the drink, then it will turn out to be especially fragrant;
• brew should be water, the temperature of which is approximately 90 degrees;
• To achieve a unique taste and aroma, you can use various spices. It can be vanilla and other spices.
• no need to put sugar and other sticky products in the French press, they settle on the filter and make it difficult to clean it later;
• if the coffee that has not been drunk immediately has cooled down, then it is not recommended to reheat it. It won't taste good. To prevent the product from wasting, the finished hot drink can be placed in a thermos.

How to choose a french press

Thanks to its many advantages, the French press is becoming more and more popular among coffee lovers. There are many types of this device in stores, choosing from which the right one is not easy.

There are a few things to consider when buying a French press.

• Price. Depending on the brand of the manufacturer, materials, build quality and design of different products, prices for them can vary significantly. Moreover, each French press, as a rule, has a standard set of functions. When choosing a suitable model, you should not save on quality, but there is no point in overpaying for an elite brand and intricate design.
• Material and reliability of the installation of the flask. As the most fragile part of the entire structure, the French press flask must be securely mounted in a metal holder. It is better if it is made of heat-resistant glass.
• filter material. The mesh can be plastic or metal. Preference should be given to metal filters, as they are more durable and environmentally friendly compared to their plastic counterparts.
• Assembly and packaging of the product. It is better to choose models that can be easily disassembled so that during use their parts can be easily washed. Well, if the kit comes with a spare flask.

Using a French press to brew coffee is easy. By remembering well and correctly following all the recommendations, you will definitely be able to prepare your favorite drink quickly and efficiently.

Coffee in a French press cooks quickly and never runs out. Try it, suddenly you will like this particular cooking method.

The French press is a tall glass kettle with a plunger and filter. You can brew tea and coffee in it, but more often the device is used for a second drink. This is a very useful invention that allows you to enjoy natural coffee where there are no conditions for its full preparation, for example, in the office, on the road or in the country. The birthplace of this useful device is France, it was in this country that the first teapots appeared for the simple preparation of a delicious invigorating drink with a delicious aroma.

French press features

Models with filters were invented at the beginning of the 20th century by the Italians, but their mass production was established by the French. Coffee brewers began to enjoy peak popularity immediately after the end of the Second World War, they could be seen in coffee houses, restaurants and houses of connoisseurs of coffee ceremonies.

Coffee brewed in a French press has a milder taste. It almost does not feel the cherry sourness characteristic of espresso and the spicy bitterness inherent in the oriental recipe. This drink has its fans and opponents. To become one of them, you just need to make coffee in a French press according to all the rules.

How to make coffee in a french press

Coarsely ground coffee beans are suitable for preparing a tasty and aromatic drink in a teapot. Small grains will pass through the sieve and will not allow you to make high-quality coffee. The glass vessel must be warmed up before starting the cooking process. This is done simply - a little cooled boiling water is poured into the kettle for a couple of minutes, and then the dishes are well wiped from the remnants of the liquid.

Everyone takes the amount of coffee to taste, but standard recipes recommend using 2 teaspoons per glass of water. Ground coffee is poured into a bowl, and then poured with hot water, not topped up to the edge by about a thickness of two fingers. It is important to consider that the water should not be boiling, the optimum temperature for brewing coffee in a French press is 90-95%, which means that the water will need to be slightly cooled after boiling.

Next, the contents of the glass vessel are well mixed and covered with a lid, placing the piston in an elevated position, and the filter on the surface of the drink, while it is important to turn the lid so that precious aroma does not escape through the spout.

After 5 minutes, the piston is slowly lowered down, the lid is turned, opening the spout and coffee is poured into cups heated with hot water! As you can see, everything is much easier than making a drink or cooking.

As in any business, brewing coffee using the French press method has its own secrets and features. Some will say that perfect coffee can only be brewed in a Turk or a coffee machine, and some coffee pot with a press will not cope with this task. And they will be absolutely wrong, because it is in the French press that the taste of coffee is revealed more vividly and fully. Now we will reveal to you a few secrets that will help you brew excellent coffee.

1. The first thing that determines the taste of coffee is the cleanliness of the French press. It doesn’t matter if the coffee pot is metal or plastic, it must be thoroughly washed, especially the piston and flask.

2. Any type of coffee is suitable for brewing, including flavored ones. You can also use exotic varieties, as a French press is the best way to bring out the taste of coffee, provided that you did everything right.

3. The degree of grinding in this case does not affect the taste of coffee, but for convenience, coffee of uniform coarse grinding is used. Otherwise, small particles of coffee will invariably end up in the cup and the piston will be quite difficult to lower down.

4. Pay attention to the quality of grinding: for brewing in a French press coffee pot, beans ground on a good burr coffee grinder are more suitable. Probably, for some, the difference in taste will seem imperceptible, but professionals are sure that a knife grinder makes coffee taste flatter and duller.

5. Rinse the French press flask with boiling water before pouring coffee into it.
Proportions recommended for brewing coffee are 1:10 (for every 100 ml of water, 10 grams of coffee).

6. Together with coffee, you can put your favorite spices: cardamom, cinnamon and others. They will make the coffee taste more interesting.

7. Do not fill coffee with water from a kettle that has just boiled. Let the water cool down a little - just count to 10 - during this time the water temperature will drop to the desired 96 degrees. And yet - boiling water can easily split the flask, which is very unpleasant.

8. After adding water, coffee must be thoroughly mixed so that every particle gets into the water.

9. The ideal brewing time is 4 minutes, after which you can safely lower the piston.

Which coffee is better to use for making a drink in a french press

The most important criterion is the grinding level. Ideally, it should be large, like granulated sugar. If the grinding is fine, then pushing the piston with the filter will be more difficult. However, the size of the coffee particles will not affect the taste in any way. With the right brewing technology, it will be flawless!

It's time to go directly to technology. Now we will tell you how to brew ground coffee in a French press so that it turns out for real. delicious.

Before you start brewing a drink, you need to prepare everything necessary ingredients.

So, arm yourself with a French press, and don't forget to prepare:

• Three teaspoons ground coffee
• Teapot or saucepan
• Timer

You will also need water in a volume of 250 ml - better bottled (but not mineral) or passed through a filter.

Step-by-step instructions - how to make coffee in a french press to make it very tasty:

• Step 1. Heat water in a kettle. But do not boil - ideally, its temperature should not be 100 ° C, but 90-95 ° C
• Step 2. Warm up the jacket and piston by rinsing them with boiling water. It will not be superfluous to warm up the cups from which you plan to drink.
• Step 3 Pour coffee into the flask. It's important to keep the proportions. For a drink with a velvety, balanced and not too bitter taste, the ideal proportions are 7 grams of ground grains per 100 ml of water.
• Step 4. Now water is poured, but not all, but only 100 ml. It is important to make sure that the coffee poured inside is completely covered with water.
• Step 5. Wait 1 minute (in order to keep track of time, it is better to use a timer)
• Step 6 The remaining water is added to the inside of the flask. This is done very carefully so as not to damage the foam formed on the surface of the coffee.
• Step 7. Close the lid tightly. Now wait another 3 minutes
• Step 8 Very carefully push the piston all the way to the end. Don't make sudden movements! If you press the plunger too hard, the hot contents may splatter and burn your hands.
• Step 9. Immediately pour the contents of the vessel into cups or pour it into another container. Otherwise, you will get over-extracted coffee, and the taste will become too rich and bitter.

Now you know how to make coffee in a French press - and you understand that, firstly, it is not at all difficult, and secondly, it is very convenient. Well, in order for you to give your drink a truly impeccable taste, we have prepared some more important recommendations for you. Be sure to check it out!

When choosing coffee, pay attention to the characteristics of a particular variety, to characteristics of his taste pyramid. The bouquet can be dominated by acidic fruit and berry notes, and notes of tobacco, tart nutty, with a noble bitterness can be traced. In general, there are a lot of shades of taste, as evidenced by the table below.

A responsible producer always paints a flavor pyramid that characterizes each variety - so that the buyer can make the right choice.

To achieve an impeccable taste, it is not enough to know how to properly brew coffee in a French press. You need to choose the right type of roast- so that a particular variety fully reveals its bouquet. The degree of roasting directly affects the taste characteristics of coffee: the more intense the heat treatment, the more saturated and bitter the taste will be.

It is better to grind the grains immediately before brewing. If you order already ground coffee from the manufacturer, then store it in an airtight container to prevent oxygen from entering. To this end, Roastnmill packages are firstly made of multilayer ECO paper, and secondly, they are equipped with a reliable degassing valve.

Also, coffee is adversely affected by sunlight, high levels of humidity and foreign products with an active odor. Therefore, it must be stored in a dry and closed room - for example, in a cupboard with wooden or plastic doors.

A few words about how to brew coffee in a French press with unusual flavors:

• Add spices - such as nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom - necessary when direct cooking is carried out (i.e., pour into the coffee powder before it is covered with water)
• To add chocolate, alcohol, milk, cream, caramel or various toppings, the drink must first be boiled and poured into cups

Enjoy your viewing and sincere coffee drinking!

Love good coffee but hate the hassle of making it? French press for coffee was invented as if especially for you! A simple and compact device can be found in the home kitchen, in a network or author's coffee shop. We have collected in one article everything you need to know about the French press and the intricacies of making coffee in it.

What is a French press and how did it come about?

A French press is a coffee brewing device. In the press, you can also prepare tea, herbal or fruit infusions and other drinks.

The design of a modern French press is a vertical cylindrical flask. It is made of high temperature resistant glass. The flask contains a vertical piston equipped with a strainer. The piston descends to the very bottom, pressing the thick and preventing it from falling into the cups after the end of brewing.

Despite the constructive commonality, modern French presses may differ in some respects.

• The volume of the flask.
• Design.
• Mesh material (plastic, nylon, metal).

Who was the author of the first French press?

The device was first demonstrated to the general public in the 19th century, and industrial production was established at the very beginning of the 20th century. However, the patent was obtained much later, at the end of the 20s. The Milanese designer A. Calimani turned out to be the owner of the patent, but he could not really “unwind” the device. The French bought the rights from him and flooded Europe with simple and convenient coffee pots, which have since become known as the “French press”.

A new wave of popularity of the French press came at the end of the 20th century, and for several decades this method of preparation has remained one of the most popular among coffee lovers. A French press does not look as impressive as an espresso machine, but coffee in a glass flask is excellent.

Why is the French press popular with coffee tasters?

An important feature of the device is the excellent preservation of the bouquet of the drink.

Firstly, coffee is brewed with hot water, but not boiled, so the taste and aroma are preserved to the maximum. Aromatic substances do not evaporate, so you can brew varietal coffee in a French press and enjoy all the shades of taste and aroma. Therefore, the French press loves tasters.

The French press also has a large filter. Fabric or paper filters are much smaller, they retain a maximum of coffee particles, but along with them, some aromatic substances are also deposited on the filters. In the French press, you are insured against this. The taste of the drink from the use of a large filter only benefits.

How to brew coffee in a french press?

The French press for coffee is simple and unpretentious, and making coffee is not difficult. Let's start with preparation.

Coffee

Grind coffee beans. Grinding is needed coarse, approximately like coarse salt or crushed rice. Fine grinding for a French press is not good. The extraction will go too fast and the coffee will be too bitter and tasteless. The best grinding will be provided by burr coffee makers, in which the grains are ground, not broken.

If you decide to indulge in a French press varietal coffee, keep the beans light to medium roast to retain all of the aromatics. The longer the beans are roasted, the more caramel-chocolate notes they have, but the more subtle flavors disappear.

Water

Bottled or at least filtered will do. It should be boiled and allowed to cool for 5-7 minutes. The optimum water temperature for brewing coffee is between 92 and 95 degrees. At a lower temperature, extraction will not work, the drink will be sour and weak, but steep boiling water will make the coffee bitter and sharp.

Time

Brewing in a French press takes 4 minutes. After that, the filter is lowered and the coffee is poured into cups. An overexposed drink is unpleasantly bitter.

Brewing recipe

• Use fresh coarse ground coffee in the ratio of 1 part ground coffee to 7 parts water. If you are afraid of the strength of the drink, then change the ratio to 1/10. In the first case, you will need about 20 g of coffee per 150 ml of water, in the second - 15 g of coffee per 150 ml.
• Boil water in a kettle and let cool for 5 minutes.
• Rinse your French press with hot water.
• Load ground coffee.
• Fill it with water in a circular motion.
• Stir the water and coffee with a spoon or bamboo stick.
• Cover with a lid. Don't drop the press.
• Let it brew for 4 minutes.
• Lower the press slowly.
• Pour coffee into cups immediately.

It is better to drink it immediately, otherwise it will cool down.

Some experts advise pouring the desired amount of coffee powder with a small amount of water and leave for 30 seconds, and only then pour in the remaining water. The infusion time with this method is 4 minutes.

We will assume that you are impressed by the ability to quickly and easily prepare coffee, like a real taster. It remains to acquire a French press. We go to the store and take a look at the line of the most diverse models. How to choose the right one?

Flask material

Mark cheap plastic as unreliable and short-lived. Iron flasks are also not very good - they get very hot and can rust at the joints. The best choice of bulb material is heat-resistant borosilicate glass. It is easy to care for it, it heats up more slowly.

filter grid

It can be metal or synthetic. The latter option filters finer fractions, but it is better to give preference to a metal mesh. It will pass very small particles, but it will not precipitate aromatic fractions.

Volume

Choose a French press that will be enough to make your usual serving of coffee. For two coffee lovers, a model of 300-400 ml is suitable, and for one, a 200 ml option will be enough.

Rating of the best models

As you already understood, the range of French presses differs only in design, materials of manufacture and the conscientiousness of the manufacturer.

To simplify the choice, we have compiled our own small rating of manufacturers whose products have already been evaluated in practice. As always, we warn about the complete subjectivity of the approach. It is based only on our own impression at the “like-dislike” level.

1st place. Bodum

The trademark from Denmark is represented by a whole constellation of French presses of various sizes and designs. Colored lids, comfortable handles that do not heat up, durable borosilicate glass and metal filters. The dishes serve for a long time, but they cost quite a lot of money - from 2.5 thousand rubles.

2nd place. Bialetti

Coffee lovers know this name very well from geyser coffee makers. Bialetti French presses are distinguished by decent build quality and production. A definite plus - comfortable and durable handles. Even a liter coffee pot, full to the brim, is not scary to lift with such handles. The price starts from 2.6-2.8 rubles.

3rd place. Hario

The Japanese brand specializes in the manufacture of tableware, and pour-overs brought him worldwide fame. Japanese-made French presses are durable, stylish and durable. Comfortable handles and stands, strong lids, metal mesh filter. The biggest drawback is the high price. A miniature press of 240 ml will cost from 1.5-2 thousand rubles.

4th place. Tescoma

Chinese tableware brand has a good reputation. French presses can not boast of a variety of designs, but they are practical. Comfortable handles, good piston stroke. Of the minuses - they need to be dried after use, otherwise they can quickly rust. The cost is from 1.5 thousand rubles.

5th place. Taller

Chinese products are traditionally affordable. Of the minuses, we note the not always successful design of the handle and lid. In many models, they are metal and heat up quickly. But the price of 600 rubles is very attractive.

Features operation french press

Although the dishes themselves are undemanding, you still have to follow some care rules. At least in order to extend the life of the French press.

• Rinse the French press thoroughly.
• Dry flat.
• Use non-abrasive products.
• Wash the piston without using the dishwasher.
• Do not pour boiling water over coffee.
• Do not brew herbal teas and coffee in the same press.
• Place your French press on a hot dish rack, even if it has special "legs". They, too, can get hot and leave marks on vulnerable furniture.
• If the filter metal is discolored, immerse the piston in an aqueous solution of detergent and leave for 5-10 minutes, then rinse with clean water.

The coffee French press is quite fragile, so keep it away from pets and small children.

French press for coffee: our conclusion

1. Reveals the true bouquet of coffee.
2. Easy to use.
3. Easy to care for.
4. Relatively inexpensive.
5. Widely spread.
6. Suitable for those who love varietal coffee.