A French Press has change my coffee-drinking life. In my first house, I had an old-school brewer. You know, an actual coffee pot. And, then, when I moved in with my now husband, we had a Keurig. We used the pods for years (we didn’t know any better back then!) and then switched over to re-usable pods so we could stop ruining the planet.
But, there were still plastic pods to buy (yeah, they could get recycled, but they could only be used so many times before they had to get chucked into the blue bin). Finally, after receiving a french press in my fabfitfun box, we stored the Keurig downstairs and moved on to better and greater things.
Now, the french press I received ended up falling apart (easy fix, though) and was a little small to be used for both of us. It really only made one cup of coffee (I mean, technically two cups, but one MUG of coffee). So, we upgraded. To this beauty. Obviously, it’s copper.
Not only does it look gorgeous, but it makes two FULL cups of coffee for us. Which means we can start on brewing our second cup while we enjoy our first one.
The only problem I had when trying out a french press for the first time was how to use the damn thing. So, here’s my steps on how to brew the best coffee, without Starbucks or a Paris cafe.
Step 1. Get the water boiling in a kettle.
Step 2. Grind the coffee beans, making sure that it is coarse. Like, chunky. Mine usually looks like sea salt, but I’ve had some half beans in the french press and it worked just fine.
Step 3. Add 5 tbsp (heaping-ish) of coarse ground coffee into the french press. We like strong coffee, but not tar, and for the size we have 5 tbsp is perfect. If you aren’t into strong coffee, 4 – 5 tbsp (not heaping) will do the trick.
Step 4. Add the boiling water.
Step 5. Stir with a wooden spoon (you can use plastic or silicone just NOT metal). And, honestly, when I pour the water I tend to mix it up enough that I rarely need to do this step.
Step 6. Put the lid on your french press and wait 4 – 8 minutes. The longer you let that bad boy steep, the stronger it will be. My favourite steepage time is 15 – 18 minutes. It’s strong and beautiful.
Step 7. Push the plunger down.
Step 8. Pour into your cup, add your accouterments and enjoy!
2 thoughts on “How to use a French Press”