# Recommended coffees for French press



## mathof (Mar 24, 2012)

I've recently taken out a French press that I hadn't used much in the last few years as I've been pretty much exclusively drinking espresso. I notice that the coffees I like for espresso are not very interesting brewed in the French press. Are there particular types - or even specific beans from UK roasters - that French press users recommend?

Matt


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## Eyedee (Sep 13, 2010)

It might benefit you to read peoples favourites from here.

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?28211-Best-beans-this-year

Ian


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Nearly all beans work in a French press.

If beans are uninteresting you can updose to help the beans punch through, or grind finer & down dose, with a longer steep, to more develop the flavour.

Try 15:1 at a medium grind, 4 min steep, sink crust, leave til 10min & decant.

Also 19:1 at a fine grind, one NSEW stir at fill, 20min steep (for a small pot, 40min-1hour for a large pot), covered, no break.

...then fine tune to somewhere between the 2.

I always pour off the first quarter to half a cup as the oils will float & carry some silt that you don't want in the cup.

I updose slightly for steel pots.

Don't try & brew with a very coarse grind.

I avoid letting the plunger touch the steeping coffee too, any floating silt that can get through the plunger will do at the start of the brew if you press the plunger against the floating grinds.


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## insatiableOne (Jul 29, 2015)

I agree, although I enjoy a darkish roast for French press.

I dose way more than most. Let steep for 15-30 min. scrape of top grounds + scum (what makes it bitter) plunge. Pour off top silt.

Lighter roasts are ok. I grind extremely coarse.


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## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

I love the contrasting views on coarseness of the grind in two posts!

I think I may be doing it wrong if you are both suggesting letting it brew for that length of time though as I brew for four minutes and pour. I have just started to reuse my French press as my Classic is away being repaired.

I have been using 25 grams on a medium/coarse grind (8 notches on a Lido 3) splash of water to just cover the coffee for thirty seconds or so then fill to a total of 350 grams water, plunge after four minutes and pour straight away. I think that ratio works out to 14:1.

I would be interested to hear what the preferred ratio and brew times are from other users.

As as to coffee choice I am using anything that normally went into the Classic - I haven't bought anything different specifically for the press.

Mark


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

MWJB said:


> I updose slightly for steel pots.


Out of interest, what's the reason for that?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Threeracers said:


> I love the contrasting views on coarseness of the grind in two posts!
> 
> I think I may be doing it wrong if you are both suggesting letting it brew for that length of time though as I brew for four minutes and pour. I have just started to reuse my French press as my Classic is away being repaired.
> 
> I have been using 25 grams on a medium/coarse grind (8 notches on a Lido 3) splash of water to just cover the coffee for thirty seconds or so then fill to a total of 350 grams water, plunge after four minutes and pour straight away. I think that ratio works out to 14:1.


The contrast comes from the intended result, different levels of extraction, see what you prefer. If you grind too coarse, you will be limited to lower end extractions. I'd leave a few minutes after sinking everything at 4 min, for 2 reasons: to let the silt settle & the temperature drop to a more comfortable & tastier level. There's probably not much point in letting a 14:1 brew sit for an age, extraction will probably plateau fairly early on.


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## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

I will give it a whirl and let my next pot sit for a few minutes.

regards

Mark


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## Vieux Clou (Oct 22, 2014)

A few thoughts:

I noticed in Hoffmann's book that he recommends 70g/l, which is roughly 1:14, and says that more usually it's 1:16. "One for the pot"?

I'm curious about FPs don't know much about them: I've got one, but I've only used it once and didn't think much of the result. It's a 1l model, too, which means that if I brew just for myself I'll probably leave a fair proportion of my coffee sitting in the grounds at the bottom.

I wonder, too, about the variation of filter mesh between models. An SCG review of a double-sided stainless model noted that the filter was much finer than on other makes, so why shouldn't there be variation between, say, Bodum & Bialetti? Hence perhaps the different grind settings recommended above.

What I did see on SCG was that they're good for frothing milk.

Maybe with a 35cl model I could have a bit more fun... if only cleaning the damned things wasn't such a bore.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

No problem leaving the coffee sitting, microwave the coffee in the cup to get it back up to temp, just watch how you pour as you get near the bottom as the shallow liquid will kick up more silt.

To clean, either use a cheap plastic filter cone with a paper, or a permanent drip filter, doesn't need to be great/expensive. After decanting the FP coffee swirl the grounds & any liquid still in the pot & dump into the filter & let drain over a suitably large cup/mug, dump grounds in bin/compost. Quick scrub with hot, soapy water of the press & your done in about a minute (whilst the old grounds are still draining).


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