# Ratio for single cup French Press?



## R0ADK1LL (Sep 16, 2021)

I've been brewing French Press for a long time. I'm pretty sure my little Bodum plunger is over 15 years old. I've resisted becoming a coffee snob & mostly just bought pre-ground beans from the supermarket, but I've recently decided to take my coffee brewing to the next level & got myself a Baratza Encore & a set of Hario scales. Same old French Press because it's built to last.

I've been experimenting a bit, but I'm a little confused about the ratios. My FP holds about 300ml (or g) of water. When buying pre-ground "plunger" coffee, I always used one heaped tablespoon, which is around 10g. I always brewed for around 4 minutes. It made a decent tasting coffee, but obviously missing out on the subtle flavours of a fresh grind.

So first question: Baratza recommends the no.28 setting for French Press. This is much coarser than what normally comes in a "plunger" bag, whether that's pre-packaged from the supermarket or if I ask my local roastery to grind a bag of beans for me. I know I can play around with the settings, but I'm wondering, does that has anything to do with the ratio of water to grinds?

Which leaves my second and most important question: Most websites recommend a ration of between 15:1 & 18:1. That's anywhere between 16.67 & 20g of coffee to 300g of water. That seems like a lot. 20g is double what I have been using for the past 15 years. So, have I been drinking weaksauce coffee all my life, or is there something different that's going on here?


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## ratty (Sep 22, 2019)

I've been using a single french Press for many years as my first cup of the day.

I use 300g of water roughly as I don't measure this, but know how full to fill, poured from a goose neck kettle. I just measured the water as a test and it was 307g. I use 12g of coffee (that is measured) and leave to steep, after a mild stir of just the top with a chopstick. From first pour of the water to plunge, I use a timer for 3mins 30 secs.

I don't think this is what's recommended by the 'gurus,' but it's what I like!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

For a single walled 300ml press I grind just coarser than espresso, around moka pot, 16-17g coffee to 300ml water straight off boil. Leave for 20min. Preheat cup, don't plunge the plunger & take care when pouring not to kick up silt.





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Coarse grinds will extract less at the same brew ratio & time, so will average up weaker (and more acidic). Finer grinds will extract more & average out stronger at same ratio & time. Most people grind too coarse for what I enjoy.

But a single walled, small glass press can't retain much heat, so extractions aren't going to be particularly high anyway & overdosing will drop extraction and make for sour/tangy cups.... so I stay around 1:18/19. For a darker roast, maybe 1:20.


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