# Cafetiere /French press



## Welshorp (Nov 2, 2015)

Hello I'm new to brewing coffee. I have a nespresso machine but customer the other day made me a coffee from a French press and it smelt and tasted nicer than anything from my nespresso. I've bought a French press now and some coffee but I'm a bit confused. My press is a 3 cup but full I'd say it's only 1 cup/mug. It says 7gram per cup but seeing as I have the whole 3 cup as a drink. How much should I put in for one cup/mug?

Thanks


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## h1udd (Sep 1, 2015)

I do a 1:10g coffee to water ratio .... But a lot of the Internet recommends 1:14g - 1:16g so it's time to experiment what you like


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## Welshorp (Nov 2, 2015)

1:10g? So 10gram of water to 1gram of coffee?


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Nice little visual guide here:

http://images.hasbean.co.uk/img/BrewGuide-FrenchPress.pdf


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Welshorp said:


> 1:10g? So 10gram of water to 1gram of coffee?


Yes, that would be right.


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## tambu (Sep 7, 2015)

Just as an aside, 1:10 is generally considered super strong. You might like it, whatever floats your boat etc., but 1g coffee for every 16 grams of hot water is more common as a starting point. The HasBean guide jonc links to above is nice and clear. Or if you prefer a live video try something like


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## bongo (Apr 20, 2014)

On this same note, how course do you guys grind for french press?

I'm normally an espresso drinker, but just bought some light roast to use slow cooking some beef.

I'm using a Compak K10, so if anyone has a rought grinder setting before I have to mess around for ages then I'd appreciate the input.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Somewhere between coarsest espresso range & fine drip, just coarse enough to keep the very fine bittering silt out of the cup.

Short steep: sink the crust at end of steep time then leave a few mins to clarify, pour through the mesh held in place, don't plunge.


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## mr kean bean (Oct 15, 2012)

..........................


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I decided to do a french press today after not having used it for a long time. I went with 30g coffee, 500ml water (96C), 20 min steep and pour into cups. Was pretty good, but think it could be better, possibly with a slightly finer grind and remembering to pour the first bit away. I used the same grind as I had on the Behmohr brewer #6.5 on a standard EK dial.

(Couldn't find many french press threads, so chucked this onto this one). . .


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Sure, I'd go finer than for drip. Was that 96c in the pot, or the kettle? If you pour boiling water into a typical glass pot it will be at a good brew temp by the time the pot is full. The bigger the brew, the longer it takes to drop to a good drinking temp (20min would be my minimum for a 300g brew), so I tend to leave it in the pot until I hit this & preheat cups so the coffee isn't too cool to enjoy.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

It was 96 in the kettle, so next time I'll grind finer and just boil it in the "normal" kettle. Thanks!


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

20 min steep time? I haven't heard of that long steep times for French Press..


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

the_partisan said:


> 20 min steep time? I haven't heard of that long steep times for French Press..


Can go an hour or more with a big insulated press.

It's a very gentle way to extract. You don't have to steep a long time to get something you might enjoy, but I'm typically aiming for sweetness & ripe fruit acidity & a brew that doesn't taste a certain way because it was brewed in a French press (e.g. lots of body & high acidity at the expense of sweetness).


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Did a 25 min steep, ground a bit finer (5 on the classic EK dial), water just boiled in the kettle. Was really nice, first time using that coffee but it definitely has no bitterness whatsoever, I was on a work call so didn't refract it but I'm confident I could try finer and/or longer. I didn't preheat the mugs and after 25 mins, it was still more than warm enough. oh and forgot to mention it's just a standard single wall glass french press - bodum I think.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Garr, just when I think I'm heading to nirvana something trips me up. I did a grind on 4.5 today and left it just over 30 minutes. The previous ones I had put water onto coffee but this time reversed that - I had intended to do that for the second brew yesterday but got carried away and had put the water on top of coffee before I thought about it. It seemed slightly lacking compared to yesterday it had a bit more of an acidic edge, which I think was possibly sour. Water boiled and dumped straight into FP, mix volvic and W/E - same as yesterday.

I'm not sure if I should consider just putting water on coffee as that's what I did and maybe got more agitation that way, or go even finer still or a third way?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Water on coffee can take a tad longer, but give a cleaner brew. Make sure you give it a dunk at the start to wet all the grounds, don't sink them all, just eliminate any dry clods. Ultimately, it should hit the same extraction, just in a little more time.

After a point, going finer will make it harder to get efficient wetting and your EY may drop, unless you incorporate a stir (which you'd probably want to avoid with coffee on water).


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Yes that's spot on actually, it was a really clean brew, there was next to nothing in the cup and what was there is probably because I tried to pour as much out as I could whilst eyeballing the grounds starting to hear towards the edge of the cafetiere.

I just gave the grounds on top a bit of a prod with my calibrated bamboo stirrer but think I was slightly heavy handed. I think I should just back off a touch and leave it for a little longer but I'll be doing that tomorrow now.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I have a columbian from Square Mile (one of the short stories, so looks like it's sold out now). It mentioned rose and something in the tasting notes. The notes sounded really interesting but so far most of my brews seemed on the insipid end, however I hadn't had a chance to refract until today. I had thought I was having trouble with the Brazen brewer - which I'm planning to check again tomorrow with a spirit level - but that's a different story.

So for my cafetiere, I ground quite a bit finer than I have done for some others (4 classic EK dial) and it seemed fairly uninspiring quite thin and I should have written some notes but I quickly decided it wasn't right. The other thing, I think I noticed, is that it seemed like a lot more of the grinds were staying buoyant in the brew both before pouring (and after) so it had a bit more of a silty taste. Was thinking now that I should have put it through a paper filter. The refrac measurement was 1.04TDS/18.28 after a 29.5g/500g water - 40 min steep - with coffee in first.

Has anybody seen any behaviour like that? It seems perhaps harder to extract and that "buoyancy" was quite striking.

I'm trying it as a little kalita brew next, just to see how that goes (partly because my french press takes around 500g and I'm assuming brewing half that might not be so good and also because I wondered if it would be just a bit easier as pourover?).


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

jlarkin said:


> So for my cafetiere, I ground quite a bit finer than I have done for some others (4 classic EK dial) and it seemed fairly uninspiring quite thin and I should have written some notes but I quickly decided it wasn't right. The other thing, I think I noticed, is that it seemed like a lot more of the grinds were staying buoyant in the brew both before pouring (and after) so it had a bit more of a silty taste. Was thinking now that I should have put it through a paper filter. The refrac measurement was 1.04TDS/18.28 after a 29.5g/500g water - 40 min steep - with coffee in first.
> 
> Has anybody seen any behaviour like that? It seems perhaps harder to extract and that "buoyancy" was quite striking..


That's a very low extraction, perhaps you went too fine? In Square Mile's cupping instructions they suggest a grind that gives you 21-22%EY at the brew ratio you are at.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

MWJB said:


> That's a very low extraction, perhaps you went too fine? In Square Mile's cupping instructions they suggest a grind that gives you 21-22%EY at the brew ratio you are at.


Actually, sorry I missed a point. I tried one earlier and that was the figures above but grind setting was coarser (4.7) - The refrac measurement was 1.04TDS/18.28 after a 29.5g/500g water - 40 min steep with grind set at 4.7 and it was so low I thought I'd try 4. My thinking was on intuition that I kind of doubted 4.7 was far too fine (and I wondered if it also corroborated why some of my other brews hadn't been so great that it "needed" a finer grind). So the grind at 4.0 with rest the same came in at 1.15 / 20.25. I could try coarser just in case I'm getting way too fine - so now I'm wondering is that potentially a good test just in a cupping bowl or something - rather than the French press or is it unlikely to affect it much doing maybe half the amount? I don't want to just burn through it all if I can try to recreate some good checks with a smaller brew...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

jlarkin said:


> Actually, sorry I missed a point. I tried one earlier and that was the figures above but grind setting was coarser (4.7) - The refrac measurement was 1.04TDS/18.28 after a 29.5g/500g water - 40 min steep with grind set at 4.7 and it was so low I thought I'd try 4. My thinking was on intuition that I kind of doubted 4.7 was far too fine (and I wondered if it also corroborated why some of my other brews hadn't been so great that it "needed" a finer grind). So the grind at 4.0 with rest the same came in at 1.15 / 20.25. I could try coarser just in case I'm getting way too fine - so now I'm wondering is that potentially a good test just in a cupping bowl or something - rather than the French press or is it unlikely to affect it much doing maybe half the amount? I don't want to just burn through it all if I can try to recreate some good checks with a smaller brew...


OK, so extraction went up at 4 vs 4.7, in that case I'd try a bit finer still. (Sorry, it's hard to know what "4" delivers in terms of grind size, without a datum).

I'd continue testing in the French press, compared to a cup, for a couple of reasons:

If it is a single wall, glass press & you are covering the brews, the glass won't rob so much heat from the brews, your extractions will be higher.

The larger mass of brew slurry will hold its heat better, again, a decent level of extraction is more likely.

If you brew half the desired amount in the French press then you may run into issues with silt being kicked up into the brew, as the brew is sloshed about when you pour.

If you want to cup it in a ceramic bowl/cup, pre heat the cup & cover the brew during steep (say 15min). if you want to enjoy the break set 2 cups steeping, break one, leave the other.

I have had Square Mile filter coffees hit 21%+ with a typical, uncovered, break @ 4 min, 9 min total steep (though the last one I brewed hit 20.7% in 19 minutes in a French press). And they have tasted fine there. But for French press, I'd be looking to get another % or two.

It's easier to brew smaller amounts (8-10g), with less wastage, in a drip brew.

Grinds that are too coarse seem to take longer to become waterlogged & sink, extractions will be low. Grinds that are too fine should sink quicker, but may take longer to clarify & you might get bittering flavours from suspended solids, extraction may drop again if wetting isn't efficient...in between, you should get a good level of extraction & a satisfactory, clear brew...it's just a case of determining where you are at the moment.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I appreciate the numbers from the grinder don't give a lot - hopefully the rafino sieves might help a bit if they come through on them - it's also one of the difficulties I find with making coffee. I think I have a tendency, even when I have a nice brew to wonder if there is something even better just a small turn away!

Anyway, I carried on with the FP as suggested. So I went finer and extraction dropped slightly just under 20%EY. On tasting it, I'm thinking it's more got a slight drying and bitterness to it, so maybe I've overshot and it is too fine now. It's not actually too bad, I struggle to describe it but think it's lacking a bit of the floral aspect I was expecting (which I presume might be there from roses description) and also it's not so sweet, kind of flat. I'm thinking I'll try again in the morning maybe coarsen up a bit.

I don't know what I did with the last brew but this one does seem a lot clearer again though - not that slightly muddy feel which I managed to have in the last brew and I don't ever get with the long steep usually...


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

I wouldn't read too much into a drop in EY of around a quarter, or a third, of a %, it may not be indicative of anything. The drop between 4 & 4.7 seems more tangible at 2%EY.

Was the dryness purely in terms of flavour, or a light sandy/dusty feel in the mouth?


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

MWJB said:


> I wouldn't read too much into a drop in EY of around a quarter, or a third, of a %, it may not be indicative of anything. The drop between 4 & 4.7 seems more tangible at 2%EY.
> 
> Was the dryness purely in terms of flavour, or a light sandy/dusty feel in the mouth?


Fair enough, good point.

I'm not sure, I remember it kind of made me think it was that dry feeling around the edge of my tongue but don't know if it was sandy or dusty particularly.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

MWJB said:


> I have had Square Mile filter coffees hit 21%+ with a typical, uncovered, break @ 4 min, 9 min total steep (though the last one I brewed hit 20.7% in 19 minutes in a French press). And they have tasted fine there. But for French press, I'd be looking to get another % or two.


Your coffee notes book/journal must be like an encyclopaedia, multiple volumes?!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

DoubleShot said:


> Your coffee notes book/journal must be like an encyclopaedia, multiple volumes?!


Spreadsheets, dozens of 'em, within spreadsheets...organised via a spreadsheet....


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