THE GRIND
Coarse! On the Baratza Encore, we usually grind between 30 for fresh coffee and 26 for coffees a few weeks out from roast. Grinding finer compensates for the loss of gas since the roast date.
THE TIME
The basic french press recipe calls for a 4:00 minute brew time. This includes a 30-45 second "bloom." For a stronger, bolder cup, let your french press brew for 5:00 minutes.
THE RATIO
We like to go with a 12-to-1 water-to-coffee ratio for french press. So if you use 80 grams of whole bean coffee, add 960 milliliters (grams) of water. If you don't have a scale, an easier metric to use is 1 tablespoon per "cup" of your french press (for an "8 cup" press, use 8 tablespoons).
By the way, 8 tablespoons of coffee equal roughly 1/2 cup. Going off this, you can use the following chart to establish how much coffee to use:
French Press Size
2 Cup
4 Cup
6 Cup
8 Cup
Cups of Whole Bean Coffee
1/8 cup
1/4 cup
1/3 cup (heaping)
1/2 cup
1. Boil water and let sit
2. Coarsely grind 8 tablespoons (or 1/2 cup) of whole coffee beans
3. Pour grounds into french press, and start a stopwatch / timer
4. Pour hot water over grounds to get them all wet — filling roughly the bottom third of the press (you can also swirl or use a spoon to make sure all the grounds get wet!)
5. Let the coffee bloom for 30 seconds
6. After 30 seconds, slowly pour water up to the bottom of your french presses metal band
7. Give another stir, and set the top of the french press on to conserve heat
8. At 4:00 minutes on your stop watch, plunge the french press (Tip — if the press meets resistance, gently pull up on the press and then push down again. You don't need to force it)
Enjoy your coffee!
We put together a short video with the same recipe and approach we use to making the best cup of coffee in the french press.
Video by Don Arangio