How to brew the perfect cup in a Press Pot

One of the values here at Paravisini Coffee Company is educating our consumers to achieve cafe quality coffee at home. Today we will be examining the traditionalist method of the press pot.

The Press pot (also known as the french-press) is one of the most pure ways to enjoy coffee. It is an absolute must to try every new coffee at least once in the press pot to fully appreciate it’s subtleties. Many coffee enthusiast drink all of their coffee using the press pot method.

Press pots have the unique advantage of being incredibly portable, and easy to maintain. It is much easier to bring a press pot to your workplace, then a full fledged electric auto-drip brewer. You will also find it is also much easier to simply have to rinse out the pot and plunger compared to the cleaning process of an electric brewer.

The method of the press pot is one of the most effective ways to extract the maximum flavor and aroma from your coffee. The coffee grinds suspending freely in the water allow a more flavorful and rich extraction, while the metal plunger ensures those oils remain in the coffee (not absorbed into a paper filter, only to be tossed out).

---

Items needed

• Press Pot
• Fresh-roasted, Whole-bean Coffee
• Grinder
• Measuring Cup
• Spoon
• Timer

Step 1 – Measure

Measure out your coffee and water. The standard coffee to water ratio is 7.25 grams of coffee to 4-5 ounces of water. Most coffee scoops are twice that, since most people consider 8-10 ounces of coffee to be a “cup” (for some reason, the coffee equipment industry still considers a “cup” to be 4-5 ounces of coffee).

Step 2 – Heat

Bring hot water to around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If your workplace has a water cooler that provides hot water, this is usually in the right range, so you can skip to step 3. At home, bringing the water to a boil, and then allowing to cool for a minute will do the trick.

Step 3 – Grind

Grind your coffee to a slightly coarser grind then for auto-drip. Note that sediment at the bottom of the cup is normal, but if you have actual grinds floating around, this is a sign that the grind is too fine, try slightly coarser next time.

Step 4 – Soak

Pour hot water over your grinds slowly in a circular motion, allowing all the coffee grinds to become saturated Note that pouring too fast will cause the coffee to clump, and allow some of it to remain dry.

Step 5 – Steep

Place the cover on, with the plunger raised, and set your timer for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, get your cups ready by rinsing them with hot water to ensure the coffee does not get chilled during the pour.

Step 6 – Stir

Take the cover off, check for the bloom (The bubbly, frothy layer at the top, the sign of fresh coffee) and then stir the coffee gently, allowing the grinds to sink. The grinds should resurface momentarily.

Step 7 – Press

Press the plunger down slowly, and evenly. The plunger should give some resistance, but should not be stuck. If the plunger is stuck, do not force it, as it could cause the glass to break which is a dangerous and messy situation. A stuck plunger indicates too fine of a grind. The total time to press a full-sized french press should be around 30 seconds.

Step 8 – Pour

Pour yourself a cup and enjoy!

---

Commenting is closed for this article.