French press preparation: This is how self-made coffee becomes a hit

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Cafetière à piston
Grind, brew, stamp: Why the French press is so popular

Grind, brew, stamp. Hardly any other way of making coffee is as practical as the popular French press. You can find out here which adjustment screws need to be turned for the perfect French press coffee.

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Jan Sägert

Hardly any hot drink is as sacred to Germans as coffee. But many hobby baristas ask themselves: How do you actually prepare coffee perfectly? And this is where the French press comes into play. What the French have to do with it and how French press preparation always works.

Filter coffee machines are a dying breed. In fewer and fewer kitchens In Germany, coffee powder is measured with a special spoon and the filter bag, which has been carefully folded, is filled with a pinch of salt. How many spoons were that again? The gamble is to fill the right amount of water into the container using the preheated glass jug without submerging the worktop. Eight small cups? Four large cups? How was that? In our house, the filter machine is only kept in the room as a last resort, in case more visitors come by with a thirst for coffee than planned.

French Press: The new star in the coffee heaven?

The modern coffee drinker grinds the beans themselves. That’s where it starts. The manual or electric coffee grinder Pull out the beans, put in the beans and off you go on the wild ride. The first advantage over the filter coffee from the bag: You only chop as many beans as you need and close the bag with the fragrant Arabica, Robusta or other beans so that it stays that way. It takes a lot of effort to seal the packet of instant coffee again so that it is aroma-tight, so that the contents eventually lose their last hint of aroma, especially if you drink coffee sparingly. Second advantage: If you grind yourself, you also decide how coarse or fine the coffee crumbs should be, which you later brew with hot water. And professionals know: The degree of grinding makes the difference depending on the type of preparation. Especially with one French press. You’ll find out later why this is so important for the popular stamp pot.

But the French press preparation is one thing above all: very simple. What’s more, the ready-to-drink coffee is on the breakfast table within ten minutes. Some people might think that it’s much quicker with a fully automatic coffee machine. That’s right. To do this, each cup has to be brewed individually. Not to mention the cleaning effort and the hefty price tag for high-quality machines. The French press may not be the most elegant, but it is one of the most convenient ways to make coffee according to your own taste. What tricks help to give your coffee that extra kick and what should French press newbies keep in mind?

Here are the key steps for French press preparation:

  1. If necessary, pour beans into a coffee grinder (60 grams per liter of water).
  2. Grind the beans (grinding level 7, roughly corresponds to the grain size of coarse sea salt).
  3. At the same time, bring water to the boil.
  4. Pour the ground coffee into the French press.
  5. Allow the sparkling water to cool for about a minute (to about 95 degrees Celsius) and pour it on.
  6. Stir vigorously with a long spoon.
  7. Press the stamp into the French press up to the level of the filled water
  8. After about four minutes, carefully press the stamp down to the bottom of the stamp pot press down.

French Press: Why the grind is so important

Bitter substances, in the case of coffee beans mainly antioxidants, can quickly deprive coffee drinkers of their desire for their favorite hot drink. To ensure that this doesn’t happen when preparing the French press, you should pay particular attention to four things.

  1. Use the slightly milder Arabica bean for your French press.
  2. Make sure you have the correct grind (7).
  3. Do not under any circumstances scald the powder with boiling water.
  4. Let the mixture steep for a maximum of four to five minutes.

Why are these four points so important? Coffee beans contain bitter substances called antioxidants. These are released excessively if the beans are ground too finely, the water is too hot and the steeping time is too long. For this reason, one should French press Do not leave prepared coffee standing around for a long time even after stamping. Even in a French press with insulation, the coffee becomes increasingly bitter. With a good fully automatic coffee machine, the crucial parameters (grind degree and water temperature) can usually be adjusted.

French Press: What do the French have to do with the stamp pot?

Finally, a little excursion into the history of coffee. The French press is actually said to have its roots in 19th century France. A somewhat scatterbrained Frenchman, it is reported, forgot to boil his coffee with the water. Without further ado, he poured the water over the coffee. He later filtered the powder out again. An inventive Italian named Attilio Calimani patented the French press preparation a few decades later. But that didn’t change the name of the coffee preparation that is so popular around the world today.

Sources: 19grams.coffee

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