French press – one of the best known and most available types of alternative methods, which will be loved especially by coffee enthusiasts. Let’s look at it.
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The legend of the beginnings of the French press
Coffee as such is often associated with various legends and stories, but this is not the case with this alternative method of its preparation. As the name suggests, the French press originated in France when one man made coffee on an open fire. Originally, he wanted to prepare it in the traditional way, i.e. by pouring hot water on ground coffee (similar to the local poured coffee, also incorrectly referred to as “Turk”). However, the man poured boiling water into a cup and only then realized that he had forgotten to put coffee on its bottom. Therefore, he poured it into the water only afterwards.
According to legend, he bought a sieve from an Italian merchant who was passing by, and he used it for simply “filtering” the extracted coffee by pressing it on the bottom of the cup. To his surprise, the coffee tasted amazing, so since then he prepared coffee only this way. As usual with legends, it is very difficult to verify their veracity or at least to get an indicative timeline. Therefore, it must suffice us the information that the French press was patented as a method of preparation only in the years 1929 – 1933, not by the French, but by the Italian Attilio Calimani.
French press coffee: who is it for?
Do you want to make good coffee at home, but you have no coffee roaster? Do you want to enjoy coffee in nature, at the cottage or do you just like to experiment? Then making coffee via the French press is the perfect choice for you. Also fans of the so-called brewed coffee will fall in love with the French Press, as this preparation has a lot in common with it.
The French press is basically a simple device, which consists of a glass or metal cylindrical vessel, a lid and a sieve passing through its centre. Today, you can buy it just like a mocha coffee maker almost everywhere – in supermarkets, furniture stores or household items. In our e-shop you will find a design French press Bialetti with a volume of 350 ml.
How to prepare a good French press?
When preparing coffee by any method, we certainly cannot talk about just one correct and ideal recipe. Alternative preparations directly encourage us to experiment, take risks and discover new tastes.
However, if we are to talk about some general conditions, it can be said that lighter roasted coffees without an earthy taste are more suitable for the French press. For example, coffees with soft chocolate tones such as Brasil Santos or nutty tones such as Colombia Medellin are ideal. However, it is much more interesting and more and more desirable if the coffee also has some fruit tones, which give the resulting drink a completely different taste dimension. For example, we recommend our Kenya Tekangu Tegu, whose tones of grapefruit, flowers and raspberries make every French press coffee special.
In the case of the French press, the taste of coffee can also be influenced by changing several attributes: water temperature – from 85 to 95 °C, grinding thickness – finer or coarser, or longer or shorter extraction.
Universal recipe for preparing a French press:
1. We grind freshly roasted coffee – the thickness of the grinding should resemble the structure of crystal sugar.
2. We use approximately 300 ml of water for 25 g of coffee – the ratio of water and coffee can be changed based on coffee intensity we would like to have. Water temperature should be approximately 93-95 ° C.
3. Place the ground coffee in a preheated French press container and pour 150 ml of water in slow circular motions. Stir the drink for about 30 seconds and then add the remaining amount of water.
4. Place the lid on top of the container and wait for about 3 minutes. Then press the piston to filter the drink.
5. The coffee is then immediately poured into a cup or other container from which it will be served. At the bottom of the French press, coffee still comes into contact with water, and thus the extraction is still happening.
