Richard Frazier, CMO of Workshop Coffee and fellow cyclist, shares his fool-proof French Press brewing method with our Joyride Leader, Matt Stephens and Digital Content Manager, Gareth Winter (the ultimate test of a fool-proof method).
French Press is a classic immersion brewer that offers an easy way of brewing filter coffee for larger groups or thirsty households. Watch our brew-along to learn Richards method, or use our step by step guide below.
STEP 1
Pop your water on to boil. Make sure to use some to pre-warm and rinse your French Press and decanter.
STEP 2
Weigh out and grind your coffee, aiming for a couscous-like consistency, and add to the brewer. Use 6g of coffee per 100g/ml of water. Matt and Richard are using 30g of ground coffee with 500g/ml of water.
STEP 3
Place the brewer on your scales, zero off and add your ground coffee.
STEP 4
Your brewing water should be just off the boil. Start your timer and add the water, making sure to not leave any dry patches.
STEP 5
Stir the coffee to make sure no patches are left high and dry and there are no clumps at the bottom of the brewer.
STEP 6
At 2 minutes, give your brew a good stir. Place the lid onto the top of your brewer and wait another 2 minutes.
STEP 7
At 4 minutes, gently and slowly plunge so as not to disturb your ground coffee. Press until the mesh reaches just above the coffee bed at the bottom of your brewer.
STEP 8
Wait another 2 minutes before gently pouring the contents into your decanter. You're going to want to leave the final bottom of your brew in the French Press if you're looking for a cleaner cup.
STEP 9
By decanting your coffee rather than holding it in the French Press, you've stopped the extraction process and left as much silt as possible behind. Your coffee will continue to clarify in the decanter, so wait a while longer – at least 2 minutes – before pouring into your chosen cups.
