Why The Humble French Press Is Still One Of The Best Ways To Brew Coffee

For many of us, starting the day without a cup of coffee is almost unthinkable. The deep brown caffeinated beverage is a great way to physically warm up your body and stimulate your mind. Though there are multiple effective ways to brew coffee, every person seems to have a unique preference. However, the quality of your cup of joe depends heavily on the method you use.

Before making your next mug of coffee, you should consider investing in a French press. A French press is a simple tool that comprises a mesh plunger and (usually) a glass cylinder with a spout. It allows you to combine ground coffee with hot water, using the mesh part to separate the two once the brewing is complete. It is a humble tool that requires no electricity or battery to use. You simply need to boil some water and have access to ground coffee, and it only takes a few minutes (somewhere between three and eight, depending on who you ask). It results in a wonderfully flavorful cup of brewed coffee.

In the classic drip coffee maker, hot water flows through the coffee grounds. The liquid that drips into the pot below is coffee, having extracted the oils, flavors, and other compounds from the ground coffee beans. When using a French press, you pour the hot water manually over the ground coffee to combine the two for extraction. Because you only use a set amount of liquid, and it's not continuously pouring through the grounds, the extraction is gentler, and the flavor is more robust.

Essentially, you can brew the best coffee with your French press because it optimizes the extraction process. Two of the most prevalent problems with coffee are under and over-extraction when the water takes either too little flavor, or too much bitterness, from the grounds. In a French press, the beans have more freedom to do their thing, and you are in control of how long your coffee brews.

The terrific taste profile that the French press will bring to your cup of morning joe should not be taken lightly. The flavor is of the utmost importance when using this method, so you'll want to make sure you're using the best kind of coffee for a French press to maximize your experience.

As mentioned, it is surprisingly simple to make coffee with a French press. Like all coffee, it's just a matter of combining hot water and ground coffee beans, but the only step beyond that is pressing the plunger down to separate the grounds from the coffee. A French press may leave some of the finer grounds (these are called fines) swimming in your brew, but a small amount of these floating particles can give your coffee a richer flavor.

Perhaps most importantly, the French press is reusable, making it a more environmentally-friendly option than most single-pod brewers or even using disposable coffee filters. Furthermore, to adjust a French press brew to your liking, it's just a matter of tweaking the amounts of water and coffee grounds you use, or letting the mix brew for a different amount of time. Start with the widely recommended 1-part coffee to 12-parts water ratio, then adjust as you see fit.