Many friends complained to Xiangjie that "it's hard to learn how to brew coffee by hand" and "I can't brew it well after taking so long." For friends who have this kind of situation, Front Street recommends that you try using a French press to make coffee.
Compared with brewing coffee by hand, the biggest feature of brewing coffee with a French press is that it requires fewer manual movements and reduces many uncertain factors. Therefore, as long as we master the brewing parameters of the French press, we can handle almost all kinds of coffee beans and have delicious coffee at our fingertips.
1. Grinding degree
As long as it comes to brewing coffee, grinding size is the most important parameter. Just like Pour over(V60) coffee, the problem that many people fail to brew is the wrong grinding size.
The grinding degree of the French press is slightly coarser than that of hand grinding. Judging by using a No. 20 sieve, the grinding rate is 70%, which is what everyone often calls coarse sugar.
Many friends will ask, for example, in Pour over(V60) coffee, light roasted beans will be ground finer, and dark roasted beans will be ground coarser. Does the French press also operate in the same way? No, this is the advantage of the French Press. Many people are confused about how much to grind this coffee bean and how much to grind that coffee bean. If there are too many beans, everything will get messed up. The French press allows for consistent grinding, regardless of the level of roasting. Because the French Press is an immersion type of extraction, you can control the immersion time as you wish (more on this below). Hand-brewed coffee is drip coffee, and the grinding degree is used to indirectly control the extraction time. Therefore, the French press is very tolerant in terms of grinding degree.
2. Proportion
Front Street generally recommends brewing with a powder to water ratio of 1:16. For example, if you use 15 grams of coffee, you should pour 240ml of water. The concentration of coffee brewed with this powder to water ratio will be about 1.1-1.2%, which is a very comfortable concentration range. If a friend likes something richer, you can also use the 1:15 ratio.
3. Water temperature
Because the water filling mode of the French press is to pour all the water directly in at the beginning, and then the actual extraction temperature will slowly decrease over time, so the water temperature required will be slightly higher than that of hand brewing. If you brew medium and light roasted (sour) coffee beans, such as Front Street Oiran , Front Street diced fruit, Front Street cherry tomatoes, etc. can be used at 93-94 degrees Celsius; for brewing medium-dark roasted (non-acidic) coffee beans, such as Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain, Front Street Colombian Cymbidium, Front Street Golden Mandheling, can be used at 89-90 degrees Celsius.
4. Time
Time is a parameter that can be adjusted freely with the French press. Because brewing coffee with a French press does not require continuous stirring to speed up extraction, it takes longer than brewing coffee by hand to allow the coffee powder to slowly penetrate. Front Street recommends that the soaking time of the French press is 3 minutes and 30 seconds to 4 minutes. Medium-light roasted coffee can be soaked for 4 minutes, and medium-dark roasted coffee can be soaked for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Bitter flavors are likely to appear if the coffee is brewed for a long time.
4. Specific operations
Front Street chose Front Street Brazilian Queen Estate yellow bourbon coffee beans for demonstration. This coffee is a medium-dark roast. Prepare 15 grams of coffee beans and use the 11 scale of the EK43s to grind them. The grinding thickness is 70% through the No. 20 sieve.
Then pour the powdered Front Street Brazilian Queen Estate into the pot, and then pour 240 ml of hot water (90 degrees Celsius). Pull up the pressure lever and close the lid, wait 3 minutes and 30 seconds. After the time is up, slowly press down the pressure lever to push down the coffee grounds floating on the surface. Finally, pour out all the coffee liquid at once, because if the coffee liquid is still in the pot, the coffee powder can still release bitter substances and make the coffee bitter.
There will be fine oil and a little coffee powder residue floating on the surface of the coffee made with a French press. This is normal because the metal filter of the French press has a relatively large gap, allowing fine coffee powder and oil to pass through smoothly. Oils and fats can enrich the taste of coffee, and the problem of fine coffee powder can be settled slightly before drinking.
Making coffee with a French press is so simple. As long as the parameters are correct, the remaining operations are "pour the powder, pour the water, wait, press the lever, and pour the coffee."
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
