For more knowledge about specialty coffee, please pay attention to: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee）
The French press originated in France in the 19th century. It is called French Press in English and can also be called "French Press" in Chinese. Although the specific time of its emergence is unclear, in 1852, Frenchmen Mayer and Delforge established the "Smith" company, applied for a patent for a piston filter coffee appliance, and named the product "French Press", which marked the commercialization of the French press.
French press, simple and convenient design
Simple refers to the French press's simple structure, simple principle, and simple operation. The entire French press is composed of a heat-resistant glass container and a metal filter with a pressure rod. When making coffee, just soak the coffee powder and hot water in a glass container, and then use a metal filter with a pressure bar to filter the coffee grounds to get a relatively clean cup of coffee. There are three manual steps in the entire coffee brewing process, namely pouring powder, pouring water and pressing the lever.
How to brew a pot of coffee using a French press
The French press uses immersion extraction, so Front Street believes that medium roasted or medium-dark roasted coffee beans are more suitable. If you want to drink floral and fruity French press coffee, we recommend Front Street Strawberry Sugar Coffee, Front Street Mozart Coffee, and Front Street Hija Coffee; such as If you like coffee with rich nutty aroma, it is recommended to buy Front Street Queen’s Manor, Front Street Golden Mandheling, and Front Street Cymbidium. The above coffee beans can be purchased at Front Street Tmall flagship store or Front Street Taobao store, and the order will be shipped within 24 hours.
Because the French press mainly extracts coffee by soaking, a certain amount of water can evenly dissolve the substances in the coffee powder within a fixed volume. In the extraction process, the main influencing factor is time. The longer the soaking time, the more substances will be extracted from the coffee until it is saturated, or reaches a state where it is difficult to extract. That is, the longer it is soaked, the stronger the taste.
Therefore, first confirm the powder-to-water ratio. Front Street generally recommends a powder-to-water ratio of 1:15 to 1:16. These two powder-to-water ratio ranges have a higher error tolerance. The taste and flavor of most coffees are excellent in this range.
The next step is to determine the grinding thickness of the coffee. It is recommended to choose a coarser grinding size for the French press. Because the French press uses a metal filter for filtration, the gaps are visible to the naked eye. Choosing a coarser grinding size is also for better filtration. The grinding thickness of coffee beans with different roasting degrees is also different. Taking the No. 20 mark screen pass rate as the standard, medium and light roasted coffee beans can be ground finer (pass rate 72-75%), and medium and dark roasted coffee beans can be ground coarser (pass rate 68-71%).
Then come to the water temperature. Because the French press uses immersion extraction, the coffee powder and water are relatively static during the process, so the water temperature will be higher. The water temperature for the same bean French press will be 2-3°C higher than that for hand brewing. It is recommended to use 91-94℃ for brewing light roasted coffee, and 88-91℃ for brewing medium-dark roasted coffee.
Finally, there is the soaking time. As mentioned above, time is very important for the French press. Through multiple brewing comparisons, Front Street believes that most coffee beans taste best when soaked for about 4 minutes according to the parameters recommended by Front Street. You can also use this set of parameters as a basis to develop your favorite brewing parameters.
The operation process is actually very convenient. Taking 15g of coffee powder as an example, pour the ground coffee powder into the pot, then pour in 225-240ml of hot water, lift the pressure lever, cover the pot lid, and wait for 4 minutes. Then slowly press down the pressure rod so that the metal filter presses 1/4 of the pot body to prevent the fine powder at the bottom from rising to the top.
A simple French press does not just have the function of simply making coffee
It can also be used as a cupping tool
The process of making coffee with a French press is very similar to cupping. Both are done by standing and soaking. Many people use a French press to test the quality of coffee beans. The French press brewing method recommended by James Hoffman, the author of "World Coffee Map" is exactly the same as cupping.
Can also be used to make tea
The French press is a simple device that integrates soaking and filtering. It can be used to brew coffee, and of course it can also be used to brew black tea. It is also very convenient to use. If you look closely, you will find that the structures of the tea brewers on the market are very similar to the French press.
You can even froth milk
The French press can also be used to froth milk. If you want to freeze milk froth, you will need a manual milk frother. In fact, the structure of the manual milk frother is very similar to that of the French press. Whipping the pressure bar of the French press can also froth milk like a milk frother.
Some people may ask: Can a French press make iced coffee?
Front Street was shocked at first, but since some friends have asked, we will share with you our method of making iced coffee with a French press after several attempts.
Imagine
The French press uses the principle of immersion extraction. When making hot coffee normally and using the same beans, the coffee produced by the French press will be more balanced and thicker in taste than the hand brewed coffee. Therefore, we can also refer to the Japanese Pour over(V60) method to make French press iced coffee. That is, a small amount of hot water is used to soak the coffee, and after extracting the rich hot coffee liquid, it is poured into ice cubes to dilute and cool to form iced coffee.
Considering the need to add ice to dilute the concentration of coffee, it is not suitable to use light-roasted coffee with relatively high acidity to make iced coffee. One reason is that dilution will make the taste thinner, and another reason is that soaking light-roasted coffee with acidity can easily produce bad flavors such as almonds and peanuts. In the end, Front Street decided to use Honduran sherry coffee beans, which are characterized by a mellow taste, rich aroma of vanilla and sherry, and are very suitable for steeping and extraction.
Extraction plan
① In the preparation stage, prepare a French press, electronic scale, glass, hot water and ice cubes. The amount of powder used is 15 grams. In order to obtain a richer hot coffee liquid, the ratio of coffee powder to hot water is 1:8, and the water temperature is 94°C. In terms of grinding degree, because the French press uses a metal filter to filter, it is not recommended to increase the extraction rate by adjusting the grinding degree. In terms of grinding degree, use medium-coarse grinding (pass rate of No. 20 standard screen 65%).
② Grind the coffee powder, pour it into the French press, pour 120 grams of hot water (and start timing), and pour the water directly into the center.
③After 30 seconds, use the stirring stick to stir the coffee powder layer to increase the coffee extraction rate and form three layers of coffee liquid, coffee powder and coffee foam.
④Press the lid of the French press and wait for 3 minutes. During this period, you can add 105 grams of ice cubes into the glass.
⑤After 3 minutes, slowly press down the pressure lever. Let it sit for 1 minute to allow the coffee grounds to settle.
⑥At the 4th minute, pick up the French press and pour the coffee liquid into the glass with ice cubes.
In this way, a cup of iced coffee made with a French press is completed. Because it is filtered through a metal filter, the surface still maintains good coffee oil. The vanilla flavor of sherry coffee beans is well reflected, refreshing yet full-bodied.
So, how to disassemble and clean the French press?
As mentioned in the previous article, the metal filter design of the French Press will retain the coffee's oil. Although it is environmentally friendly and you can enjoy a pot of coffee without spending too much on filter paper, you need to clean the French Press more carefully. If you are lazy and lazy, the remaining coffee oil on the French Press will affect the taste of the next cup of coffee.
The structure of the French press is not complicated and mainly consists of a glass bottle, a metal filter and a pressure rod. The disassembled part is mainly the metal filter part. Because it consists of several layers, it is difficult to clean the components inside without disassembling it. First, you need to hold the head of the pressure rod firmly with your hand, and twist and loosen the metal filter part with the other hand. Then clean the remaining components, drain the water and reassemble.
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
