Classic French press

Coarse coffee, hot water, 4 minutes, a slow plunge. Rich and easy.

⏱️ 8 minEasy

Starting recipe

30 g coffee + 450 g water at 94 °C (201 °F), steep 4 minutes, then plunge.

Grind: Coarse, like sea salt

Heat water and grind
Boil the water and let it rest about 30 seconds, which lands near 94 °C. Meanwhile grind 30 g of coffee coarse, like sea salt.
Warm the press with a splash of hot water first, then pour it out. It keeps the brew hotter.
Add coffee and water
Put the grounds in the press, set it on the scale, tare, and pour in 450 g of water. Make sure all the coffee gets wet. Start the timer.
Put the lid on and steep
Place the lid with the plunger pulled all the way up, so it holds in heat without touching the coffee. Wait 4 minutes.
4:00
Break the crust
Take off the lid and stir the top gently with a spoon. Most grounds will sink. Scoop off any foam left floating if you like a cleaner cup.
Plunge slowly
Put the lid back on and press the plunger down slowly and steadily, taking about 15–20 seconds. If it gets really hard, stop, lift slightly and press again more gently.
Hold the handle firmly and keep your hand off the top of the glass. Hot coffee can spurt out if you force it.
Pour it all out
Pour all the coffee into mugs or a carafe straight away. Coffee left sitting on the grounds keeps extracting and turns bitter. Leave the last spoonful in the press: that's where the sludge is.
Taste and adjust
Sour or thin? Grind a little finer or steep a minute longer. Bitter or harsh? Grind a little coarser. Weak? Add a couple of grams of coffee.

Grinding too fine: the press is hard to push and the cup gets muddy.
Leaving the coffee in the press after plunging, so it stews and turns bitter.
Plunging hard and fast, which stirs up fines and can splash hot coffee.
Using boiling water straight from a rolling boil with dark roasts, which can taste harsh. Let it rest a moment.
Pouring the very last bit into your cup along with the sludge.

If it…	Try this
Sour or thin	Grind a little finer, or steep longer: try 5 minutes instead of 4.
Bitter or harsh	Grind a little coarser, and decant right after plunging so it stops extracting.
Weak	Use more coffee for the same water, for example 32 g instead of 30 g.
Too strong	Use a bit less coffee for the same water, for example 28 g.
Muddy or gritty cup	Grind coarser, plunge more slowly, and leave the last spoonful in the press. Letting the cup sit a minute also helps silt settle.
Plunger is very hard to push	The grind is too fine. Go coarser next time, and for now press gently in short strokes.

Steep: Letting coffee sit in water to extract. In a French press this is the main event, usually about 4 minutes.
Immersion: A brew style where all the coffee sits in all the water at once, instead of water passing through it.
Crust: The layer of floating grounds and foam that forms on top while the coffee steeps.
Breaking the crust: Gently stirring the crust so the grounds get wet and sink. It releases a lovely smell, too.
Fines: Tiny powder-like bits from grinding. They slip through the mesh and make the cup muddy.
Ratio: Water weight divided by coffee weight. 1:15 means 30 g of coffee to 450 g of water.
Extraction: How much flavor the water pulls from the grounds. Under-extracted tastes sour and thin; over-extracted tastes bitter and dry.
Decant: Pouring all the coffee out of the press into cups or a carafe so it stops extracting.