How to brew with a French press?

Baseline recipe: 60 g of coarsely ground coffee for 1 litre of water at 93 °C (ratio 1:15 to 1:17), 4 minutes of steep, break the crust, skim the foam, let it settle 5 minutes, push the plunger slowly, serve immediately. The Hoffmann variant extends the rest phase and pours with the plunger barely pushed — giving a cleaner cup.

The classic method is simple but hides meaningful nuances. Start by weighing: 60 g ground coffee for 1 litre water, a 1:16.6 ratio — practice ranges from 1:15 (bold) to 1:17 (light). Heat water to about 93 °C (just under boiling, or off-the-boil for 15 seconds). Pre-warm the carafe by rinsing it with hot water, then empty it.

Pour grounds into the warm carafe, set it on a scale, start the timer and add all the water in one continuous pour at 0:00. After 4 minutes, break the crust of floating grounds at the surface with a spoon (three stirs suffice). This re-wets floating particles and sinks the fines — the 'break' step. Then gently skim the foam and residue that rise to the top.

Hoffmann method (2017 recipe by former world barista champion James Hoffmann): after the break and the skim, do not plunge immediately. Wait another 4 to 5 minutes for particles to settle naturally at the bottom, then lower the plunger very gently — or leave it in surface position and pour through the mesh. The result is a far cleaner cup, free of the bitter notes extracted when the plunger compresses the bed.

Typical mistakes are well catalogued. First: too fine a grind, which lets sediment through and clogs the mesh (plunging becomes a workout). Second: pouring boiling water (100 °C scorches the grounds and pulls bitters). Third: leaving coffee in the press after extraction — residual heat keeps extracting and turns the brew bitter in 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a pre-warmed carafe or serve right away. For a Walloon Brabant terrace, a 1 L press makes 4 to 5 generous Belgian-sized cups (200 ml) — a solid brunch companion.

French press 1 L recipe — Hoffmann method