French Press Coffee Maker

If you've recently acquired a French press coffee maker or are thinking of getting one, you might be wondering why these little coffee presses are all the rage these days. While there are many different ways to make a cup of coffee, many will agree that the French press is the perfect ratio between ease and quality.

Curious about French presses?

For those not in the know, here's a bit of information to bring you up to speed. A French press is a filterless contraption that brews coffee and then allows you to separate the grounds from the coffee by pushing them down to bottom of the carafe with a metal plunger. It's a very simple process that yields a great cup of coffee without very much effort on your part.

Also known as a press pot, coffee press, coffee plunger or cafetière, a French press is a cheap alternative to expensive electronic coffee makers. While a decent coffee machine might cost you $50 or more, a French press will only run you around $15 (unless you seek out a fancy, expensive model, that is).

On top of being cheap, French presses are also versatile and notoriously easy to use. You can use your French press to make tea, hot cocoa, yerba mate or any other sort of brewed drink without getting any grounds or leaves in your finished product.

French presses also give you a superior cup of coffee. When you make coffee in a French press, you initially throw all of the coffee and water into the same chamber. Since they're completely mixed together in an area where they can mingle freely, more of the coffee's surface area is exposed to water, meaning that the water is free to absorb more of the coffee's natural flavors and essential compounds. This makes for more flavorful, full-bodied coffee.

Coffee from a French press is usually stronger and thicker than that made from a traditional drip-maker, and since it's captured more of the coffee's volatile oils than a regular coffee maker can, French press coffee can turn bitter if not drank immediately. A good cup of French press coffee will begin to deteriorate after about 15 minutes, and at 20 minutes it may be quite bitter.

Using a French press coffee maker is super simple. First, you want to grind your beans properly. Since a French press uses a metal screen to filter coffee, you need to make sure your grind is coarse enough to not slip through the openings of the screen. Ideally you want to grind your beans to a slightly coarser grind than you would for drip coffee, which will be too fine to work well in a French press. You cannot put regular drip-ground coffee in a French press, or you will end up with grounds in your coffee.

Next, pull the plunger all the way out of the press and add the coffee grounds to the carafe - the standard allotment is about one rounded tablespoon for each 4-ounce cup of coffee you'll be making.

Pour your boiling hot water into the carafe and place the filter assembly back on the carafe, but don't push the plunger down! You want the water and coffee grounds to mingle for about three to five minutes, depending on how strong you like your coffee.

When the coffee is done steeping, slowly push down the plunger until it meets the bottom of the carafe. Pour the coffee into a cup and enjoy!

A French press is easy to use.

If you want to know more about your French press coffee maker, there are many resources on the Internet that can help you learn everything you wanted to know about making coffee. Here are a few great links that you will find useful:

• Coffee Geek has a wonderful page about the French press, including a full photo tutorial on how to load it up and make a great cup of coffee.
• Having trouble with your French press? Try this troubleshooting guide.
• How does French press coffee stack up again espresso?

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