QandAs: Food

What is a French Press?

Answer:
Most coffee lovers are familiar with the drip method

of coffee brewing, in which a supply of hot water runs through a filter containing freshly ground coffee beans.

A different kind of coffee brewer called a French press or press pot uses a snugly-fitting plunger with a mesh filter to create a stronger beverage with more of the essential oils a drip pot generally traps in the filter.

A French press coffee brewer was indeed developed by a French inventor during the 19th century, but it is not especially popular in France. Many casual coffee drinkers may be put off by the strength of coffee produced in a French press, and it is not unusual to find a fair amount of sediment at the bottom of a cup. Many coffee experts believe a French press or press pot is the best way to bring out the flavors of darker roast coffees, which tend to be oilier and difficult to brew in a standard drip pot or percolator.

A French press consists of a glass cylinder, possibly with gradations for easier measuring of ingredients, and a plunger filter. The user should have a supply of boiling water on hand before grinding fresh roasted coffee beans with a burr grinder, not a cheaper blade grinder.

The grounds should be coarse but uniform, in order to be trapped by the filter later. Two level tablespoons of coffee grounds should be added to the French press for every cup of finished coffee. The hot water should then be added slowly and steadily to the grounds, making sure to vary the direction of the water stream to insure all of the grounds have been soaked. The coffee/water combination should then be allowed to steep for at least two minutes but no longer than 4 minutes.

After the coffee has been allowed to steep, the coffee maker places a lid with a special plunger on top of the French press. This round plunger fits the sides of the cylinder very snugly, and the center of the disk contains a nylon or metal mesh filter.

As the user slowly pushed down on the plunger, the filter moves through the coffee and traps the grounds at the bottom of the carafe. The filtered coffee is then carefully poured into cups while the plunger remains firmly at the bottom. Coffee made in a French press may be "muddier" than coffee made in a drip pot, but ideally the flavors of the coffee are better expressed.


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