We mean press on the plunger of your french press to brew!

Brewing with a french press may be one of the simplest ways to make coffee and because of that, did you know that nearly up to 90% of home coffee brewers today have one! After we’re done with today’s write up, you’ll be happy to know that you’ll always be able to make consistently delicious cups of morning coffee regularly! Despite its simple methodology of brewing with a french press, there are still some things one should take note of before your brew!

How does it actually work?

Simply put it, you place the coffee of choice in the beaker or vessel, top it up with hot water and then let it steep for the desired amount of time for the intensity of your cuppa and then place the lid with the plunger of your french press to press and separate the coffee grounds from the liquid. 

This is essentially an immersion style brew of coffee as you immerse your grinded coffee in water over a duration of time.

How to choose the right one?

Before you brew your coffee, it is important to know and understand what your use and drinking routine is like, do you use a french press to entertain guests or do you use it for your personal consumption. Here is some information on which size and material is best before purchasing your brewer.

But before we do that, a typical serving size of coffee is varied from person to person. Within the cafe standard, it is anywhere between a 150g - 180g size cup. Therefore the amounts below may or may not be applied.

Size

• Mini Size: up to one (1) serving of coffee only, popular for just one person to make and drink, able to accommodate up to 350g of liquid per brew.
• Small Size: up to three (3) servings of coffee. Best for a small family, or partners and or a small group of friends. May be able to fill up to 500g of liquid per brew.
• Medium Size: up to eight (8) servings of coffee. Popularly used for the whole family over morning or afternoon tea. May be able to accommodate up to 1,000g of liquid per brew.
• Large Size: up to twelve (12) servings of coffee. Best used for functions to entertain guests. Able to accommodate up to 1,500g of water.

• Plastic: Most durable material in the market, not necessarily the cheapest with more and more reinforced materials used today.
• Glass: Looks the nicest but it can be fragile. Prices are pretty much the most stable right now. It may be difficult to find due to the higher demand for a more durable material.
• Metal: a great option with good heat retention over a longer period as well as one of the more durable materials among the options above. Not as commonly found in the home as it isn't the cheapest option to date.
• Ceramic: the best option for heat retention of your brew, one of the best ornamental brewer with a good array of intricate designs.

If you were to ask your barista at your favourite coffee spot, they may have mention this brand before “Bodum Camboard”. However, everyone has their personal preferences, therefore what we believe is to not limit yourself to just one brand and material. But, as you already have a brewer of your own, we encourage you to experiment with the one you already have so as to not stir even more confusion within yourself.

Let us jump right into it! 

Brewing!

• Hot water
• Coffee
• French Press (of choice)

• Server / Mug
• Scale
• Grinder
• Scale
• Timer 

Whilst having all these items are ideal, we understand that not everyone is able to acquire some of these items, especially a grinder at home as it in itself is a major investment. But trust us when we say, this is a great investment being you are able to adjust and grind the coffee fresh at any time and point of the day. Not only that!, you will also be able to use it for any other brew tools in the long run.

Steps by step guide

Step 1: Heat up your water

Before any coffee is brewed, one should always prepare the kettle on the boil whilst preparing for the other components of the brew. If you have never brewed coffee at home before, it is fine as water straight from the boil is still fine. You may just leave the kettle to cool down temporarily in the process of getting ready. Once you're done, the water should be cool enough to brew.

Alternatively, if you happen to have a digital water kettle, the best temperature to brew your coffee would be at a 93 degree water temperature as it is best to not scald the grind coffee upon brewing.

Step 2: Measure and Grind*

Whilst your water kettle is getting up to temperature, the next step is to then measure out your coffee to grind prior to brewing. Here at Ghostbird, we encourage anyone to use a 1:15 ratio to all the coffee brewers. You may find a rough guide below on a brew ratio and amount needed.

Alternatively, if one is not in possession of a grinder at home, worry not as we at ghostbird are able to pre grind your coffees fresh before delivery. As each bag of coffee is grinded fresh, do remember to store them in a cool dark area between each use. Do not store them in a refrigerator as that would typically cause condensation and then affect your overall drinking experience. 

Step 3: Preheat Vessel (Optional)

This is just an optional step, but will be ideal when brewing your coffee! As and when you start brewing your coffee, if the vessel is not at the same or close to the brewing water's temperature, it will cause the brewing temperature to change ever so slightly due to the contrasting temperatures. 

The difference will not be great, but it is a great step to take to prep and prime your brewing and overall drinking experience.

Step 4: Add Water and Steep

In this step, it is when you will need a few items with you, those items will be a Scale, Coffee, Vessel, Hot Water, Timer and Patience.

As you begin to pour your hot water into the vessel with your coffee, the scale is there to assist you to measure out the ideal weight in accordance to the coffee and ratio used. As this is an immersion brewing method, in theory, the immersion coffee will get stronger as it is stepped over a prolonged duration in time. 

What we can recommend is to brew your coffee no longer than four (4) minutes at a time, regardless of the amount of coffee and water used. As this recipe and ratio above has been scaled accordingly. The longer you steep the coffee, the more bitter notes will be extracted which as a result will be a bitter, over extracted cup.

Step 5: Plunge!

Upon the four minute mark is when you will then need to plunge the french press! Press it gently and in a controlled motion, this will then not break the coffee grinds floating at the top which will cause further agitation resulting in a bitter cup of coffee.

Besides our write up, you may have seen that there are others who advised to clear the floating coffee at the top, however with this method, it would be a hassle and mess free way of brewing your coffee!

*Top tip!

if you find that it is difficult to press the plunger down, it would mean your coffee has been grounded too fine, the opposite applies if it’s too coarse. If the coffee plunger has little to no resistance, it also means that the coffee is far too coarse.

A constant amount of pressure is ideal depending on the strength of the individual. Do be gentle! Coffee is a art after all

Step 6: Serve and Enjoy!

Lastly, once you’ve press the plunger all the way, all that is left is to serve and enjoy!

Remember to not pour the whole brew from the server as at the bottom of the french press will still have silt or coffee fines which will seep into your cup, resulting in a grainy cup of coffee.

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