An easy and consistent technique for making reliably delicious coffee with a cafetière

An easy and consistent technique for making reliably delicious coffee with a cafetière

The cafetière, also known as a French press, coffee press or coffee plunger, has to be one of the most commonly used coffee brewing tool there is. This come as no surprise since brewing with a cafetière is uncomplicated, easy to use, reliable and you may already have one in your kitchen cupboard. 

Coffee made with a cafetière is typically said to be full-bodied and stands up to addition of milk. This is because it is a full immersion brewing method, where coffee ground is completely immersed in water over a period of time, allowing higher extraction over the immersion time. The metal mesh filter also allow finer coffee particles and oils to bypass the filter into the coffee beverage, resulting in a fuller mouthfeel. 

Here is our easy and consistent technique for making great tasting cafetière coffee at home:

What you'll need:

  • Freshly ground coffee
  • Cafetiere - any size will work, see below for note on recipe scaling.
  • Kettle 
  • Digital scale
  • Timer


Recipe:

20g coffee to 300ml hot water

Our recipe is easily scalable depending on the size of your cafetière. Based on recipe ratio of 1:15 (coffee to water), simply work out how much brewing water you are using to work out the amount of coffee needed. 

 

Step-by-step guide:

1) Put a kettle of fresh water to boil. 

2) Weigh out 20g coffee and grind it to a coarse size (similar to Maldon salt flakes).

3) Put ground coffee into the cafetière, and place it on a digital scale and tare.

4) To start the brewing process, start the timer and add 50g of hot water onto the coffee, swirl the cafetière to completely saturate the coffee and allow to bloom for 30 seconds. This process allows water to penetrate coffee ground and releases any trapped gases, facilitating more even extraction.

5) At the end of 30sec, top up the cafetière with remaining volume of hot water, and place the plunger on top without pressing down, and allow to steep for 3 and a half minutes.

6) At the end of 4 minutes gently press down on the plunger completely. Pour coffee into your favourite cup and enjoy!

P/S: Because the coffee can continue to brew when in contact with water, we recommend decanting any extra coffee into another vessel if not drinking straight away so to avoid potential over extraction.

 

Note: If you own a coffee grinder and grind your coffee freshly, fantastic! If you don't, fret not and use pre-ground coffee.