FRENCH PRESS: 5 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

➡ Essential French Press reading coffeechronicler.com/best-french-press/

"Sir, i just asked you with or without milk"

I was drinking coffee like a barbarian for years. Yesterday while I was shopping for groceries, I stumbled on a cheap french press on sale, bought it. Today made my first french pres coffee and the difference is night and day. Felt like I was in a cafe

Wow, the tip to not break up the crust by far made the biggest difference in the cup. Way less sediment. Thank you so much!

My French Press and I are watching this together. Thank you for sharing the ratio, really changed my cold brew game ❤

I use a quart Mason jar as a carafe and then seal it and refrigerate the leftover coffee for ice coffee, later! Thanks for this explanation!

First use of French press this morning for my iced espresso. Heaven.

I always wondered why sometimes my french press coffee was great and other times it was bitter or even sometimes sour, even though I thought I was using the same method every time. Very insightful. Thanks so much!

These topics -- stirring, breaking crust, plunging -- have been studied and pontificated upon endlessly; and, the verdict is, everyone has the right answer, and everyone else is wrong. At the end of the day, one just has to have a decent starting-point, whence to play around, figure out what one likes, develop one's habits into strong and pernicious dogma, never change one's ways, then eventually die a meaningless death.

I agree with everything you say. We use a French press every day. The addition of a double walled french press will improve the brew also, especially if you are like us and like to add cream to your coffee.

Well Sir, thanks for all your info. I have been using the French press for over 20 years. My method is similar. Although in my glass press, I use a chopstick , less chance of breakage. Then, give it a vigorous stir, put the plunger in to just above the crust. Then, place a dish towel around the press to hold in the heat. I then leave it to 8-10 minutes. It's the strength I like. Other than that, I follow your method. I have found that bean choice is important. What tastes good in drip, doesn't always work for the French press. The carafe was a huge improvement in the last cup or so. Sitting in the grinds to long makes for a bitter coffee. My alternative for coffee now and again is cowboy coffee method. Cheers everyone.

James Hoffman's technique is fantastic, and consistently following it will yield satisfying results.

After having several glass models break, a couple during operation, I ended up with a Frieling stainless steel model. Couldn't be happier.

Great video! From a first-timer, thank you very much for the tips!

I’m so glad I stumbled on this video. I just bought a French press for the first time but don’t really know how to use it. These tips are really helpful 💕

Funny, my mother does a similar stirring method...here I thought it was just her. Good video, I'll have to find my old French press.

Just got my first French press… this was very informative 😎

Love your vids I like the way that you make alternative recipes that are much simpler than the others and even tastier, the French press recipe that you made with the paper filter is not common to see and I always struggled with the dirty cup of my French press and that vid helped me a lot Keep up with the good work, very soon people will start to valorize your knowledge 👍

Nice explanation, I have found that by my own trial and error that those tips are correct. I have tried the Hoff method multiple times and I don’t find that it makes a positive difference, it’s just too strong. Great work, thx.

Everyone has different tastes. I preheat my French press by filling it with boiling water before starting. I toss this water, add coffee ground as fine as possible (espresso grind), pour in distilled water that is boiling, and let it steep for 3 - 5 minutes before gently pressing. A bit of silt at the bottom of my cup is just fine with me, as long as the brew is dark & strong.