french press
brewing guide

The French press is commonly known as a cafetière and is also referred to as a plunger or coffee press.

The origins of the French Press still remains a debate. The first design was spotted in 1852 by two Frenchmen but the first design was patented by an Italian Milanese designer Attilio Calimani in 1933.

The French Press involves immersing course coffee ground in water which creates a great full bodied coffee with rich, bold flavour.

Ferrari's Coffee, French Press Brewing Guide Section

what you need

Kettle
French press (cafetière)
Weighing scale
Course ground coffee (our medium grind for filter)
Mug

top tips

Coffee needs to be ground course or medium ground coffee for the best French press extraction.
Water temperature should be 92–96°C. If using a standard kettle, open the lid and let it cool for 30 seconds before brewing.
For the cleanest cup, keep an eye on your French press brew time and decant any leftover coffee to prevent over-extraction and bitterness.

Step 1: Prepare

Warm the cafetière by pouring water from the kettle.

Give it a good stir and pour the water away.

This helps to maintain the temperature throughout the French press brewing process.

It gives you a clean cup of coffee allowing you to taste and experience all the tasting notes of the coffee.

Step 2: Add your coffee (French Press Coffee Ratio)

Place your cafetière on the scale and tare the scale. We recommend the following French press coffee-to-water ratio (the number of cups is a guide as it depends on how big your mugs are):

1-2 cups: 15g coffee : 250g water
2-4 cups: 30g coffee : 500g water
5-8 cups: 45g coffee : 750g water

After adding the ground coffee, tare the scale again.

Step 3: Pour & Bloom coffee

Add 100g of water in a circular motion, in order to wet all the coffee grounds.

Let your coffee rest for 30 seconds before adding the rest of the water. This process is called blooming (and it helps improve French press flavour and extraction).

Add the remaining volume of water and stir.

Replace the lid of the cafetière and wait for another 3.5 minutes (for a total brew time of around 4 minutes).

Step 4: Plunge

Slowly plunge the coffee making sure all the coffee remains under the mesh. Now pour and enjoy.

If there is coffee remaining, decant into another beaker or jug, so it is no longer in contact with the coffee grounds as this will cause over extraction causing the coffee to taste bitter.