The good old French Press, or cafetière, is a classic way to enjoy our infused ground coffee. This method has been used across Europe since it was first designed in 1852, but we know a few secret tips that will help you nail it. Our favourite coffee to brew as a French Press is our Rich Hazelnut Ground Coffee. As the coffee is steeped in the hot water for four minutes, it really brings out the silky-smooth hazelnut flavour and gives the coffee a lovely body. Below are some tips for brewing a kick-ass French press.
PRE-HEATING
First thing's first, fill up the kettle with freshly drawn water and pop it on to boil. You’ll need to boil more than you need, as we suggest pre-heating the cups and the French Press with boiling water to ensure your coffee stays warmer for longer. When all the equipment feels warm, discard the hot water.
COFFEE TO WATER RATIO
How much coffee you need for this brew method depends on the capacity of your French press. For this method, we use a brew ratio of 60g of coffee to 1 litre of water, so in this instance we used 21g of coffee for our 350ml cafetière.
WATER TEMPERATURE
We don’t want to get too geeky on you, but water temperature is important regardless of the brew method you use. Ideally, water needs to be at 94 degrees Celsius to ensure it doesn’t burn the coffee and extracts at the best rate. We suggest boiling the kettle and waiting a minute for it to cool slightly before pouring.
YOU'LL NEED
- Little’s flavoured ground coffee of your choice
- French press/cafetière
- Your favourite mug
- Kettle
- Water
- Milk (optional)
- Sugar (optional)
METHOD
- Heat up the French press and mugs with boiling hot water and discard after one minute
- Add the coffee to the beaker. You’ll need roughly 60g of coffee for every 1 litre of water, so in this instance we used 21g of coffee for our 350ml cafetière. This is roughly one heaped tablespoon per cup
- Pour your hot water over the grounds
- Give the surface of the grounds a little stir
- Place the lid on top of the beaker to retain the heat and start a timer for 4 minutes
- When the four minutes is up, serve the coffee. We prefer not to plunge it, to ensure there is no sediment that gets passed through the filter. We recommend you pour all the coffee right away, otherwise it continues to brew and it will be too strong!
Enjoy! Share your cafetière pics with us on Instagram @wearelittles
