How to Make French Press Coffee
Published 2/22/2024 • Updated 2/28/2025
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Start the day off right with the perfect cup of French press coffee! You don’t have to be a coffee genius to make the perfect cup of joe in under 15 minutes. We’ll show you how.
French press coffee has been our preferred method for years and years. Not only does it make a strong coffee, it’s become a relaxing part of our morning routines. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s would 100% recommend perfecting French press coffee in your own kitchen.
Nothing beats a good, strong cup of coffee in the morning. Using a French press coffee maker is easier than you think. All you need is some boiling water, coarse ground coffee, a French press, and you’re set to go.
No Coffee Scale? No Problem!
Often times, French Press coffee is created by weighing your coffee grounds to get the most perfect water ratio to ground beans. However, we know that weighing your coffee beans isn’t always in the cards as not everyone has a kitchen scale on hand. This is why we are using cups to measure both beans and water. #yourewelcome
Why we ❤️ french press coffee
We prefer a pot of French press coffee over a coffee machine because we have a bit more control over water temperature, how long the coffee brews, and it is usually the perfect amount of coffee for 3-4 people.
A French press is great for making a small batch of great coffee.
You can control how strong or weak your coffee is.
No need for a paper filter when making French press coffee.
How to Use a French Press
To keep things simple, we broke down the four most important things to keep in mind when you are preparing a pot of French press coffee:
- Choosing coffee beans
- The right size grind
- Water temperature
- Brew time
You’ll have a perfect pot of French press if you follow a few simple guidelines, but always remember it’s your coffee and it’s okay to make changes to your liking. Like anything you prepare in the kitchen, feel free to experiment and cater your French press to your preferences! These are our expert tips for the perfect cup of French press joe ⤵️
Choosing Coffee Beans
Our number one piece of advice: use whole bean coffee over pre-ground coffee when you can! The flavor and freshness of your coffee is a heck of a lot better when you use whole beans.
Pre-ground coffee tends to have a staleness to it because it has already been broken down. Buy your favorite whole bean coffee and get ready to grind!
no scale? No problem!
We know that many of you don’t have a scale and on a day-to-day basis, we don’t use a scale to prepare our French press coffee either. Below are the general measurements we follow using a measuring cup.
How much coffee beans for French press?
- 2 servings –> 1/4 cup coffee beans + 2 cups water
- 4 servings –> 1/2 cup coffee beans + 4 cups water
So remember, for 4 servings of coffee, use 1/2 cup of whole beans. First, grind coffee beans to a medium-coarse grind and pour grounds into the bottom of the French press.
Want stronger coffee?
Making French press coffee is like an art. You need to do what works best and tastes best for you. This means it will likely take some practice to figure out what you like. To get stronger coffee here’s what you can do:
- Use less water and the same amount of ground coffee.
- Use the same amount of water, but more ground coffee.
- Brew your French press coffee longer than 5 minutes.
Getting The Perfect Grind
The grind of coffee beans is one of the most important variables when preparing French press coffee.
If you grind your coffee beans too much, you will have a muddy and thick cup of coffee. If you don’t grind your coffee beans enough, you will have a flavorless and watery cup of coffee.
When it comes to a coffee grinder you have the choice of a burr grinder or a blade grinder. The difference between the two types of grinders is the type of blade that they grind with. Both types of grinders will work.
How to set your coffee grinder
- If you have a preprogrammed coffee grinder, set it to a medium grind.
- When using a manual electric grinder or a hand grinder, grind your coffee until it is uniform and ground into large sand crystals.
Quick tip on pre-ground coffee beans
If you do buy pre-ground coffee beans, use a heaping half cup per 4 cups of water. 1/2 cup of whole beans coarsely ground is a little more than 1/2 cup ground, unpacked.
Water Temperature Matters
Water temperature is so important when making French press coffee. If you pour water that is too hot, you could scald the coffee grounds and end up with burnt coffee.
The perfect water temperature for French press is 200ºF. You can set some water kettles to the perfect temperature and some you’ll have to check manually with a thermometer.
If you don’t have water that is hot enough it won’t extract the flavor out of the coffee grounds. The trick is to bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and then remove it from its heat source and let it sit for at least a minute before pouring it over the coffee grounds.
How Long to Brew French Press Coffee
After pouring the water into the French press, and giving the grounds a nice stir, it’s time to let everything sit.
We have found that the sweet spot is 5 minutes. Anything less than that and the flavor of the coffee isn’t quite there. Anything over 5 minutes can leave the coffee tasting a bit bitter!
After stirring the grounds and the water together, let coffee brew for 5 minutes! Pour into your favorite coffee mug and enjoy.
More Ways to Brew Coffee
There are many different brew methods to prepare a perfect cup of coffee for yourself in the morning. We’ve tried all of the following, and love each for different occasions:
Pour Over: When I am home alone and just need one delicious cup of coffee, pour over is my favorite way to go! We have a tutorial on how to make the perfect cup of coffee that walks you through the perfect cup of pour-over coffee.
Machine Drip Coffee: Good ole Mr.Coffee to the rescue. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a machine drip coffee maker. It is all about convenience, and it’s perfect for serving a large group.
AeroPress: The AeroPress uses pressure to extract flavor from coffee grounds. It produces delicious coffee, but also can only produce one cup of coffee at a time. We love taking our AeroPress camping. It is packable and perfect for calm mornings when you have the time!
Espresso Machines: Nespresso and Keurig machines are good options for those of you who need a quick cup of coffee in the morning! They use prefilled coffee pods to produce a cup of coffee or espresso.
We are partial to the Nespresso machines because they have a great recycling program for their pods!
Percolator: A percolator is a small espresso maker that involves preparing your espresso over the stove! It produces strong espresso that makes a great Americano!
How to Make French Press Coffee
Ingredients
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1/2 cup whole roasted coffee beans
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
- While water is boiling, grind coffee beans to a coarse grind. The coffee grounds should be all relatively the same size. Not too finely ground and not super chunky.
- When the water has come to a boil, remove from the heat and let water sit for 1-2 minutes to prevent scalding the coffee grounds.
- Place grounds into the French press and slowly pour hot water into the French press. Then, use a long spoon to mix the ground to make sure they are fully submerged. Let brew for 5 minutes (or more if you like really strong coffee). We like to place the French press top on top of the grounds while it’s brewing so no hot air escapes.
- Once the 5 minutes is up, press the plunger down, bringing the coffee grounds down to the bottom of the French press.
- Enjoy coffee black or try it with our homemade oat milk.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Don’t forget to tag your posts on social media with the hashtag #fitfoodiefinds, we’d love to see what you’re up to!
Photography: photos taken in this post are by Erin from The Wooden Skillet.
Thank You
Truly appreciate the detail you tell us all home barista newbies about French Press Coffee. Tried it freshly ground been, and it tastes much better than the pre-ground. Thanks so much Lin.
Teneis que probar el “cold brewer”. Dejar toda la noche el cafe infusionando en agua a temperatura ambiente y luego colarlo. Los aromas y sabores no quedan “quemados” por el agua hirviendo.
Love this post on French Press Coffee! Coffee.tastes better when you take time to grind, Ross a and sip!
Thanks LIN!
Muy bueno el post! El mejor té verde traído desde Japón lo tenemos aquí! Seguro que te gusta!! gracias!
The instructions mention letting the coffee brew for 5 minutes in two different steps – this is a little confusing.
Thanks for your feedback Whitney!
Just curious.
I don’t have a grinder, so I just buy ground coffee.
If you measured, how much ground coffee does 1/2 cup of beans equal?
Using a measuring cup would be so much better than measuring out each spoonful.