Should French Press Coffee Use Coarse Or Fine Grinding?

The world of fine coffee often adjusts extraction times, grinds, and other variables in order to achieve the most suitable brewing method for a particular coffee. However, these variables are usually tested only with hand-brewed, espresso, and ale-press brewing methods, and the French press is always the one that is overlooked.

It is generally agreed that a French press is best brewed with a coarse grind of ground coffee, which is allowed to steep for three to five minutes before being pressed into service.

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There are, of course, three variables that can be experimented with in a French press, and the three variables are linked, so if you adjust one, you may have to adjust the other two as well.

It may seem strange to buy an expensive grinder just to experiment with coarse grinds on a French press, but if you want good coffee, think in this direction.

Inconsistent grinding results in coarse and fine grounds, and a low-quality grinder will create a lot of fine grounds that can be sifted through a sieve, but if this is not done, it will result in a coffee that is full of unpleasant and bitter flavours.

When you use a coarse grind, you are less likely to have a large amount of fines, which means you are less likely to have a cup of coffee with a heavy, unpleasant flavour. If you use a good-quality grinder or a sieve after grinding, you can solve the problem of fines from grinding.

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The French press is an immersion brew, which means that the beans take longer to extract than other brewing methods, and for this reason, we often use a coarser grind to ensure that the extraction is not too fast, leading to over-extraction.

In the case of hand-brewed coffee, a finer grind is used so that the water doesn't flow through the powder too quickly, but this is not a problem in the French press, so we have more freedom to experiment. Of course, we have to take into account the fact that if the grind is reduced, the extraction time must also be adjusted to avoid over-extraction. However, we are not limited by the problem of hand-pouring water through the powder bed.

The reason for using a finer grind is to speed up the extraction of flavour substances, as the powder has more surface area in contact with the water, allowing the soluble substances of the coffee to be dissolved in the water more quickly.

The most important part is that the coarseness of the grind does not really change the extracted substances, it only changes when the substances are extracted because that is all the flavour of the coffee beans, and that is the maximum amount of substances that can be extracted. The coarseness of the grind only affects how much of the flavour will dissolve in the water.

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If you let the water stay in contact with the coffee for longer, more flavour will be extracted. We can do this by extending the extraction time, but as the hot water will cool during the brewing process, this may not be as effective as just using the same extraction time with a fine grind.

One of the concerns with using a finely ground coffee powder in a French press is that the resulting coffee may have an unpleasant flavour, as the finer ground powder will penetrate the filter of the French press. Still, a better quality French press will allow the medium-ground powder not to penetrate the filter.

James Hoffman recommends using a medium-ground coffee powder for the French press, stirring it at four minutes and pouring it out at five to seven minutes, and says that the French press is the most error-prone brewing apparatus and that the long steeping time makes it easy to achieve the full extracted flavour of French press coffee.

However, James also suggests trying a finer grind until the bitterness develops. If the coffee develops a bitter taste, it is important to grind the coffee a little coarser to get a good flavour out of it.

This means avoiding over-extraction. If the grind is too fine, too much bitterness will be extracted, and the coffee will not taste good.

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This is the part of the brewing process that we mentioned at the beginning, where we experiment with the grind.

It is often advisable to use an electronic scale to help you know how much coffee and powder you are using and to adjust the amount you use if necessary. Use a good grinder to grind the powder to a medium to a coarse consistency.

If the clarity of taste is important to you, try sifting out the fines and large particles before brewing. Using 600 micron and 800-micron sieves helps to reduce the steeping time as the removal of large particles means that the extraction process is more even, but this method of sifting out the coffee powder results in more waste.

When using this method for the first time, use hot water at about 93°C. If you don't have a thermometer, let the water boil for about 30 seconds.

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After stirring the coffee and tossing the powder with water, place the press with the lid on top and press down slightly so as not to touch the powder.

After seven to ten minutes of steeping, almost all of the coffee powder has been soaked. At this point, you can carefully observe the condition of the powder and water before pressing down on the carafe.

Leave some space between the coffee powder and the filter, as the remaining powder will be over-soaked and release impurities.

Be careful when pouring the coffee so that the coffee grounds do not penetrate the filter and drip into the cup, resulting in poor-tasting coffee.

After doing the normal brewing method, repeat the same action but with a finer powder to see the difference.

To find the optimum thickness for your press, grind it finer than you are used to and compare the two.

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When adjusting the coarseness of the grind, it is important to consider the temperature of the brewing water as well because a finer grind increases the surface area of the powder, which speeds up extraction.

When using a medium grind, try lowering the water temperature from 93°C to 91°C and slightly increasing the brewing time. This may result in a cup that is rich in flavour without the bitterness of over-extraction.

If a coarse grind is used with lower temperature water, it may result in under extraction unless the brewing time is extended. The key to this is that the variables are linked, so if you change one variable, you may have to adjust the other at the same time.

Some people prefer to brew with near-boiling water, preferring to brew at a high temperature. When the coffee is of good quality, it is important to control the temperature so that it is not too high and produces a burnt bitter taste, or too low and produces a lack of extraction.

There are many different forms of coffee brewing, but the most important thing is to have a good blend of extracts, and it is important to balance these variables.

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One thing to note about glass French presses is the loss of heat in the water during brewing.

If you want to experiment with the variables of a French press, try using a ceramic one or adding a heat-insulating sleeve to the outside of a glass one. Stainless steel French presses also provide good insulation but may add an unpleasant metallic flavour to the coffee.

Understanding extraction gives you the opportunity to experiment with brewing, and there are as many ways to experiment with a French press as with any other brewing appliance.

If you use a good-quality grinder, you can let the powder soak in as much as possible and then slowly press down on the barrel at the end, and you will not usually get an unpleasantly flavoured cup of coffee.

Don't be afraid to experiment with new data, adjust the coarseness of the grind, the temperature of the water, the brew time, and find out what you like and don't like about the brewing method.

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