What Grind Size Is Better For French Press Coffee

What Grind Size Is Better For French Press Coffee

French press is one of the easiest and low-cost coffee brewing methods. Even if you are a beginner in coffee, you can quickly get started to make a decent cup of coffee.

But for this decent cup of French press coffee, what would happen if the grinding size of the powder was adjusted during brewing?

This may violate our cognition, but in this article, we will see whether the grinding of the punching press can be feasible.

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An Impeccable Method

The world of specialty coffee often adjusts the extraction time, grinding size, and other factors in the brewing to achieve the best brewing method for this coffee. However, the experiments of these variables are usually only used in brewing methods such as pour-over, espresso, and Philharmonic pressure, and French press is always ignored.

Usually, everyone agrees that the French press is best to use coarsely ground coffee powder to brew and let the coffee powder soak for three to five minutes, press it down, and drink it.

Of course, there are three variables that can be tested in the French press, and the three variables are related to each other. The other two may also need to be adjusted if you adjust one variable.

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Why Is Coarse Grinding Usually Used?

It seems a bit strange to buy an expensive grinder for the purpose of experimenting with the grinding size of the French press, but if you want to drink good coffee, you can think about it. After all, a good grinder can grind coffee grounds of stable quality.

Inconsistent grinding will form powders of different sizees, while low-quality grinders will form a large amount of fine powder. Although these fine powders can be screened out with a sieve, if the screening action is not implemented, the coffee will be full of unpleasant flavors with bitterness.

When you use coarsely ground coffee powder, it will not produce a lot of fine powder, which means you will be less likely to drink a cup of coffee with a heavier flavor. If you use a good-quality grinder or use a screen after grinding, you can solve the problem of fine powder caused by grinding.

The French press is an immersion brewing method, which means that the extraction time of coffee beans is longer than other brewing methods. For this reason, we often use coarser grinding to ensure that the extraction speed is not too fast to cause excessive extraction.

If it is pour-over coffee, a finer grind is used to prevent the water from passing through the powder too quickly, but the extraction in the French press does not have this problem, so we can have more freedom to experiment. Of course, we must consider that if the grinding degree is fine-tuned, the extraction time must also be adjusted to avoid excessive extraction. But it is not limited to the problem of pour-over water passing through the powder bed.

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Controversy About Fine Grinding

The reason for using finer grinding is to accelerate the extraction rate of flavor substances because the powder has more surface area in contact with water so that the soluble substances of coffee can be dissolved in water more quickly.

The most important part is that the grinding size does not really change the extracted substances. The grinding size will only change when the extracted substances are extracted because all the flavors of coffee beans are like this at most. There are so many substances that can be extracted. The size of the grind only affects how much flavor substances will dissolve in the water.

If you let the water and coffee contact for a longer time, more flavor will be extracted. We can do this by extending the extraction time, but since the hot water will cool down during the brewing process, the effect of this may be It is better to use the same extraction time with a fine grinding to make coffee.

One of the concerns about using finely ground coffee to press the press is that the brewed coffee may have a peculiar smell because the finer ground powder will penetrate the filter of the French press. Still, the better quality French press can So that the powder in the grinding will not penetrate the filter screen.

James Hoffman recommends using medium-grind coffee powder to brew the French press, stirring at four minutes, and pouring the coffee at five to seven minutes. He also said that the French press is the most fault-tolerant brewing pot. The cooking utensils and the long soaking time allow the French press to present the complete extracted flavor easily.

However, James also recommends that everyone try to use a finer grind to brew until the bitter taste develops. If the coffee has a bitter taste, the grind degree of the coarse coffee powder must be slightly adjusted so that the good taste of the coffee can be brewed.

In other words, it is necessary to avoid excessive extraction. If the grinding is too fine, too much bitter substances will be extracted, and the coffee will not taste good.

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How To Use Fine Grinding?

This part is mentioned at the beginning, how we use the experimental method of grinding degree to press the brewing pot.

Coffee Beans

Using 35 grams of coffee beans with 475 milliliters of water, James recommends using an electronic scale to help you know the amount of coffee and powder used and adjust the amount if necessary. Use a good grinder to grind the flour into medium to coarser.

If the clarity of the coffee taste is important to you, try to sift out fine powder and large particles before brewing. The author believes that the use of 600-micron and 800-micron sieves can help reduce the steeping time because the large particles are removed. Dividing means that the extraction process will be more uniform, but the coffee powder sifted out by this method will cause more waste.

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Brewing Method

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

After stirring the coffee and tumbling the coffee powder with water, put the press cylinder and the lid on and press it down slightly. This action will not touch the coffee powder. Since the hot water in the glass container cools down quickly, the cover of the press cylinder is now Play the role of heat insulation.

When the coffee is soaked for another seven to ten minutes, almost all the coffee powder is fully soaked. At this time, you can carefully observe the state of the powder and water before pressing the cylinder. When pressing, the action should be slowed down to prevent the fine powder from flowing to the drink in the coffee.

There should be some space between the coffee powder and the filter because the remaining coffee powder will release an unpleasant flavor due to over-soaking. The Turkish coffee brewing method also uses this method to control the precipitation of the powder.

Be careful when pouring coffee so as not to allow coffee grounds to pass through the filter and flow into the cup, resulting in poor coffee taste.

After finishing the general brewing method, repeat the same action but use a finer powder to check the difference between the two.

To find the size most suitable for the French press, you can grind it thinner than you are used to and then compare the differences between the two.

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Adjust The Water Temperature While Grinding

When you adjust the grinding size, you must also consider the brewing water temperature because fine grinding will increase the surface area of ​​the powder and accelerate the extraction. At this time, lowering the water temperature can slow down the extraction and avoid the bitterness caused by over-extraction.

When using moderate grinding, you can try to reduce the water temperature from 93°C to 91°C and slightly extend the brewing time. This may be able to achieve a cup of coffee with rich flavor but not overly bitter.

Using coarsely ground powder with lower-temperature water to brew may cause insufficient extraction unless the brewing time is prolonged. The key to this paragraph is that the influence of variable causes is linked. If you change one variable, you may also need to adjust another variable at the same time.

Some people prefer to use water that is close to boiling. Matt Perger said that he likes to brew at high temperature. When the coffee is of good quality, temperatures control is very important so as to avoid too high temperature to produce burnt bitterness or too low temperature to produce insufficient extraction.

There are many forms of brewing coffee, and the most important thing is to understand the extraction. It is very important to balance these variables. Try different water temperature, grinding sizes, and brewing times to find the cup of coffee that you think is the best.

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What Kind Of French Press Should I Choose?

One thing worth noting about the glass press is the loss of water temperature during brewing.

If you want to experiment with the variation of the press, try to use the ceramic press, or increase the insulation sleeve on the periphery of the glass press. The stainless steel French press can also provide good insulation, but the author believes that it will add an unpleasant metallic taste to the coffee.

Knowing the extraction can allow you to experiment with brewing, and the French press, like other brewing appliances, has many ways to experiment.

If you use a good-quality grinder, you can make the powder soak as much as possible and finally slowly press down on the cylinder. Normally, you won't get a cup of stray coffee.

Don't be afraid to experiment with new data, adjust the grinding size, water temperature, brewing time, and find out which cooking methods you like and dislike.