If you’re a regular coffee drinker, you probably know that your morning cuppa is the most important one to get you started for the day. With innovations in coffee-making taking the world by storm, many techniques have been sworn by to yield the most flavoursome and strong brew. Between the frothy and bittersweet filter coffee closer to home, to the trendy cold brew, the coffee industry has seen multiple variations of the beverage catering to an audience that prefers their drink a certain way.
The French Press method of brewing coffee has a full-bodied, fat-based flavour due to the oils from the coffee beans seeping into the extract during the brewing process. Unlike most other techniques, French Pressed coffee tastes well-balanced and sweeter in flavour than having a one-dimensional bitterness. Depending on how much coffee you like to consume in a day, French Presses are available in varying size options to help you yield a desired amount of coffee. French Press machines are also available in different materials ranging from glass to stainless steel.
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If you’re a French Press amateur, starting off with a stainless steel one that brews enough for a cup or two per serving, should be ideal. The key to a good cup of French Pressed coffee is to also buy good quality roasted coffee beans that you can find at your local roaster or coffee shop. Buying from a local roaster ensures that the beans don’t begin to lose their flavour from the moment they have been roasted and packaged for sale. Using a bean variety that is medium-roasted for a French Press ensures that the flavour of the coffee is not overpowering or too bitter, while also maintaining a slight fruitiness which gives the extract a sweet aftertaste.
Image Credits: Your Dream Coffee
Using a coffee grinder or grinding your locally roasted coffee beans at home before you add it to the French Press, is a failsafe method to ensure an unadulterated and concentrated coffee flavour, giving it an added dose of freshness; something which might be hard to find in commercial coffee chains. Since the French Press does not use a parchment paper or filter of sorts, using a coarse grind with hot water and allowing it to steep for a few minutes, should be more than enough. If you choose to not grind coffee beans at home, you can request your local roastery to grind them for you, according to how you prefer it. The texture of coarsely ground coffee should resemble that of mud, for a reference.
Before you add boiling water to the French Press, allow it to sit on your kitchen counter for 30 seconds before you pour slowly in a trickle. Pour a quarter of the water you’re using, in order to allow the coffee to bloom before you add in the rest. If you prefer a stronger flavour, adjust the quantity of water to suit your requirement. For a more diluted concoction, use a little more water than you would normally.
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