0.
372
gm/l
If sour
Extract moreIf bitter
Extract lessIf you haven’t measured your beans, treat this recipe as a starting guess. If you have, it’s usually right first time, and almost always within one change. The French press recipe series is designed for this: taste your cup, then move up the series for more extraction or down for less. Don’t hesitate to experiment with another recipe based on your taste test results—finding what tastes best for you is worth it!
Photo by Romario Roges on Unsplash
Water
300
ml
14
Option-O P64
3.1
Dark/Darker than Dark
This is James Hoffmann’s French press method, adapted to the recipe series. It takes a little longer than a standard press, but letting the grounds settle before you pour gives a much cleaner cup, with far less silt.
Providing you are changing the dose, the ratio, the bits you can, you will be changing the TASTE, and that is what matters. YOU are finding a RECIPE that tastes better than the last recipe you tried.
Heat your water to the temperature shown above. Hoffmann uses water just off the boil; the recipe series adjusts the temperature to your roast instead.
Get your single dose out of the freezer. If you are not single-dosing and freezing your coffee, read How to Store Coffee Beans – 9 tips. While at it, read Best Coffee Beans – Six Purchasing Tips.
Grind your frozen coffee to a medium grind, about the same as for filter, using the grind setting above; do not defrost it. Don’t go coarse: the long settle, not a coarse grind, is what keeps this method clean.
Put the press on the scales, add the coffee and tare. Start the timer and pour the water shown above, making sure every ground is wet. The water is less than the size of your press, to leave room for the grounds and the plunger.
Leave it alone to steep for 4 minutes. A crust of grounds will form on top; that is normal.
Break the crust with a spoon and give it a gentle stir; most of the grounds will sink. Then skim off the foam and floating bits. Two spoons make this easier.
Wait 5 more minutes. The fine particles settle to the bottom, which is what makes this method so clean. You are NOT in a hurry.
Press the plunger only until the mesh sits on the surface of the coffee. Don’t push it down into the grounds. Pour slowly and leave the last bit in the press so the sediment stays behind.
Now, the most crucial step. Swirl the coffee, dip a teaspoon in and taste. Is the coffee sour? If so, next time you make this coffee, extract more using the recipe indicated by the button above.
If the coffee isn’t sour, ask yourself whether it is very bitter. Bitterness is harder to judge because all coffee is bitter to some extent. However, you can reduce bitterness by extracting less. Go too far, and it will turn sour. You are looking for the calm spot in between. If you need to reduce bitterness next time you make this coffee, extract less by using the recipe indicated by the button above.
I only endorse equipment I have purchased myself, and I do not earn a commission or have any links to the companies I recommend.
An exploratory Brazilian from an experimental farm built to break away from traditional Brazilian coffee. Sweet and coating, superb in a press.
Luiz Paulo Dias Pereira founded Santuário Sul with collaborators including Camilo Merizalde to experiment in the field and the mill. More than 30 varieties grow on the farm, each managed separately.
Carmo de Minas is in the Mantiqueira hills of southern Minas Gerais, one of Brazil’s most celebrated specialty areas. This lot grew at 1,200 metres.
ORIGIN: CARMO DE MINAS, MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL
FARM: SANTUÁRIO SUL
PRODUCER: LUIZ PAULO DIAS PEREIRA
ALTITUDE: 1,200 MASL
VARIETY: PACAMARA
PROCESS: ANAEROBIC NATURAL
Pacamara was bred in El Salvador by crossing Pacas with Maragogype. Its large beans give rich, distinctive cups, and it is rare in Brazil.
An extended fermentation without oxygen before drying the whole cherry builds the sweetness and coating texture. A natural dries the whole cherry before the bean is removed, which gives sweet, fruit-forward cups with more body than a washed coffee.
Proud Mary Coffee roasts in Melbourne, Australia, and buys many of its coffees directly from long-term producer partners.
Model Version:
20261009.06
I have a dream: that this might raise the standard of coffee-making globally, reduce dialling in waste, time, and frustration, and encourage people to explore more varieties and pay more attention to the producers. You might even be prepared to pay more for better coffee if it pleases you, returning more money to growers.
You can help. The best thing you can do is spread the word on other platforms, such as Reddit or Facebook coffee forums, and share with others how this method can solve everyday problems.
Using 0.1g accurate scales and the recommended 100ml measuring cylinder, and entering quality data into the form, helps improve the model. So does evidence-based feedback for parameter range adjustments.
You can also support the site financially via Buy me a coffee to help with ongoing running costs, site hosting fees, and plug-in subscriptions.
