Updated October 2026 · French Press Recipe Series
Every recipe in the French Press Recipe Series uses the same timing: a 4-minute steep followed by a 5-minute settle, 9 minutes in all. Unlike the dose, ratio, grind and temperature, the time does not change with the density of your beans.
4 minutes steeping, then 5 minutes settling, 9:00 in total (every recipe, Recipe 1 to Recipe 121). The settle is what keeps the cup clean, so you are not in a hurry.
How the time runs
Put the press on the scales, add the coffee and tare. Start the timer as you pour in the water, making sure every ground is wet. This is James Hoffmann’s French press method, adapted to the recipe series.
4 minutes steeping + 5 minutes settling
Leave it alone for 4 minutes. A crust of grounds forms on top; that is normal. Then break the crust with a spoon, give it a gentle stir and skim off the foam and floating bits. Now wait 5 more minutes before you press.
Press the plunger only until the mesh sits on the surface of the coffee, rather than pushing it into the grounds. Pour slowly and leave the last bit in the press so the sediment stays behind.
The timing
The timing is the same for all 121 recipes, from 0.330 g/ml to 0.450 g/ml. Here is how the 9 minutes run.
Pour the water and start the timer
Break the crust, stir gently and skim
Five minutes later: press and pour
Why it is fixed
In a full-immersion brew like the press, time has a big effect on how much dissolves. The series holds it constant, so the grind, temperature, ratio and dose can do the work of matching the brew to your roast.
Four minutes is the steep in Hoffmann’s method. With the medium grind the series uses, it is long enough to extract the coffee well.
Letting the grounds settle is what makes this method so clean, with far less silt in the cup. Hoffmann’s method asks for at least five minutes.
With the time held at 9:00, a sour or bitter cup is fixed by moving along the series with Extract More or Extract Less. That changes the temperature, ratio, dose and grind together, not the time.
Why it is fixed
Recipe 1 and Recipe 121 take exactly as long as Recipe 61.
Hoffmann’s French press method steeps for 4 minutes, then waits at least 5 minutes for the grounds to settle. The series uses exactly that.
Holding the time constant leaves the grind, temperature, ratio and dose to change with the density of your roast.
If the settle runs a little over while you do something else, that is fine. Hoffmann’s method allows up to eight minutes for the grounds to sink.
Haven’t measured your beans? Start at Recipe 51 (0.380 g/ml), then use Extract More or Extract Less. Measured? The coffee density calculator takes you straight to your recipe.
References
Keep reading
Find your starting recipe, then dig deeper into what drives extraction.
Find your recipeThe middle of the series: 9:00 in total, 20.0 g for a 350 ml press.
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