REDEEMING THE FRENCH PRESS: A Modern French Press Recipe 

Pls french PRESS that like and sub if you haven't. Helps loads. and lmk your experience with this recipe!

Was totally my gateway too. I remember being in Germany at the age of 17 back in 2000 and I found an authentic little press and I was so enamoured with it that I made this huge space in my suitcase and used every sock possible to be able to bring that thing home to Canada. I'm 41 now, live in Chicago and still have it.😅

The freakin continuation of “Sit and Steep” in the background is prime editing 😂

When I first got into "alternative" brewing, I enjoyed french press but really was not a fan of the silt in the cup. I ended up deciding to try to "hack" the process and add a paper filter. it would be my dirty little secret. I actually bought filters sized to fit the diameter of my french press and I would sandwich them between the cross plate and the mesh filter and it worked phenomenally. I had no idea that coffee enthusiasts did this or admitted to this out loud 😂 I stick primarily to pour overs and espresso as there is a little less friction and clean up, especially for that pre-work cup, but I periodically come back to this method. I have not, however, deviated from the coarse grind paradigm. It makes sense to go finer, but I may have to do this external "wrap around" with a larger filter outside the cross plate to prevent ingress of the grinds. I get a solid seal with my current method and brewer, but I suspect the finer grinds may find their ways around the filter. Hackery destigmatized by everone's favorite coffee scientist and educator (you may have to share a little of the educator title with James, of course 😉) Thumbs up for the algorithm, people 😁

I used to brew a French Press whenever I got bored of espressos, and for some reason, the Press made me want to read a newspaper. AND NOW, finding out I could actually use the newspaper to make better coffee with it? It was never a coincidence! 🙈

Learned the paper filter FP trick this past year from The Coffee Chronicler

I've never tried this, but the technique makes sense. However, the reason I started brewing with a French Press is because I don't have to remember to buy paper filters :(

Busted out my never-used Ikea French press for this. Used a light roast Ethiopia natural. Delicious and clean!

Cool! I've only seen the Coffee Chronicler do this before. Now if only I had a french press... :/

As someone who recently had a baby, I find myself reaching for a filtered french press more often than a pourover for my morning cup for the flexibility of a "dump it then forget it" brewing method. Cheers for this! Ps: an Aeropress filter fits perfectly for a singe cup french press 👍

Many people don't know this but Alessi makes a French Press by Aldo Rossi, the 9094. There are a couple of advantages to this press. First, it's made entirely out of metal and glass. No plastic anywhere. Second, and most importantly, most plungers are plunged down completely, sit above the coffee grounds, allowing for continued extraction. The plunger in the Alessi plunges all the way down to the bottom of the press, squeezing out excess water and halting coffee extraction. No bitter coffee. No need to decant your coffee to another pot. I wrote a detailed review of the Alessi on Amazon. If I were on a desert island and had to choose one way of brewing coffee, it would be with a French Press.

When I first got into coffee, this was the first "hack" that I thought of for myself. I really enjoyed the cups, but ultimately moved on to using the clever because I hated digging the grinds out of the French press, or wasting more water just to get them out. What I've really been wondering, because everyone always seems to say only brew for 2 minutes in a clever, is why don't you just use the same recipe in a clever that you would use in a French press? I understand that the water draws down through the bed instead of getting decanted off the top, but like Lance said, it's solvency has already been reduced by being in contact with the grinds. I guess it's kind of a silly question. I could just try myself.

I grew up with the French Press, my recipe was Peet's Arabian Mocha Java, brewed, very coarse grind, 4 minutes, bloom (of course), and whole whipping cream. My brother and I would brew pots of the stuff. We both agreed that even though we always brewed the same way it was maybe one out of 10 times you'd get the "God Cup". I'm currently mostly an espresso/flat white drinker..."God Cup" comes two or three times a week, and even though I think the "God Cup" is mostly psychological, it's what got me really interested in coffee. Thanks Mr. Peet ( I grew up in Berkeley and we used to see him walking around the shop sometimes when our mom was buying coffee and us candy canes), and thanks Lance!

thanks for all your content and expertise!

I love your new video style. The music and editing make this video so enjoyable! Thanks for your take on the French press. This is the best way to press for sure. :)

Love, love the editing on this one with the text layover. Awesome video!

Very similar to how an aeropress works…especially the inverted aeropress method that affords longer immersion time. Especially good for older French press that may have an iffy screen seal.

One very underated method IMO is the reverse french press. you put the plunger in but not fully, rest it to the side so you can pour the coffee in and afterwards water on top of it. once done you pull it out instead of pushing it down, pulling the coffee up with it. It filters fines really well without a paper filter, my theory is that the ground coffee itself acts as a filter itself, catching the fines and sticking to the bigger ground coffee pieces.

Definitely gonna try this out! Ive thought about putting a filter in there but never actually tried it, always a joy to try new stuff

Love this! Genuinely an improvement to a much loved brewing device that doesn’t require breaking the bank like so much of coffee these days. Was piqued when you teased it in the Bird video and glad you gave it its own treatment. Can’t wait to add this to my rotation of brewing methods. Well done, Lance! Appreciate you and this channel.

I started doing this after watching your Bird review, my cup is so much cleaner now. Really enjoying it.

It is allready 20h00 here. In South Africa. So have to try this out tomorrow. Can't wait... 🤩

As someone that loves different kinds of coffee makers more so drip over coffee makers now, i will still use the french press to make a strong froth because it just HANDS DOWN........works and it's super effecient for even making the strongest brews of teas as well and again it's definitely a life saver for sure indeed

Great, need to try this out. Could you make a tasting test by comparing this method vs Aeropress different recipe vs Weber Bird vs Nomacano? Also what are the extraction levels.. that would be really interesting.

Thanks for the advice on making French press coffee slowly I tried it and it worked really well. I appreciate the advice Thanks

What a helpful idea! Thanks so much for the advice on making French press coffee 🍮

Video quality, audio, background music, cuts and info were all superb here. Keep it up!

I appreciate giving grind size in comandante clicks besides not being your favourite. It's still a reference for a lot of people

My french press and electric kettle got me through nursing school. I need to play with using that paper filter technique. Thanks Lance!

I just tried this with my stainless steel french press from Amazon and using a cheap blade grinder, and even with that crappy setup the clarity and taste is a million times better. I'm looking forward to trying this with a burr grinder and perhaps with a glass french press to see if I can get it even cleaner.

what a timing for this video!, i just bought a titanium french press for camping, since is the easiest way of making a bunch of coffee, i will try this asap!

Love the little jazzy editing vibe to this one!

Man you're a genius. I can still use my old french press and I only need to make my grind a tiny bit coarser than my vietnam drip setting.

Dude, I like this. I’m sure I’ll give it a shot, but when I bust out the French press I’m usually wanting that gritty grimey cup, ya know what I mean. Just something about it

Dig it! Thanks for another banger with a classic Lance!

Thank you. The Engineer part of my brain does not like the "lower extraction theshold" from immersion brews and grinding the coffee a bit finer helps with that a bit. When my Wife and I want different coffees at the same time, I will sometimes make hers with our regular filter setup and mine as an immersion brew in a measuring cup, pouring it through a reuseable Melitta filter for cleanup. For some reason, I feel like an Enviro-Villain using two paper filters at the same time, so I utilize the reuseable filter for me and end up with some sediment. One of these days I will probably break down and just buy a real French press, but the cheapskate in me says "but...but... w already have 3 Melitta setups".

What do you think about leaving the crust of coffee on top while steeping? James Hoffmann did that in all of his immersion brew videos. He even claimed that stirring the coffee will stop the extraction. I always did that but seeing you not caring about it made me unsure.

Nice work Lance & Hugo.

I love this! Thank you for guideline for grind sizes. Recently, I fell in love with this steep method. Could you tell us your thought about "percolation after steeping" vs "steep only or percolation only" in terms of your taste preference?

The French press reminds me of bad dinner parties at my parents and them getting an already opened old bag of ground coffee from the back of the fridge.

Nonstop bangers from Lance lately!

I just tried this and a complete game changer. So much better.

Oh wow! I just tried this with a Costa Rican natural ground medium fine and it was nothing short of spectacular. Hands-down the best French Press I've ever had (the Rao/Perger Lotus Drops recipe helped as well, but still ....). Nice to have a French Press without a mouthful of mud at the end.

I always really enjoyed french press brewed coffee. Used James Hoffmans recipe for years, where you don't plunge, and I've never really had any issues with silt since. Never thought of using a paper though, must give that a try!

The whole week waiting for a new video from Lance, happy Friday now it is!

More videos edited like this please! Love it

I always just poured it through a regular Melitta paper filter after brewing. I tend to have non-silty FP brews anyway following the old Hoffman method, but I like that the paper filters out certain oils and helps clean up the taste further. The only problem is that sometimes if there is a little salt left, it stalls out the paper filter and it could take several minutes to fully drain out. Not sure if there is a "coarser" paper filter out there that would work better. It's definitely less fuss than cutting filters to size, although I do that for just about every other brewing method anyway (moka, phin, espresso) so why not.

This is great. I use a french press when I can't make coffee at work and I pour it through a metal pour over filter, but this is much faster and probably leaves less silt too. Thanks!

Man, I'm really liking this opening music and montage.

Continuing the "let it steep" in the background was fantastic

I really appreciate the different grinder recommendations. By „stock Ode“ I assume you mean the Ode v1 (.1?) with stock burrs? Or do you mean the v2?

Love how your singing continued in the background lol

Bro I literally just combed through your channel for this last night! Thank you for reading my mind.

Thanks for bringing up this recipe, I just brew one really tasty cup of coffee 😍😍😍

Now I'm feeling relieved. I use a much coarser coffee grind for French press than for pour over.... hahah

I've been doing it that way since I saw your last video. My cups are cleaner. Nearly as much as my pour overs. I cut some chemex filters I still have to size. The papers are thicker than my v60 ones, so that might be a factor.

I have tried the paper filter thing, and I do still prefer pouring through the mesh. It's also my typical daily brew, as it's the most convenient way to make my coffee at work.

I’ve been making French press for a looooong time. I’m confused as to why the espropress never comes up when French press is discussed… fixes a lot of the issues with temp loss, and filtering out fines. In all cases, great video! I’m a big fan, I learn so much from all of your deep dives into all things coffee! 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Loved how at around 5:07, Lance sings live, but then background music Lance gets piped in! Nice edit.

Could use aeropress for fine particle filtering and wash the paper filter if you want

I recently used a siphon paper filter before the metal mesh screen 😄 it perfectly fits, and it made the workflow much easier.

Any idea what grind setting would be comparable on a batatza encore? I typically grind between 28-32 depending on the bean. Your grind looks finer

The recommendation makes a lot of sense but the main reason I'm using french press because that's the only thing you need to make good coffee. Hoffman's method works well for what I prefer. This is a good use of free time however.

Any chance you could tell me what those lights you ate using at the 3:48 mark. Always love the thought and effort you have put into your content.

Great “not new but new to me” idea, Lance. On grind size, I could use some guidance. I have a Baratza Sette. Do you recommend somewhere between an espresso grind and a pour over grind?

Wow, brewed on a French press after a lifetime, thanks to you. I used the 20gm recipe, it came out so well, that I am still shocked. 😁

Ahhh niiice. Trying this 👌🏻 Cheers

I was doing that for quite a while now and it was delicious with 1:15 with some dilution afterwards if having a tongue bite. And now when I got a refractometer I can see why. This method gives me 2.5-3 TDS but definitely delivers consistent and delicious cup 🙌🏻🤝🏻

This solves so many problems I could have with my French Press!!!!

I’ll try this here!

Is there difference in using filter in french press vs using v60 and filter and pour coffee in to v60 and filter out coffee ground?

I like to use an espro, the one with the double ultra fine filters, with no filter when I don't feel like making a moka, and I grind basically as fine as I can without getting any grounds in my cup. I don't have to press it because there's no paper filter.

Check out the Espro press! Comes with paper filters out of the box.

The French Press is MY first brewer (everywhere else in Brazil there is always a mellita or a cloth filter). It is still my favorite brewer and daily driver. I still need to improve my game in the Mellita and Moka. Espresso I mostly gave up. Cheers.

Awesome one to try! btw, what would be the grind size for a k-ultra?

loved the video which scale is that I love the scale

I tried this just based on what you did in the bird video. It worked really well but didn't go quite fine enough. I totally agree with the slightly dissatisfaction of not pressing the French press. It somehow felt so wrong not to press it with the Hoffmann method even if it was better for that brew!

Juste made it now, very delicious.

Ayo never been this early very excited to watch this as I only have espresso machine and French press and have been wanting a different style

When I first started getting into coffee 20ish years ago I would use a paper towel filter in my french press to help keep the grounds out of my cup.

I find going coarse and sticking to 5 mins of brew time gets me a consistently delicious cup. I find that a finer grind leads my French press to be bitter. I conceptualize this in my head with my experience with teas. Whole leaf teas in a mesh steeper give you more complex flavors than the the dust you’ll find in cheaper quality teas which lead to an acrid and astringent cup.

Cleaning up a French press is easy. Get a second small, double screen colander, and rinse pour (through the colander) into it the sink. Tap the colander into the garage. Coffee grains will plug up your plumbing system. Great show my friend

Hey Lance, you mentioned a few recommendations for grind setting on the EK, Ode, etc. Any rough ideas for the Niche 0?

I just tried it! 100x better than the way I did this yesterday: 900g water to 60g coffee. Much coarser. No filter. Had hardly any flavor. I was going to give up on this method altogether. You have indeed redeemed it.

Tried the coarse ground 30g aeropress trick and it works really well. I opened an expensive bag of coffee a month ago and hated it, so i tried this a few days ago, and i must say it's a good idea.

Years ago, I was gifted a 1 L stainless steel Mueller French press, which served me well at the beginning of my coffee journey. Since then, I’ve moved onto to AeroPress and the Hario Switch, but I sometimes still bust out the French press when I’m hosting guests. Coffee Chronicler recommends using V60 filters for French press, but I think Kalita filters make more sense given their shape. For my French press, which size Kalita filters makes more sense: 155 or 185?

Fun trick, will try this. I kinda like the more dirty coffee from time to time. The FP is so nice as it is foregiving. You can let it brew for 10min and your still save. 😊

Hey Lance, will definitely try this out. Out of the back of my head though: would there be an objective difference in taste between this recipe and a similar one without a paper filter BUT filtered at the end (poured) through a cone filter? (Without the grounds obviously) Just curious. Thanks again!

Starting it up` I wonder and hope he'll have that expensive version of the french press. That one that coems with a far stronger and double gap filters. I forget that fancy brand but they come with an actual puck sized filter cage instead of just the flat press. So it actually ha gaskets and such.

thanks for the interesting video, have always enjoyed the French press and adding the filter paper seems like a game changer. I have always used water off the boil - what would you say are the advantages of going just under with 96?

Hi! Thanks for the video. Why will the extraction flat line after only a few minutes?

do you have any thoughts on a bloom phase in a french press? allowing the grounds to hydrate and degas for a minute so the heat from the remaining pour can transfer more efficiently

what woud you grind at on a Zerno? Also for your Aeropress recipe, which setting on the Zerno (CastV2 burrs)?

Slow press = keeping those polyphenols in there. Love it. Same basic principle as the long steep/slow press Aeropress. Tried it this afternoon after the long steep Aeropress recipe and found myself liking Aeropress mire

@lance can you do a future video on the best espresso machine for 2023/2024? Looking to maybe replace my flair 58+ soon… but struggling to identify what’s the best machine, too many options.

Would you recommend rinsing the filter first like with a V60?

100% works, I just cut a melitta/clever style filter and plunged it. zero silt, clear brown beauty. I was using very old beans to experiment with, but what a sweet immersion hack! EZPZ

Would this method work well with the Fellow Clara as well? The rubber seal around the mesh seems like it might make for a harder fit with filter paper. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Let's all stop and appreciate ugos amazing videographer skills.

The best thing about the french press is that I'm not just making coffee with it. I can make all sorts of infusions and I can do it right after I rolled out of bed when I my motor skills still have to return. The suggestion to use coarse grounds is in order to have a clearer coffee, but you can really do any grind setting short of whole beans and it can even make horrible pre-ground coffee taste... not good but still way more decent compared to the suggested appliance to use (in my case, a moka pot). It's just so much harder ending up with garbage when you don't have to care nearly at all about channeling and temperature. Rinse the grounds out of the pot and into a siv to throw them away, much less effort than suffering with a spoon and still throwing a lot down the drain, as I've seen some people do.