Longer French press method I saw on YT and tried just for the hell of it.
It worked great! Like really great. Wanted to share as I was surprised. Also wonder if FP fans were already aware of this.
I didn’t look, but is it Hoffmann? If it is then yes I’m aware and yes it’s by far the best method I’ve tried, personally.
Yup this is his FP method video. It’s definitely helped me improve my French press process
9 minute steep sounds really really long. My favorite cup I’ve made was like 3.5 minute steep on a coarse grind.
My French press method is to forget that I’ve made coffee and then come back to it ~20 minutes later.
Lol, I was about to post this. I wait four minutes but get back to working and forget, so it is a slow steep.
I’m going to make one now
Fair, but in this method you’re removing much of the grounds with a spoon after 4mins.
I actually did 4min plus another 7. I dunno, I liked it noticeably a lot, but it’s definitely more of a pain.
I regularly do this method and I don’t end up with much if any grounds that are still floating after the bloom and stir. how much are you removing?
Interesting, much of my grounds stay floating, probably like 70% of total grounds idk. My grounds are probably medium coarse, slightly finer than the normal coarse grind called for with FP. Is my coffee just really floaty? Lol
Might be too coarse. I think Hoffmann recommends a much finer grind than what people normally recommend for French press, something closer to medium than anything that would be called coarse. Might be worth grinding finer and keeping everything else the same, then see what happens.
might not be completely wet
I make a 12 minute steep with 15g/300g coffee:water ratio. A bit coarser grind than what I’d use for pour over. I (accidentally) found out I like it the most.
Mine too, depends on the coffee, too. My Javanese one likes it a bit longer, my African one is great at 3.5 minutes sharp.
I like doing long steeps, but many mornings I say to myself “It’s my coffee, and I want it now!” like on the payday loan commercial. Plus i always get a long steep on my second cup 5 hours later. It is basically espresso then.
I believe it is impossible to over extract with simple immersion…so it kinda doesn’t matter how long you let it sit, just that it be long enough (ie, the usual ~4 min)?
Hoffman’s tip about breaking up the crust and removing the “scum” — then letting it settle for a while longer — was the big game-change for me.
the other great thing about the long steep is it cools off the coffee. overly hot coffee tastes worse.
