How to brew with a French press

2026年8月19日

French press is a fantastic brew method if you pay a little extra attention to the details. It's simple to make and gives you a rich, slightly velvety cup. You can also use this exact recipe to make "kok-kaffe" or "cowboy coffee" using a kettle instead of the French press.

French press coffee brewing

What you need

Coffee — 65–70 g per litre of water, depending on the strength you like
Clean water
French press (or a kettle for kok-kaffe)
Water boiler
Grinder — preferably a burr grinder
Kitchen scale, timer, spoon

Steps to brew

Use between 65 and 70 grams of coffee per litre of water depending on which strength you desire.
Turn on the kettle. Weigh out your desired amount of coffee and grind it on a medium setting.
Put the French press (or kettle) on a kitchen scale to make sure you get the exact amount of water you want.
Start your timer and pour the water over the coffee. Pour forcefully to make sure all coffee grounds get wet. You might want to use a spoon to stir the coffee directly after adding the water. Leave the lid and filter off.
Leave the French press for 4 minutes. When the 4 minutes are up, gently break the crust using the spoon. This will make the coffee grounds sink to the bottom.
Skim off the foam and the particles floating on the surface using one or two spoons.
Leave the brew for 5 more minutes or longer before gently pressing the mesh back down. This allows the loose particles in the coffee to settle, which gives you a very clean and smooth cup.

For kok-kaffe in a kettle you do exactly the same — and pour carefully, leaving the grounds behind.

Tip: fix flat-tasting water

Add a couple of grams of lemon juice or a few drops of vinegar to your brew water if you think your coffee tastes a bit chalky and flat. This affects the alkalinity of the water and helps extract more of the acidity in the coffee. It depends on the water quality you start with, but it's a cheap and easy way to brew much better tasting coffee without an advanced filtration system. We don't recommend bottled water except where it's a general health recommendation due to poor water quality. Several filter kettles on the market are good for filtering tap water — removing particles, impurities, metals and carbonate hardness.