Beginner coffee brewer- Need help with French Press Ratios

[AndrewBird]

Hello everyone, I recently joined Coffeeforums because just a few days ago I received a French Press from my Reddit Secret Santa(ugly mug exchange). I have waited months planning to get a french press because I finally wanted to get off drinking instant coffee. But now I don't really know the measurements or ratios of the amount of coffee and water. The french press is a total of 8glasses/34 ounces. However I don't know exactly how much I'm accurately putting in coffee cause the scoop that came with the french press is 7 grams. All I want out of it for now is 1 cup of coffee. Later on I want to know how much grams of coffee I would need when I put 34 ounces of water. Would really appreciate the help!

 

[PinkRose]

Hello Andrew Bird,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums.

We've had a lot of discussions on how to make coffee with a French Press. As you will eventually see, the amount of coffee and water that you use will turn out to be a matter of personal preference.

How many ounces of coffee are you looking to make? (How big is your coffee mug?) Are you grinding your own beans, or using pre-ground coffee?

Take a look at this article: http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/sites/default/files/brew_guides/french_press.pdf

It shows that for 14 oz of water, you would use approximately 25 grams (approximately 3 1/2 scoops of the 7-gram scoop that came with the French Press). If you don't have a scale to weigh the ground coffee, you can experimate and figure out if you want to add more or less coffee. You'd probably end up with a large 12 oz. cup of coffee by the time you're finished.

Have fun experimenting.

Rose

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Totally agree with PinkRose.
Take look at this youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YspZcIRPXw
He explains process pretty well. Also he uses 1 oz of water per 2 grams of coffee but that is little more then what i like.
I would use about 3 grams per 2 oz of water.

 

[janry]

After you finish making your coffee, I'll give you my secret to clean-up. Use a tea strainer. First, scrape or spoon 90 percent of the grounds from the pot to the garbage or compost pile. Then rinse the pot and pour the water through the tea strainer to get the remaining grounds. Try not to get too many of the grounds in the drain.

 

[DopeNABox]

French Presses are wonderful things, though asking the ratio of coffee/water is completely dependent upon how strong you like your coffee. I have a relatively small french press, as french presses come, but I usually boil 8oz of water(or more depending on how much I plan on drinking, but usually in a hurry in the morning so 8-10oz should suffice.) After I put the water on to boil, I get my Folgers Dark Roast coffee beans and grinder(I buy the beans because it tastes more fresh if ground right before use), and I grind about 3 tablespoons of beans down and add it to the bottom of my press, then once the water is boiling I take it off, count to 20 seconds, and add the water to the press. After the water is added put the timer on my microwave to 1 minute, mix the grinds and the water using the spoon, and let it seep until the timer goes off. Once the timer goes off I push down the plunger and pour it all into a cup. That is usually my perfect cup of coffee, but from my experience most people don't like their coffee quite as strong as I do. I would experiment with the amount of grinds you add. Remember to start with less grinds than you think you would like, and add more if its not strong enough. That way if its not strong enough you can simply add a little more and plunge it again making it a little stronger. Hope this helped!

 

[peterjschmidt]

That's a good answer Dope.