The classic French Press aka the "Plunger"
The french press provides the simplest way of making quality, traditional coffee. Also known as a Coffee Plunger or a Coffee Press, this really is one of the go-to methods for any household, BnB or even some upmarket hotel rooms.
One of the best things about a french press is that it's very forgiving - you don't need any skills or technical items (like a scale!) to make a great cup. You just need a good method!
The Bialetti "Preziosa" french press.
This particular version, officially known as the "PREZIOSA FRENCH PRESS" from Bialetti, is made from 18/10 stainless steel and a glass cylinder, and features a l’Omino (the little man) cutout, which is widely recognized as Bialetti’s original symbol of quality and authenticity.
The design is classy and the quality is top notch - not surprising, since Bialetti to manual brew coffee equipment is like Mercedes to cars! The Preziosa also comes in two sizes, 350ml and 1 litre, so you can buy two - one for you and one for the rest of the family!
Method
1. Rinse the Plunger with clean hot water - This rinses out any dust or dirt that may have found its way into your plunger between brews and it ensures that the plunger is warm when you add your coffee and water.
2. Grind your coffee to a medium or medium coarse grind - this is a full emersion method which means the coffee is in contact with the water throughout the brewing time. If you go too fine, it will taste over-extracted and it will leave a ton of sediment in the vessel and in the mesh of your plunger.
3. Measure out how much coffee you want - usually your ratio of coffee to water is slightly less than a pourover, because its is full-emersion, so we want about 10g coffee to every 200ml water (as opposed to 150ml water if you were making a V60 or Chemex) - NOTE, this is a personal preference thing, so if you feel it is too weak, add more coffee the next time!
4. Add your hot water from the kettle after letting the kettle settle for about 30s before pouring, then insert your plunger and push all of the coffee that has floated to the top to just under the water, and let it stay there for about 3 minutes - this way all of the coffee grounds are in contact with the water for the entire extraction time.
5. Plunge slowly until your plunger is at the bottom and then pour immediately, either into your cups or into a flask to keeo hot for later or a second cup. If you don;t do this, the coffee will continue to extract to a point of bitterness.
