How Long Should French Press Coffee Steep?
To put it simply, you should let French press coffee steep for at least four minutes. The procedure should start by letting the coffee bloom for thirty seconds, then pour the remaining water and make sure to cover the grounds with a lid. Then let it steep for four minutes.
With the French Press, you just add coffee grounds in the bottom of the French Press, add hot water, and allow to steep for 3-4 minutes. Stir about 1/3 of your water in so that the coffee grounds are blooming in for about 30 seconds; then add the rest of your water, close the lid, and let it steep. Then, pour the remaining water right away, give the grounds a quick stir, put the lid on top, and let the coffee brew for another 3 minutes. Pour in the remaining water, then give the coffee another quick stir to ensure enough water is dispensed evenly.
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If you skip stirring, you will get lumps of coffee that have never touched the water, and thus will produce weaker coffee. If you find the remaining coffee is too weak, increase your coffee-to-water ratio (or some folks swear by 5 or 6 minutes of steeping). If you find the coffee is too strong to your taste, then I would suggest using a bit fewer beans in the coffee-to-water ratio, or brewing your coffee 30 seconds shorter.
| Process | Side effects of Coffee when overconsumed |
| Let French press coffee bloom for thirty seconds | Insomnia |
| Pour the remaining water and make sure to cover the grounds with a lid | Headache |
| Then let it steep for four minutes | Nausea |
If buying a whole-bean coffee, always mill the beans close to your steeping time for the most fresh flavor. Use a coffee mill to ground your whole beans coarsely, until they are roughly the size of a kosher salt, and place your coarsely ground coffee into the bottom of a dry, clean French press.
The process for making coffee with the French press involves mixing the coarsely ground coffee with boiling water and steeping it in a French Press, then dropping the grounds into the bottom of the carafe. Its method for making french press coffee produces a clean tasting coffee, even by the end of a cup, while typical coffee from a French press would be grounds. The French press is an immersion device, in which water is continually saturated with coffee, meaning that it takes longer to extract all of the coffee from the beans (this post goes into great detail about the science).
We prefer the French press over the machine for brewing a batch of coffee, as we have slightly more control over the temperature of the water, the length of time that coffee is steeped, and generally, the amount of coffee is just right for 3-5 people. You can use the French press for making lots of coffee or just a bit, you can grind the coffee as fine as you like, and you can pause the brewing for 10 seconds or for 10 days. We gravitate toward making French press coffee on a majority of our mornings here at Fit Foodie Finds (mostly) because it is a way to brew a truly great cup of coffee for more than just one person at a time.
If you are anything like me, you also likely like making coffee at home instead of buying from the coffee shop. Then there are the folks who love to mix up the flavors of their coffee, from hazelnuts to peppermint.
While there are lots of choices, keep in mind there is no right or wrong – you could, for example, go with the darker, more flavored coffees that are roasts and still get the darker grounds to be brewed on your drip machine. You could be finely ground in 3 or 4 minutes if you wanted, but in order to achieve a good flavor outcome, you will grind it much finer, and not take full advantage of the French presses unique qualities. If you simply leave your French Press sitting on your countertop for long periods, you are more than likely going to get bitter cups of coffee.
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Well, if you leave the coffee to brew too long, you are going to get a bitter, unpalatable cup of coffee. More importantly, the grounds will begin to break down, and because of the excessive extraction, your coffee will taste worse. In a coffee maker, the coffee is still exposed to the used coffee grounds, and sitting on them for too long (even 20 minutes) will result in over-extraction and bitterness. If you are using too finely ground coffee, it may eventually over-extraction and bitterness, making filtering harder, resulting in coffee with overly slushy grounds.
If you mill your coffee too finely, you might end up with too much resistance when it comes time to push down on your brewing vessel. Note, if you are used to drinking drip coffee, the pressed coffee in the pot tastes more robust (stronger) initially. Preparation of the coffee begins to lose the best flavor moments once it is been brewed, so make just as much coffee as you are going to drink. If you do not want to drink all of the coffee right away, I recommend moving it into a different, preheated container, or coarse grounds will continue steeping, destroying flavor.
If you have an elaborate kettle, you could simply set it to steep at this temperature — but even if you do not, wait for about 30 seconds to one minute after boiling the water to get it warm, but do not over-scald the grounds. If using tap water, let it boil for a few seconds before filling the pot, and make sure you are using cool water. The trick is to get a pot of water to a rolling boil, and then take it off its heating source and allow it to sit for at least one minute before pouring over your coffee grounds. In both drip brewing and pour-over, the surrounding liquid is constantly being topped up with new, warm water.
After brewing your grounds, you use pressure to push your grounds into the bottom of your container, leaving you with strong, bold, and beautiful coffee. A bonus advantage to this method is that since there is less heat involved in making your finished coffee, you are less likely to get that bitter flavor common with a lot of coffees.
You could keep your coffee for longer than this in order to create more robust flavors, but you likely would not want to push it past four minutes. I have found that if I want a really strong cup of coffee, five minutes is ideal, while if I want something lighter, I can go three minutes and get just what I am looking for. If you are using another method, or you prefer a slightly lighter coffee, adjust your timing accordingly. If, however, you are using a plunger pot that has a larger capacity, or if you are just making more than two cups of coffee, you will want to add time.
French presses require a more coarsely ground coffee than traditional drip machines, and grinding your own beans will guarantee proper consistency and ensure you get a balanced, tasty cup of coffee each and every time.
Can you steep coffee too long in the French press?
If you leave the French Press on the counter to steep coffee for a long time, you will most likely end up with an extremely bitter cup of coffee. You should let the coffee grounds mingle with the hot water for only four to five minutes maximum, and not let the coffee steep for too long in the French press.
How do I make the perfect French press coffee?
Add a heaped tablespoon (7-8 grams) of coffee to the pot per 200 ml of water. Next, pour hot (not boiling) water into the pot and gently stir. Allow the coffee to brew for the next 3-4 minutes. Lastly, strain your beverage, carefully pressing the plunger down and pushing the beans to the bottom of the press.
Is it bad to drink French press coffee everyday?
It is suggested to monitor your cholesterol levels to ensure that your LDL levels do not rise over time. It is also advised to limit your pressed coffee consumption to no more than four cups per day. You should also limit your filtered coffee consumption to no more than five cups per day.