Pressing the Coffee

Now that you’ve ground the beans, heated the water, and then poured the water into your french press coffee maker and waited the 4 minutes for it to steep, you’re ready to press and pour your coffee.

On nearly all french presses, there is a small mark that shows where you pour the coffee out of the top. You’ll want to turn the lid so that that mark is not over the spout. The reason being is that when you’re pressing your coffee, you don’t want to run the risk of the hot coffee spurting out and burning you or someone around you. So give the lid a quarter turn and everyone is good.

Start Pressing!

Place your hand on the plunger and begin gently pushing it down. This does not require a lot of force at all. If you find a lot of resistance, STOP. You don’t want to run the risk of splashing boiling hot water anywhere or potentially breaking the french press. So use about 2 fingers worth of force and take an extra couple of seconds to fully press the coffee down slowly.

Make sure to press the plunger all the way down as far as it will go. This will ensure that you’ve all squeezed out all of the coffee possible and will get you ready to pour and enjoy your coffee.