CAFETIERE / FRENCH PRESS GRIND COFFEE

What is the Best Coffee for Cafetiere?

The cafetiere’s total immersion process makes it harder to over-extract your coffee. This simple saturation method makes the cafetiere an ideal brewing method for beginners. There is not much that can go wrong, and it generally provides a rich, robust, full-bodied cup of cafetiere coffee.

Coffees from South and Central America, as well as Indonesia, can often work well with the cafetiere, as these countries often provide coffee beans with nutty and chocolate tones that work well with the French Press method.

In addition to the flavour profile, there are types of roasts that best suit the cafetiere brewing method. While you can brew any coffee with a cafetiere, fuller-bodied, more decadent coffees or medium and dark-roasted coffee beans are, in broad terms, appropriate for brewing with the cafetiere. A dash of milk works well with the earthy, chocolatey flavour it tends to bring out of the profiles.

Our coffee experts recommend looking for nutty and rich flavours such as hazelnuts, almonds and chocolate.

The Ideal Grind for Cafetiere Coffee

The best grind size for your cafetiere is a coarse grind, similar to kosher or sea salt. Grind size is not as important for cafetiere as with other methods; however, the advantage of going coarse means you are less likely to get coffee solids in your drink.

When using a cafetiere, it’s also important to keep the temperature within a range of 90-100°C, depending on your desired flavour profile. If you brew coffee below 90°C, you won’t extract the full potential from the coffee resulting in an undesirable cup.

Don’t have your own coffee grinder? We stock a range of high-quality coffee grinders, ensuring that you have the perfect coffee grind!

History of the French Press

Unsurprisingly, it was a Frenchman who created the very first French press. It was created by necessity when he noticed that he had not added coffee to his already boiling water. He needed something that would press down the coffee into the water, or it would float at the top, and he wouldn’t enjoy his coffee.

He found a passing merchant, a stick, and a piece of metal, allowing him to plunge. The French press has come a long way from that and has become one of the most popular home coffee brewing methods which produce a rich cup of coffee.