Summer is here with us and while most people enjoy the warm and sunny weather others are in awe. For the coffee enthusiasts, it is now time to take coffee in a different way. It is too warm to drink hot coffee but that doesn’t mean you get rid of the French press. Stop scratching your head wondering how to make a cold brew in a French press. The solution is right here with us.
The process of making a cold brew in a French press is the same as making hot coffee but differs only in the brewing time. The Japanese invented cold brew coffee to overcome the heat during the hottest seasons and cool down the body getting you back out to bask in the sun.
Read here for making cafe bustelo.
To some people, coffee is a forgotten story during summer. To others, they think you have to spend a lot on amazon to enjoy the rejuvenating drink. To your surprise, others tend to think that a cold coffee brew is the regular cup of coffee but cold. All these assumptions are wrong, you don’t have to spend a lot and if you have a French press, then time and a little effort will get you the strong, cold drink. Today, am here to take you through how to make cold brew coffee with a French press at home. Let’s dive in:
What do you need?
Below is a list of the things you need to make cold brew in a French press:
- French press
- Coffee beans
- Grinder
- A good scale
- 4 cups of filtered water at room temperature
- Sealable container the size of your French press
- Fine filter (optional)
For the filter, you can use a cheese cloth or a Chemex dripper with paper filters. This serves as the secondary filter to screen out the sediments that might pass through the French press.
How to Make Cold Brew in A French Press – Steps
Step 1: Measure the coffee beans and grind
Have your beans ready and make sure you have the correct water to coffee ratio. The right brewing ratio should be 5:1 or 4:1. This depends on how strong you like the coffee.
In this tutorial, let’s use 90 grams of coarse ground coffee.
Of all coffee brews the cold brew has the coarsest grind. To make it better, it should be slightly larger than the French press grind. This produces a stronger tasting brew.
After measuring the coffee beans and grinding them, pour the grounds all in the French press.
Step 2: Add water
With the coffee beans in the French press add the four cups of filtered water. Pour the water in a slow and circular motion but take care not to stir or abruptly disturb the coffee beans.
Don’t make the mistake of using cold or freezing water in a bid to try and get the best brew. This only makes it worse. Use filtered room temperature water for the best results.
After adding water slowly, some of the coffee beans might still float on top. Use the back of a metal spoon and press down the grounds floating near the top. Ensure that all the grounds are submerged before going to the next step.
Step 3: Wait
This is the easiest step as it requires no effort from you but it is literally the most frustrating. To make the best brew, the mixture should sit at room temperature for 12 hours and no less. Being impatient here is not an option. The wait is long and frustrating but the drink will be rewarding all the same.
Comparing cold brewing with hot brewing methods, cold brewing replaces the heat with time to achieve the adequate extraction of coffee from the beans.
When you let the coffee beans sit and soak in the water for half a day, it releases all the oils and flavors trapped inside the coffee beans.
If you rush this process, the results are a decanter full of slightly coffee flavored water and no one likes that. Yes, we know you want your coffee now but being patient here is equally rewarding.
Step 4: Pour and filter
You have now survived the long waiting hours and the cold brew is now well done and ready to decant. This is the most exciting step where your taste buds will be giving you a hard time waiting for a sip of the coffee.
Place the French press top on a hard surface and push the plunger down a few inches and allow it some stability for the pour.
The beans have been sitting soaked in the water for half a day. You don’t want to push the plunger all the way down. All the flavors and oils are now released and pushing the plunger down agitates the grounds causing them to release bitter tasting soluble that might spoil the taste of your coffee.
Use a screen on top of the sealable container when pouring the fresh brew. This traps the extra grounds that might have passed through the French press filters.
For those who have used a French press before the knowledge of the filter is imprinted on their brains. The metal screen filter is not the best at keeping coffee grounds at bay so using a secondary filter is recommended to keep all the sediments out of your coffee.
You can simply use a pour over dripper for this or tie a piece of cheesecloth loosely around the opening of the container to pour through.
Step 5: Drink up
You can filter your coffee as many times as you like but it doesn’t really matter. You are now ready to enjoy the drink.
If the cold brew is overly concentrated, you can dilute it with a splash of water or a few ice cubes. The tasty refreshment is now ready to drink so you can now sit down and bask in the sun as you enjoy the rejuvenating drink. Go ahead and drink up, put your taste buds at ease.
