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Can You Make Espresso With A French Press?

by The Coffee Guy

Make Espresso With A French Press? I Don't Believe It!

Yes! You can.

French press has become one of the most popular methods of brewing coffee in the United States. If you’re a coffee lover or addict, chances are you have one in your kitchen and even used it this morning. Espresso, while not the most popular brew method, is gaining momentum in the US. Most can be turned off by the amount of money you’ll find yourself spending on a top quality espresso machine. Believe it or not you don’t need an espresso machine to make espresso. There are actually a good amount of viable alternatives. Here are just a couple of those methods:

The last method that may surprise you is a French press! That’s right, you can make espresso with a French press. Here’s how:

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1. Grind Your Beans

Remember – for espresso you’re looking for a very fine ground, as you don’t want water to be able to penetrate your coffee grounds very easily. French press brewing, on the other hand, requires a much coarser grind so be sure to adjust your grinder to a very fine grind setting.

2. Heat Your French Press With Warm Water

When making espresso with an espresso machine, it’s always advisable to have your Portafilter in the machine while it’s heating up. Temperature and thermal stability is essential to making quality espresso. With a French press, you’ll want to fill it up with warm water for a few minutes to pre-heat it. This is vital to creating warm, full-bodied espresso.

3. Heat Your Water

By using a teakettle, heat your water as if you were making tea. 195 degrees is about where you want your water to be.

4. Insert Your Coffee Grounds Into Your Pre-heated French Press

Amount – because the grind is much finer, you’re going to have to double the amount of coffee you’d usually put in for French press.

2 to 1 ratio (2 tablespoons of coffee for every 1 cup of water used).

Follow that formula and you’ll be golden –pun intended.

5. Add A Small Amount of Water

Normally at this point you’d fill your French press up half way to start brewing. With espresso, you’ll only want to add a touch of water to get your coffee “blooming.” During this process, coffee is releasing all it’s natural oils resulting in a more flavorful cup.

Should you just fill it up right away, you’ll still get espresso, it just wont taste as good as it could. Don’t rush the brewing process. It takes time but in the end, it’ll be well worth it!

6. Once The Coffee Is Blooming, Add The Rest Of Your Water

7. Stir

8. Add French Press Lid – DO NOT PRESS DOWN YET

Allow the coffee to brew and steep for a few minutes. If you’d like it to be stronger, give it more time and vice-versa. Placing the lid ensures heat doesn’t escape your French press during brewing. This, once again, is essential to creating quality espresso.