How To Make Black Coffee (3 Easy Ways)

Like the pour-over method, the French press sounds like a fancy way to brew coffee. However, in reality, it’s one of the least expensive and easiest ways to create your cup of coffee each morning. And French press coffee isn’t just for coffee-lovers, even though it has a cult following; it’s popular among everyone and especially great for those who enjoy very strong, robust coffee.

The French press is a manual brewing method that’s simple but gives you complete control over how your cup of coffee turns out. Anyone can make it, and French presses are cheaply and readily available. They’ve gained a lot of popularity in recent years and you may see a French press in the break room at work or on a coworker’s desk.

The main thing to note about the French press method is that it is a manual brewing system–meaning that you can’t just press a button and walk away. You’ll have to carefully watch and interact with the press the whole time, and it requires uniform coarsely-ground coffee beans. Once you get the hang of it, though, it’s easy to make delicious French press coffee.

Here is what you’ll need to make black coffee from a French press:

• Whole coffee beans, freshly ground. Try to make uniform, coarse grounds that are roughly the size of breadcrumbs; grains that are smaller will slip through the filter and leave sediment in your cup.
  
  
• A burr coffee grinder, to best achieve those coarse and consistent grounds. Burr grinders tend to make a more consistent grind and are most ideal for the French press method. You can buy a manual grinder or an electric one.
  
  
• A digital food scale or measuring cups. You can use either option to measure your coffee, but the best way to measure beans is to use a digital food scale and measure your beans before grinding. An eight-cup press (which produces eight 4-ounce servings) needs 56 grams or ½ cup of coffee beans. Use 15 grams of water per every gram of coffee. In general, 1 cup of water (eight ounces) needs 2 tablespoons of coffee beans.
  
  
• A French press, which kind of goes without saying. You don’t need to splurge; there are many high-quality French presses available that are $20 or under.
  
  
• Boiling water, which you’ll use to warm up the press before you brew. You’ll also need boiling water to brew the coffee itself.
  
  
• A stirrer or long spoon, such as a wooden spoon or teaspoon. You’ll use this to break up the topmost layer of coffee. Don’t use spoons made out of metal materials–this could end up breaking the glass.
  
  
• A timer, either a kitchen timer or a timer on your phone. It’ll take exactly four minutes to brew your French press coffee.
  
  
• A mug or tumbler for serving.
  
  

Instructions:

1. Warm up the press. The very first thing you’ll have to do is make sure your press is nice and warm, so your temperature remains consistent throughout brewing. You can simply boil water and rinse the press with the boiled water to achieve this.
   
   
2. Measure and grind the beans. Measure out the beans you need for the perfect coffee:water ratio. Use your burr grinder to create consistently sized coarse grounds.
   
   
3. Add the beans to the press. Make sure any hot water is completely discarded from your press, then add the coffee grinds to it. Once your water is boiling, allow it to cool for one minute and then pour it into the French press.
   
   
4. Break up the top layer. With your stirrer or long spoon, stir to break the top layer of coffee.
   
   
5. Let the coffee steep. Set your timer and have your coffee sleep for exactly four minutes. Once the timer goes off, push the plunger of the press all the way to its bottom. Then serve the delicious coffee right away.