The French Press is an all-time favourite brewing method for great fresh, homemade coffee. It’s a more sustainable way of making coffee than a pod machine for example, but selecting the best coffee for French Press brewing needs a bit of consideration so that you can achieve the absolute perfect brew.
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Top Pics: Best Coffee for French Press
- Kicking Horse Coffee, Kick Ass, Dark Roast, Whole Bean – our top pick
- Cameron’s Coffee Roasted Whole Bean – Organic French Roast
- Pablo’s Pride Guatemala – Medium Dark Roast
- Koffee Kult Coffee Beans Dark Roasted
- Royal Kona Whole Bean Coffee
Some people do struggle to get the best coffee from their French Press. There may be a few reasons for this, patience being one of them, the quality of the coffee and the grind size of the coffee you are using.
We might not be able to advise on the best steps for learning patience, perhaps spending time building a boat could help, but we’re definitely not boat experts sadly so can’t help with that. What we can do though is take you through the steps on how to choose the best possible coffee for your French Press.
The Best Types of Coffee for the French press
When it comes to buying coffee for your French Press there are three things to consider. The quality of the coffee, the roast and the coarseness of the grind.
For a French Press, you’re definitely looking for a good quality medium to coarse grind, not the more fine grind varieties that are widely available in shops. Even though there are some great ground coffees on the market, for best results, you really do want to control the coarseness by griding your own coffee as the pre-ground coffee might be great for an espresso machine, but a French Press needs a different approach.
If the grind is too fine you’ll end up with little floaters escaping through the mesh into your cup leaving a residue at the bottom. We’d therefore recommend that you invest in a good quality coffee grinder unless you don’t mind the floaters and “sub-par” coffee of course.
A courser grind will also give you better flavour overall as it will facilitate better carbon dioxide release from the grounds, further enhancing your brew.
Alongside the grind, using a medium to dark roast will generally give you the best results.
If you’re looking for a pre-ground coffee please read our post on the best coarse ground coffee as these will work well in your French Press, however, if you’d like to grind your own beans then read on below.
These are perfect for French Press Brewing without having to grind your own beans.
Grinding Your Own Beans for French Press Brewing
When it comes to achieving the best grind it might be a good idea to invest in a good quality grinder. You can technically grind your beans with a pestle and mortar, a food processor, a hammer if you’re aggressive enough or a hand grinder if you have the time. But doing this before every brew is hard work and might not be workable in the long run.
In terms of a coffee grinder, buying one that allows you to adjust the grind that is absolutely essential. If you’d like to grind your own beans, read our best coffee grinder for French press post.
French Press Brewing Times
Back to the patience part of the brewing process, once you’ve added your boiling water you’ll need to gently stir it and then let it steep for roughly 4 minutes before pressing the plunger to the bottom. Now in the greater scheme of things 4 minutes is not all that long, but you may need to adjust the timings to suit your own taste. The type of bean that you’re using can also influence how long to steep for, this might be a bit of a trial and error operation.
So let’s get into the beans then:
Best Coffee for the French Press
Below is our best coffee for the French Press picks. These coffees are some of our favourite whole bean coffees that you can grind and brew to perfection.
KICKING HORSE COFFEE, KICK ASS
- Roast Level: Dark Roast
- Speciality: Certified Organic, Fairtrade
- Aroma: Smoky, sweet vanilla and dark chocolate
This coffee struck our interest because Kicking Horse is a gnarly snow resort. So for us, this was a must-try coffee. Turns out it’s a remarkable blend of beans – almost as good as their snow-covered hills, it’s bold, it’s daring and it does kick ass so too speak.
Roasted in the Canadian Rocky Mountains the coffee beans originate from Indonesia and South America. This is a deep dark and delicious coffee, with a smooth finish and low acidity.
An added bonus is that the coffee is certified organic, this means it’s the best coffee with the best intentions where they safeguard the environment for the future.
Koffee Kult Coffee Beans Dark Roasted
- Roast Level: Dark Roast
- Speciality: Certified Organic, Fairtrade
- Aroma: Cocoa, Cinnamon, Smooth, Heavy Body, Bright with a long finish
Located in Florida Koffee Kult has been making and crafting some of the best coffees around. They’re a family-owned business but have one of the largest roasting facilities in South Florida.
For this pack, Koffee Kult uses a blend of Arabica beans from Brazil, Columbia and Sumatra that makes up a dark and smooth roast. Their coffee beans are small-batch dark roasted, packaged and shipped straight away, making it an incredible fresh coffee perfect for French Press coffee making.
Pablo’s Pride Guatemala – Medium Dark Roast
- Roast Level: Medium-Dark Roast
- Speciality: Certified Organic
Aroma: Rich and chocolatey, a smooth velvety body, low acidity, and a clean caramel and cocoa finish
Sourced from Guatemala this is a rich and chocolatey medium-dark roast with great depth of flavour. It’s an artisan Small Batch roasted bean with a mildly bitter chocolate finish to it.
Pablo’s have a relationship at the point of origin, which means there is great control as to where the coffee is grown. They grow, pick and process their own coffee beans and they manage the production of trees through a Sharing Certified Program. Allowing them to source some of the best quality beans in the area.
Royal Kona Whole Bean Coffee
- Roast Level: Medium Roast
- Speciality: Kona Coffee
- Aroma: Rich and aromatic
This 100% certified Hawaiian Kona Coffee has a big flavour that is wonderfully roasted to deliver a great cup of coffee. It is a full-bodied, medium roast.
It’s an excellent coffee from the Kona district and highly recommended. The rich volcanic soil of Hawaii with its mild island breeze and cool gentle rains makes the ideal conditions for a great cup of coffee. Kona is unique, rich in flavour and an absolute favourite when it comes to a good medium roast coffee
Cameron’s Coffee Roasted Whole Bean French Roast
- Roast Level: Dark Roast
- Speciality: Certified Organic
- Aroma: Dark, rich and smooth
This is a classic dark french roast coffee made from speciality-grade Arabica beans. Their organic coffees are farmed using natural pest management and fertilisation as you’d expect and all coffees are sustainably sourced in small batches. Something we definitely value.
This coffee is nice and rich, well balanced with a smooth feel. It has some fruitiness to it as well. French roast can have a tad of bitterness to it but this one doesn’t seem to have a bitterness to it.
Caribou Whole Bean Coffee
- Roast Level: Medium Roast
- Speciality: Rainforest Alliance Certified
- Aroma: Sweet with a touch of spice
An amazing coffee in many ways. It is well-balanced, not too acidic just well rounded overall. There is no bitterness and is worth a try without sugar if you normally have your coffee with sugar.
Caribou is a flavourful coffee that is smooth and tastes as good as its aroma. It’s a coffee worth your attention if you enjoy a smooth blend rather than a dark roast.
Kicking Horse Coffee, Decaf, Swiss Water Process
- Roast Level: Dark roast
- Speciality: Decaf
- Aroma: Roasted hazelnuts, chocolaty balanced body and a long lasting finish.
For those who are sensitive to caffeine, this is another great coffee by Kicking Horse. It’s a is a good decaffeinated dark roast with a mellow taste. It’s got a beautiful dark chocolate feel to it with a hint of roasted hazelnut. These beans are grown responsibly and is organic, fairtrade, and kosher.
Kicking Horse roast their beans in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Closing thoughts on the Best Coffee for the French Press
Choosing great whole bean coffee that is ground to a medium or coarse grind is essential to success when it comes to making coffee in a French Press. But buying coffee is a very personal thing as a coffee that tastes great to us might not taste that good to you. This means that you may need to go through a few options before you find your ultimate favourite. Coffee, like wine, is not always about buying the most expensive as some of the prices will be attributed to the company’s marketing approach. If you’ve not had great luck with French Press coffee you may want to consider buying a decent espresso machine, if that happens don’t worry we’re not judging. We love coffee in all its forms, there is no snobbery here.
Happy brewing!
FAQs:
What can I do with leftover French Press coffee?
Spent ground coffee does not have to go into the waste bin, neither does leftover brewed coffee. With brewed coffee, you can make beautiful bakes by substituting some of the water in cookies for example for coffee. You can also make coffee ice cubes to use in iced drinks to add a coffee flavour. We’d be careful using coffee on plants or in the garden as it contains a fair amount of caffeine. To learn more about uses for the used coffee grounds you can read more here.
How many scoops of coffee should I put in a French Press?
To make a good French Press coffee, we recommend adding one to two tablespoons of ground coffee per single cup of water. You can vary the strength to suit your personal taste. Make sure the coffee you are using is a medium to coarse grind and not a fine grind.
Does steeping coffee longer make it stronger?
Steeping coffee for longer may make it slightly stronger, however, if you steep for longer than 4 minutes you may add a few undesirable flavours such as bitterness or extra acidity to the coffee. So ultimately you will need to explore using a trial and error method so that you brew a coffee to your own personal taste. Generally, the strength of the coffee will depend on the number of grounds added so using more coffee will give you a better result than steeping for longer.
Can you French press coffee twice?
Yes, you can steep your coffee beans twice, but don’t let it stand around for long periods before you make another brew. Steeping twice may however add extra bitterness or acidity to your coffee so it may not be as nice as the first batch made with the same coffee beans.
Does French press coffee have more caffeine?
French press coffee with generally contains less caffeine as the grounds are larger than those used for an espresso for example. But the amount of caffeine in the coffee will also depend on the number of grounds you are using in your press.