I’ve been getting a lot of questions from friends and family about the specifics of French press coffee making. I’ll reiterate that I’m not an expert, but I’m trying to become one. So, here is part one of French Press specifics. I’ll be referring to my instruction post, How I do coffee (or prove I’ve become a coffee snob)
Question: Should I use boiling water in my French press?
My Answer: I don’t think so. I like to start boiling my water before doing anything else. The water usually reaches boiling by the time I’ve collected all of my equipment and materials and measured the beans into the grinder. I take the water off of the heat and let it cool slightly as I grind the beans and pour them into the press. This is only a minute or so which means the water doesn’t cool down much.
Answer from CoffeeGeek:
Your water should be boiled before you grind; by the time you add it, it should be near perfect temperatures to start.
Answer from Coffee Detective:
The ideal temperature for brewing coffee is 200 Degrees Fahrenheit. That said, don’t get overly concerned about hitting the exact right temperature.
Answer from Mezzoblue on Flickr:
The trick is the water temperature, proportions, and timing. Heat a pot of clean water to boiling (distilled water if you’re anal about it, which I’m not, yet). Turn off the heat and let it sit for ten or fifteen seconds or so. Somewhere between 95 and 98 degrees Celsius is the optimal temperature for brewing coffee, so you really need to let it cool a bit before you pour the water in.
Daddoo! note: 98 degrees Celsius is 208.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The boiling point of water is about 100 degress Celsius.
Answer from Tully’s Coffee:
Coffee is 98% water, so take care to use fresh, impurity-free water. Heated just off a boil (195°-205° F), it does an ideal job of extracting a coffee’s full range of flavors.
Answer from I Need Coffee:
When brewing French Press coffee, you want the temperature to be just off a boil. This equates to 195-205 F or 90.5-96.1 C. On the TV show Good Eats, Alton Brown demonstrated an easy method to getting that perfect temperature. Once your water comes to a boil, remove it from the heat source and count to 10 seconds. The 10 second wait gives the water just enough time to drop to the perfect temperature. I have used the 10 second rule for years now.
Answer from Stumptown Coffee Roasters:
You should bring the water just to a boil (electric kettles are great at this) and then let it cool for about 45 seconds.
Daddoo!
Just a quick note, a large volume of water doesn’t generally cool by 3-5 degrees C in ten seconds… that rule is probably only working for people who live higher than sea level as their water boils at lower temperatures to begin with. For instance, mine boils at 96 degrees. Those at sea level will probably want to let their water cool for longer (or if you’re not into wasting heat you could just add a small amount of room temp water to the kettle after it boils)