French Press Cold Brew Recipe

Wondering what is the best French Press cold brew recipe? Don’t worry because I got you covered.

Perhaps you love making coffee in a French Press and have just heard the hype surrounding cold brew.

The truth is, it’s easy to brew cold coffee in a French Press. It’s actually a clean and unmessy way to brew cold coffee.

However, some people don’t know the difference between French Press and cold brew coffee makers.

A French Press is a brewing device that makes coffee by immersing the coffee grounds in hot water and the grounds from coffee by plunging the filter.

On the other hand, a cold brew maker is a device used to make cold coffee. Cold brew makers come in different designs and use different brewing methods, including dripping, immersion, or automated brewing.

Unfortunately, cold brew makers usually take a lot of space in the kitchen. Moreover, they are more expensive, and not everyone can afford one.

But the good news is that you can use your regular French Press to make a delicious cold brew similar or even better than what you buy from a coffee store.

Cold brew is usually very smooth with rich and sweet flavors since it steeps for a longer time. The lower temperature used for brewing ensures that there is zero bitterness in your cup of coffee.

In this text, I’ll show you a detailed French Press Recipe and help you discover interesting facts about French Press vs Cold Brew Maker.

Requirements

Dark roast coffee beans
Freshwater
French Press
Coffee Grinder

French Press Cold Brew Instructions

1. Measure the Coffee Beans

Measure your coffee beans, depending on the amount of cold brew you want to make.

If you want to make four cups of cold coffee, you can use one cup of coffee beans.

For eight cups of cold brew coffee, you can use two cups of coffee beans to obtain strong flavors.

Then pour the roasted coffee beans into a coffee grinder.

2. Grind the Coffee Beans to a Coarse Grind Size

Grind your dark roasted coffee beans to coarse grind size. The best grind-size for French Press cold brewing is the coarse grind-size, as it helps prevent too much residue in the coffee.

The coffee beans for cold brewing should be roasted to a dark roast or medium dark level.

Using dark roast to brew cold coffee in a French Press will give you dark and rich flavors. The flavors can also be chocolaty, or nutty with a little syrupy.

The grind-size should be consistent to ensure that you get the most of your coffee beans. You can use a burr grinder to achieve a consistent grind-size.

3. Mix Coffee and Cold Water in the French Press

Pour the ground coffee beans into the bottom of the French Press and cover them with cold water. Ensure that you add only freshwater to avoid a funny coffee taste.

Stir gently using a long-handled spoon to ensure that all the grounds are thoroughly saturated with water for effective brewing

4. Let It Steep

After combining water and coffee grounds in the French Press, leave the coffee to steep for about 12 to 15 or to a maximum of 24 hours.

Leaving the coffee to brew for 12 to 24 hours will ensure that all the coffee compounds are extracted.

Coldwater prevents the bitter coffee components from being extracted, giving a sweet, less acidic, and flavorful coffee.

While steeping the coffee, you can put it in the refrigerator or leave it on the counter, provided there is no direct sunlight.

5. Plunge the French Press

Once your coffee has brewed for about 12 hours, add the top cover or the French Press filter and press it down to filter the coffee.

Don’t squeeze the coffee beans too much, as doing so will lead to more residue in the coffee.

If you don’t want any sediment in your coffee, you can plunge the French Press filter twice to eliminate all grounds.

6. Transfer the Coffee

Pour the cold filtered coffee into a jug or server or the coffee mugs. If you decide to pour the cold brew into the coffee mugs, remember to transfer any coffee left in the French Press.

Leaving extra coffee in the French Press will lead to further extraction, which might result in bitter or too strong coffee.

7. Dilute and Serve

If you have made it to this step, your coffee is now almost ready for drinking. The coffee drink you obtain with cold brewing in a French Press is strong and needs to be diluted.

You can add a little cold water, ice cubes, milk, and any liquid sweetener you like. You can also add hot water to make yourself a sweet cup of less acidic coffee.

Here is a list of drinks you can make with the cold brew made in a French Press:

Maple Vanilla Cold Brew: Mix a quarter cup of cold brew with half-cup milk, half teaspoon of pure maple syrup, and a half teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

Mocha Cold Brew: Mix hot water with cocoa powder, syrup, cinnamon, and salt to a cocktail in a cocktail shaker. Then shake them well before adding the mixture into a cup quarter filled with cold brew.

Cold Brew Affogato: Add three small scoops of vanilla ice cream into a dish and pour cold brew over the ice cream. You can also use additional toppings of your preference.

Interesting Facts About French Press vs Cold Brew Maker

As mentioned earlier in the text, a French Press is a brewing device that brews coffee by immersing coarsely ground coffee in hot water. It can also be used to make cold brew.

French Press is easy to use, and you can make a decent cup of coffee in it without experience, provided you follow the instructions precisely. This coffee maker also offers unmatched flexibility as you can use it to make different drinks apart from coffee.

A cold brew maker is a coffee brewing device designed specifically for brewing cold coffee.

The cold brew you obtain from a cold brew coffee maker is usually very smooth, sweet, and concentrated. You need to dilute it with water or milk.

Here are some interesting facts about the French Press and Cold Brew Maker:

1. Best Grind-Size: French Press vs Cold Brew Maker

The best grind-size for both French Press and cold brew coffee maker is the coarse grind (7-10) setting.

Coarsely ground coffee beans produce better-tasting coffee for brewing methods where coffee grounds are immersed in water for an extended period.

Whether you want to use a French Press to make hot or cold coffee, always use a coarse grind-size.

Cold brew makers also require a coarse grind as the coffee grounds remain in contact with water for more hours.

The coarse grind-size also helps prevent residue in coffee brewed with a cold brew maker.

2. Coffee Water Ratio: French Press vs Cold Brew Maker

When brewing regular hot coffee in a French press, the ideal coffer water ratio 2 tablespoons of coffee for each cup of water.

However, when brewing cold coffee in a cold brew maker, you need to use a higher coffee water ratio. Use ¾ to one cup of coffee grounds for every four cups of water.

3. Roast Type: French Press vs Cold Brew Coffee Maker

The best roast level for French Press is medium roast or dark roast. Most people prefer dark roast as it delivers rich flavors and lovely tasting notes.

When brewed with hot water in a French Press, dark roast coffee beans produce sweet fragrances. These fragrances are not smelled when you use a French Press to brew cold coffee.

Cold brew makers also use dark roasts to ensure that the coffee produced is rich in flavor with stronger tasting notes.

4. Brewing Time: French Press and Cold Brew Maker

When using a French Press, the overall brewing time is usually four to five minutes. For a cold brew maker, the brewing time takes about 12 to 24 hours.

A French Press can brew large amounts of coffee within a few minutes, depending on its size.

While a French Press is fast and simple to use, a cold brew maker offers more flexibility, though the brewing process takes longer.

Cold brew makers also come in different sizes, and they usually produce a concentrate that has to be diluted. This means that you can make more coffee out of the concentrate after brewing once.

Another outstanding thing about the coffee obtained from a cold brew maker is that it can last longer when refrigerated. You can store it for up to two weeks.

FAQs

Yes, you can make cold brew in a French Press. Brewing cold brew in a French Press is one of the easiest ways to make strong, rich, and flavorful coffee.

All you need is coarsely ground coffee beans, fresh cold water, and the coffee maker.

The amount of coffee to use will depend on the amount of cold coffee you want to make. You can use ¾ cup of coarsely ground coffee beans for four cups of water.

If you want to make more coffee, you can use one and a half cups of coffee for eight cups of water.

When brewing cold coffee in a French Press, you need to ensure that the coffee beans are freshly roasted to get the best flavor.

Moreover, you should ensure to use coarsely-ground coffee to avoid sediment in your cold brew.

To make cold brew coffee in a French Press, you need fresh water and coarsely ground coffee. The amount of water and coffee to use will depend on how much coffee you want to make.

If you want to brew four cups of coffee, you can use about ¾ cup of coarsely ground coffee beans.

Once you have the requirements in place, put the grounds in the base of your French Press and pour over cold water on them.

Place the French Press in a cold, dark place or just at room temperature and let the coffee brew for about 12-15 hours. To ensure that you don’t forget, you can set an alarm or reminder.

When 12 hours are over, push down the plunger to filter your coffee and pour it into a server, jug, or cup.

The brew you obtain with the method is very strong, so you need to add milk, flavoring, water, or any other additive you like to dilute it before drinking.

It’s easy to make cold brew coffee concentrate with a French Press. You just need to know the perfect grind-size for a cold brew and the correct coffee-water-ratio.

The best grind-size to use in French Press cold brewing is a coarse grind. A coarse grind prevents over-extraction and sediment in the cold brew concentrate.

If you use a fine grind-size, the French Press filter will get clogged, and a lot of coffee will be left at the bottom of the coffee maker due to incomplete filtration.

The correct coffee-water ratio for a cold brew concentrate is 1:4. However, you can adjust the ratio depending on how you like your coffee.

In simple terms, you can use the double amount of coffee you would use to make regular hot coffee in a French Press.

Use more grounds for a stronger cold brew coffee similar to espresso shots.

To make a cold brew concentrate, you need 75 grams of coarsely ground coffee beans and 750 ml of water.

Once you have the ingredients, you can follow these instructions to make a French Press cold brew concentrate:

Put the coffee grounds into the French Press and cover with cold water. Then stir a little to ensure that all the coffee grounds are drowned.

Place the French Press in a cold, dark place, out of direct sunlight, and let it brew for about 12 hours.
After 12 hours, secure the plunger on top and depress gently until the grounds are squeezed underneath.
Use a fine sieve to filter the coffee as you pour it slowly into a jug. However, if you don’t mind a little sediment in your coffee, you can pour the coffee into the jug or a sealable container without filtering it with a fine sieve.
Dilute the coffee concentrate with water or milk. Use a ratio of 1:1 or 2:1, depending on the desired strength. You can also dilute the concentrate with hot water to make a fabulous hot drink.
Clean up the French Press by discarding the used coffee grounds and rinsing it with warm water. You can also save the used coffee beans for your garden.

The most interesting thing about French Press cold brew concentrate is that it offers you more flexibility.
You can dilute it with different things, including water, milk, liquid sweeteners, or whipped creams to make your favorite cup of coffee.

12-24 hours. Brewing cold coffee in a French Press takes about 12 to 24 hours. This is because the extraction of the coffee components takes a long due to the low temperature.

Some people also prefer to wait for up to 30 hours, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, 12 hours is enough to get a decent old brew.

If you brew cold coffee for less than 12 hours, it may be weak and very light as the extraction of coffee compounds isn’t complete yet.

The best thing about cold brew coffee is that you can make large amounts and store in the fridge as it remains fresh for up to two weeks.

Conclusion

Cold brew has become very popular these days, and the hype around it is making more and more people love it.

What’s more fascinating about this trend is that you don’t have to spend lots of money in the coffee stores to enjoy a cold brew. You can easily make your own cold brew at home.

Moreover, you don’t have to invest in a cold brew coffee maker, especially if you don’t have much space in your kitchen.

You can make a delicious cold brew in a normal French Press with the detailed recipe provided in this text. While it requires a lot of patience, the results are worth it.