The humble plunger sometimes gets overlooked these days. We don't know why: this classic brew method produces delicious coffee. It's also a hassle-free way to make big batches to share. What's not to love about that?
Serves: 1-4
Coffee: 15g
Water: 255g
Temperature: 97° C
Note: this method is designed for a small plunger. If have a large plunger, double the recipe to 30g coffee and 510g water.
1. Fill your kettle with filtered water and bring it to 97° C.
If your kettle does not have a programmable temperature, bring it to a boil and let it sit for around 45-60 seconds.
2. Pre-heat plunger.
Rinse your plunger with hot water to pre-heat the device. Leave it a few moments, and then discard the water.
3. Place on scales, add coffee and tare.
Place your plunger on a scale and add your ground coffee. Your coffee should have a consistency slightly coarser than sand. Lightly shake plunger to level coffee bed. Tare scales to zero.
4. Start a timer and add water.
Get a timer going and add in all of your water. Pour in a circular motion to ensure all grinds are saturated.
5. Time to wait!
With all your water added, wait for 5:00 minutes for the coffee to brew. Don't worry about putting the lid on yet. You will notice a crust appearing on the top of your coffee. Please don't touch it! We are leaving the plunger to work its magic for now.
6. Vigorously agitate the crust.
After 5:00 minutes, grab a spoon and vigorously stir your French press for 5-10 seconds. This stir will break the crust and make it fall to the bottom, ending the brewing process.
7. Attach the lid and press.
Attach your plunger lid and gently press the filter through to the bottom. The keyword here is "gently" – we want to agitate the coffee as little as possible.
8. Pour and serve.
And that's it, folks: we are done! Pour your coffee into your favourite cup and enjoy the sweet fruits of your labour.