How To Make Espresso With A French Press – 9 Simple Steps

If you’re wondering how to make an espresso with a french press, you’ve come to the right place.

Espresso is undoubtedly one of the most popular coffee drinks in the United States.

This drink is perfect for experiencing the purest taste of coffee without filtration and modifications. However, some people dissuade themselves from enjoying this drink every day due to the expensive espresso machine required.

French Press is another extremely popular coffee-related item in the United States. Every kitchen, more or less, is incomplete without it.

Trying out different brewing drinks with a French Press is more or less an inexpensive and convenient process. So, we wonder, could making espresso with a French Press be a good idea? Let’s find out.

Can You Make Espresso with a French Press?

There’s no need to invest in an espresso machine if you don’t want to.

Believe it or not, you can brew an excellent cup of coffee with a French Press. Once you know the right technique, you will get the best espresso-like drink possible without an espresso machine that small businesses use.

French Press can be used to create espresso successfully because of how even a machine makes it.

Creating an espresso shot involves passing highly pressurized steam and water through a thickly packed gasket of coffee beans. You can make a similar action happen with a French press as long as you use the right manual effort and technique.

Does French Press Espresso Taste like the Real Deal?

This might come as a surprise, but there’s very little difference between an espresso machine’s espresso shot and a French Press’ espresso shot.

If you are a coffee fanatic, you might spot the difference clearly and not like the resulting drink as much. However, it is fine to curb regular cravings.

The only problem with the French Press espresso-making method is the tameness of the resulting drink. A French press will produce the weakest espresso shot, which might be ideal for light coffee drinkers.

You can make a French Press coffee taste exquisite by adding ingredients such as extra ground coffee and mocha powder. However, that will also interfere with the natural coffee flavor.

Other Non-Espresso Machine Espresso Making Options

There are also other methods and tools you can use to make espresso coffee.

You can use an AeroPress (check out our best coffee grinders for Aeropress) and even a Moka pot, depending on what your taste preference is. However, the best non-espresso machine espresso brewing method involves a French Press.

You can experiment with various non-espresso machine espresso preparation methods. Each method will add some of the other properties to the shot you might or might not like.

With creativity and experimentation, there’s no limit to the results you can get. Who knows, you might end up liking an alternative result better than the drink achieved through the primary espresso-making method.

What You’ll Need?

Suppose you wake up one morning with only a French Press and an espresso-based drink craving; no need to get sad. You must gather the following things, and you’ll be good to go as long as you follow the right techniques.

  • A French Press Coffee Maker: This affordable device has a cylinder-shaped glass body, a handle, and a lid with a plunger along with a mesh filter attached to it. This device is perfect for brewing freshly ground coffee beans. It allows you to soak as much flavor and aroma into your drink as possible.
  • Coffee Bean: you can either use whole dark roast coffee beans or espresso beans. Both will work fine. However, if you want the best espresso shot, we suggest you get the highest quality espresso coffee beans and grind them at home to preserve as much flavor as possible.
  • A Burr Grinder: If you want the freshest espresso flavor and experience, it’s best to grind fresh coffee beans at home (than using already ground beans), and the best way to do it is by using a burr grinder. However, if you’re not willing to use an extra machine, you can purchase finely ground coffee instead.
  • Hot Water: Hot water is the medium in which you’ll be brewing your coffee. Therefore, you will require a heating medium such as an induction stove, gas stove, or electric kettle. You can even heat water in a mug in a microwave. However, doing so might not be able to allow you to get the optimum water temperature required.
  • A Thermometer: This is an optional requirement only used by coffee fanatics. Espresso tastes the best when the water temperature is at 220 F. Anything less than that, and the water will not catch enough coffee properties. Anything more than that and you risk burning the coffee mix as well as your mouth.

What’s Necessary and What’s Not?

Before we get to the preparation method, you must know something important about the list of supplies mentioned above.

Out of all the things mentioned above, a French Press, hot water, and coffee beans are imperative. Well, there’s nothing much you can do without these three things.

The rest, such as the grinder and the thermometer, are optional.

However, using them will allow you to brew a cup of coffee as amazingly as possible. If you want, you can add as many steps and products into the mix to keep enhancing the flavor and experience; but we’ll talk more about that in a later section.

How to Make Espresso with a French Press?

You must follow the below-given exact steps if you want to brew perfect-tasting espresso.

With the right technique, you will be amazed at how great a drink you can get. However, it will most likely be slightly weak-tasting and low in caffeine content.

Step 1: Grind the coffee beans

Step 2: Prepare hot water

Step 3: Prepare the French press

Step 4: Blooming

Step 5: Coffee meets water

Step 6: Whisk

Step 7: Brewing

Step 8: Press the plunger

Step 9: Pour and serve

Let’s see them in detail.

Step 1: Grind the Coffee Beans

The very first step involves you using your grinder (with burr).

If you want to use finely ground coffee instead, you can skip the first step.

Toss a few coffee beans into the grinder and grind until the beans reach a fine consistency. Once they are coarse yet smooth enough to dissolve, you’re ready for step two.

Step 2: Prepare Hot Water

This is a simple step.

All you have to do is heat a cup of water with whatever device or tool you’re using. Use the thermometer to see when the water reaches about 225 F.

The water will cool down by about 5 F by the time you use it.

Step 3: Prepare the French Press

Open the French press’ lid and toss about two tablespoons of the ground coffee you have prepared or bought.

The coffee will naturally fall to the bottom of the glass cylinder.

Step 4: Blooming

Before you begin with the main procedure, you will want your coffee to bloom.

Blooming makes the coffee taste and smell much better because it allows the natural oils from the grounds to be released into the drink.

Add a small splash of hot water to your coffee beans to allow them to blood for about 30 seconds.

Step 5: Coffee Meets Water

After the coffee is done blooming, you must pour the rest of your water into the French Press glass cylinder.

This will make the coffee brew into the water.

Step 6: Whisk

Whisk the coffee and hot water mixture before you do anything else. Allow a fine layer to froth accumulate on the top.

Close the lid and allow the plunger to be all the way up.

Step 7: Brewing

Allow the coffee to brew in the water for about four minutes.

If you want stronger coffee, you can allow the coffee and water mix to sit for about two to three more minutes. You must be sure of the lid’s tightness, or the water will lose its heat.

Step 8: Press the Plunger

Press the plunger slowly downward and stop midway through the cylinder.

Pull the plunger upward again and let some pressure in. Now, push the plunger to the bottom. However, ensure to apply only mild pressure to separate the grounds from the espresso.

Step 9: Pour and Serve

Once you’re pushed the plunger all the way to the bottom, pour the espresso into a cup or mug of your choice.

You can add some sugar to sweeten the coffee to your liking.

Why Make Espresso with a French Press?

Why Make Espresso with a French Press

As you can see from the above method, there’s next to no similarity between the way an espresso machine makes coffee and the way you can prepare espresso with a French Press.

However, there are several reasons why we urge you to adopt this method to curb your daily espresso cravings.

Inexpensive

You cannot buy a decent espresso maker machine without budget planning.

They are expensive and serve only one function, which might be a very irritating and sometimes redundant investment.

You can get a French Press for much lower a price.

What’s better is that they serve more than one purpose since they can also be used to seep tea. This makes a French Press a much more affordable option for brewing coffee types like espresso.

No Wastage

When you’re using a French Press, you can manually choose the amount of coffee you want to drink. Therefore, there would be less wastage.

Espresso machines tend to waste a lot of coffee beans because they require refills very often.

Healthy

Espresso machines have plastic built.

Even if the plastic is BPA-free and food-grade, passing hot water through it doesn’t seem all that healthy.

A French Press, on the other hand, is made of glass and metal materials. Therefore, it is much safer to use hot water.

You Can Determine Your Coffee’s Strength

Some advanced coffee machines allow you to choose whether you want light, medium, or strong coffee. However, the control is not entirely in your hands. Most basic espresso machines don’t even have that option.

When you’re brewing espresso with the French Press method, you can choose your coffee’s strength. In most cases, you will only have the option of consuming weak coffee. But you can adjust the brew time and the ground quantity to adjust your drink’s strength.

Enhancing Your Espresso

As mentioned in the ‘what you’ll need’ section, there’s a lot of enhancement you can do to get the best cup of espresso you can imagine. Given below are some procedural and ingredient additions you can make to enhance your French Press espresso.

Use the Best Quality Coffee Beans

There is no doubt that using better beans will help you brew better coffee.

Only opt for the highest quality coffee beans. Not only will they have a better flavor profile, but they will also allow you to feel the fine texture in your mouth.

Grind Coffee at Home

Coffee begins to lose its taste and aroma the minute it is ground.

When you use the pre-ground coffee mix, you will not trap as much aroma and flavor into your drink as when you grind the beans at home.

We highly recommend not missing out on the grinder and missing out on Step 1.

Optimum Temperature

The perfect temperature for brewing espresso is 220 F.

Anything higher or lower than that will result in a not-so-perfect coffee. Most specialized machines give you the option to check or regulate the water temperature.

When using the French Press, we urge you to use a thermometer to get the water to the right temperature.

Blooming

You will be surprised to see how much of a difference blooming makes to your espresso’s taste.

It is best to allow the grounds to bloom in hot water for at least 30 seconds to a minute. This will allow you to seep as many natural properties as possible into your cup of coffee.

Wrap Up

Whether you are a coffee lover or not, you might want to try a new way of making coffee, and French Press is the right way to go. With the help of a French Press, you can allow yourself to enjoy a freshly brewed cup of espresso coffee inexpensively and from the comforts of your home. No need for an expensive coffee maker.

Espresso coffee is the best way to relish fresh and pure coffee and using a French Press to allow you to get that experience is a wonderful idea. Allow your creativity to come into play, and make this awesome beverage at home with other tools such as AeroPress and Moka pot.

So, the next time you crave coffee but don’t have a specialized machine, don’t worry; whip out your basic coffee tools and brew a fine espresso shot.

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