French press - am I doing it wrong because I'm not loving this

[DragonbornMum]

So I'm far from a coffee snob - I drink and enjoy instant most days, but once a week I splash out for an expensive coffee machine coffee that tastes like angels' tears. But I have this pack of ground beans that's nearly finished so I have to use it up.

I looked up a tutorial video and I'm following it to the letter. The taste of the coffee is fine, but the texture seems... really thin and weak? Except the last mouthful which is full of sludge. I'm putting in two generously heaped teaspoons of beans and leaving it for 4+ minutes, and the result is okay I guess. I'm honestly really looking forward to finishing it and going back to instant coffee, which is much nicer and less faff.

Does anyone actually enjoy French press coffee???

Are the ground beans old? They go off pretty quickly like a couple of weeks after the pack is opened. If it's too watery add more ground beans.

It's your beans. They need to be fresh so chuck them and keep them in the freezer next time if you're not going to use them often.

Other causes of weak coffee - too much water or not leaving them to brew long enough.

And yes I do enjoy cafetiere coffee - I make a big pot of it first thing and drink it through the day. It microwaves well in a mug to reheat which I prefer to coffee from a filter machine kept hot which always ends up tasting burnt.

Warm jug, grind beans, add 2 coffee scoops per mug add just off boil water stir once pop lid on, pop cosy on, leave 5 minutes until the ground coffee is now settling to the bottom. Plunge pour and serve with milk or what ever.
We do this a few times a day everyday and get a nice coffee. It won't be as thick as an espresso as that's a short coffee but to make an Americano it works every time.
Don't forget to make a cappuccino or latte needs espresso's not plunger coffee

Bought beans can be too finely ground for cafetiere. It's better with slightly coarser grind

By French press do you mean a cafetière? If so, yes, we use one a lot.

I was going to say the opposite! I think French press coffee is always weak and thin when the beans have been too coarsely ground.

Oh wait, just seen you’re using teaspoons! Absolutely not enough coffee. I use a coffee scoop (broadly a large tablespoon) per mug. For a standard eight cup size pot that equates to three scoops.

I also think you're not using enough coffee, it isn't ground finely enough, and/or you're not letting it brew long enough before pressing down. Old/stale beans also a possibility.

I use 4 heaping scoops of coffee for a standard 8 cup cafetière, cover with boiling water, stir, and let sit for 5 mins (longer than you think!) before pressing down.

I agree with PP, definitely not enough coffee. Also, the freshness really matters. We grind our whole beans right before making coffee every morning.

A French press grind is typically more course to reduce the "sludge" that you mentioned. Because of this it needs time to brew.

A drip machine like you see in most American homes uses a middle grind. If it's too course the water pours right through without brewing the coffee, too fine and it sludges and floods the machine.

An espresso machine takes the finest grind, because the super hot water is shot through it at high pressure and quickly, so you need it to brew quickly and the pressure and low volume eliminate the risk of flooding the machine.

I would not drink instant coffee, but I do understand that it's very popular in the UK. I think it's sort of like how I like the powdered hot cocoa from the grocery stores as much as a fancy hot chocolate made with real chocolate. It's nostalgic if it's what you grew up with. ❤️

Yes two teaspoons heaped up VERY high, so it would definitely equate to one scoop at least! It's a 1-person pot, so it's not like i'm making surplus water

Thanks all, going to add even more coffee (so it will get used up even quicker!) and leave more brewing time.

Actually this morning I kind of forgot about it, so it was a bit stronger than it has been. Less sludge as well

We use a cafetiere as well - and love our coffee. We grind beans but used to buy ground coffee. I prefer the coffee grind fine for taste - although as someone else said they are supposed to be a bit rougher for a cafetiere.

Experiment with coffee grinds. We've tried so very many but our favourite - (and one of the cheapest by chance) we've tried is https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/waitrose-house-blend-ground-coffee/551282-156211-156212