I Tested James Hoffman’s Ultimate French Press Technique: Here's what happened.
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- čas přidán 8. 03. 2021
- I tested “James Hoffman’s Ultimate French Press Technique” to see if it truly does work to make a delicious cup of coffee that’s free of any “floaty bits” or sludge. See what happened.
Ratio of Coffee:Water Used (recipe): 30g of medium-coarse ground coffee to 500g (ml) of water at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Link to James Hoffman’s Video on “The Ultimate French Press Technique”: • The Ultimate French Pr...
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Step 6 (more important): a good grinder.
Thank you! This grinder triggered me hard :D
That grinder will work fine, James Hoffman himself had a good method of making a blade grinder work: sift the coffee through a sieve! In his video he saved the finer bits and discarded the coarse bits in the sieve, if using a press I do the opposite and use the coarse bits, discard the fine bits. It works!
Although a CZcams channel that's all about coffee should indeed have a good burr grinder - immersion brewing is way, way more forgiving than pour over in this regard.
There is no way to make a blade grinder have the consistency of a burr grinder.
It's not so sensitive when using a french press
The one issue I noted with what you did was the grinding. Spinning blade grinders produce very poor results. What you produced is known as a bouldery grind. A mixture of large and small particles. That is why you had to remove so much when you skimmed it. The large particles don't release trapped co2 and therefore don't sink to the bottom. Also large particles are extracted at different rates to small particles. I strongly recommend you acquire a good quality burr grinder, either electric or manual, and you will be amazed at the difference it makes. Cheers!
Just a heads up, overextraction is basically impossible in immersion brew methods like this. The water will reach a saturation where extraction slows dramatically. You can honestly use a medium fine grind and still be fine.
But please, if you’re buying high quality coffee get a good grinder. If you are using light to medium roasted coffee use boiling water
I have the impression that when its no so coarse for frenc press, it gets a litle bitter
@@kainaaguiarferreira4351 No, that is a myth.
I was wondering if he was using a blade grinder, based on how inconsistent that grind was.
What will be a good grinder? I am new to coffee brewing culture.
@@rushiashtikar If you want a really great hand grinder that is not so expensive, take the 1ZPresso JX (round about 140€ / $). If you want an electrical grinder, you have to pay much more (hundreds of $) to have the same uniform grind quality.
If you’re going to follow someone else’s recipe to try and get similar results then try and get as close to that recipe!
Filtered water, grind coffee to resemble between pepper and salt, James says (yours was far too coarse) and he also says don’t stir too vigorously and definitely not to the bottom! Scoop off the foam and wait at least 5 minutes! Watch James’ video again and have another go 🤓
Definitely! I just watched James’ video, and it was lovely. Even with the few differences, both got a good cup.
The conclusion is that you can do it not being so accurate, that you still can make good coffee, so it's really a good method.
completely agree and thought the same especially about the grind size. This video the grounds were way too course and also extremely inconsistent in size. A good grinder goes a long way to making great coffee
I just leave the foam ,it isn't present after I pour it in the cup and I haven't seen a reason to do so
James' technique seemed so bizarre and opposite of what I thought about French press. I use his technique exclusively now and I impress myself with the results! Such good coffee!
Exactly! What's the point of a French press if you don't press 🙂
@@YukonHawk1the best thing about not pressing is no coffee grounds stuck to the mesh filter.
It looked like you were almost stirring the whole coffee instead of just stirring at the upper crust. You probably agitated it and a lot of it flowed back up instead off just settling down.
Yes I noticed this too. That James specifically said to stir the crust, yet the coffee here was stirred all the way to the bottom. Doing this completely undoes all the work you’ve done by waiting for the coffee to settle.
@@theateam9637 not sure about that, because the original brew isn’t about letting it settle (or else you wouldn’t be happy having a big ol crust). No need to stir it all up, though, agreed
Exactly, that was one of the mistakes I noticed
Yep. I made that same mistake the first time I tried this method. Only stir the crust, leave the rest unagitated to allow a seemless path to float the bottom.
i’m so glad some folk get specifics.
Watch Hoffman’s video again and, if you’re going to comment upon it, do the technique AS he did it … accurately!
James Hoffman’s version:
czcams.com/video/st571DYYTR8/video.html
Made this yesterday for the first time. Worked like a charm. Waiting on my water to boil now.
Using James' method, I usually wait about 2-3 minutes to let some of the floaty bits to settle and sink again before scooping up the very fine sludgey bits that float back to the top again. After that i just usually watch another vid before decanting my cup.
thank you Joe, nice validation of what i knew was going to be a wonderful end result. i have found James to be a very reliable source.
Just did this! Actually works. Surprisingly wayyyy smoother than what I’ve been getting before. Thanks for the vid!
We had a commercial machine which made both coffee and espresso and all the frothing accoutrements. It died during the pandemic and with the kids moved out and visitors practically non existent, it was hard to justify fixing it. Wifie brought a Keurig home from her Mom's, result being I pretty much stopped drinking coffee. Missed the texture more than the flavor... with the machine leaving all those oils, you could still taste the coffee in your mouth 90 minutes later. The Keurig was weak, watery and reminded me of watered down cheap booze at a cheap "Gin Mill" (Grandma's term for the bars on every corner in Brooklyn)
My "cawfee drought" ended when I was at a restaurant recently, and they brought the french press to the table. It was a stark reminder of what I was missing. Dug out the old french press and grinder and decided to replace both, adding a digital scale / timer cause I'm a lot lazier and maybe a bit more forgetful than I was back in my bartending days.
One more thing about the restaurant visit though ... seeing a few grinds on the bottom of the cup brought a smile to my face ....I guess I essentially see it as a symbol of immersion brewing. Needless to say, enjoying coffee again tho the caffeine hits me a bit harder these days.
One thing I have oft wondered however ... while the "ritual" of the french press is part of the experience which makes one appreciate it even more, I just don't get the two spoons thing. A handheld stainless steel tea strainer works great.
One thing I didn't like about Hoffman's video was the "dump the grounds down the sink" thing. As one who has been designing and monitoring wastewater disposal systems for over 40 years, I would recommend not to do this:
1. It causes pipe clogging. The thing that keeps sewage gases backing up into your home of the P-trap...a fitting on your sloped drain piping that us U shaped and normally that U always has water blocking the gases. Well coffee grounds will collect in the bottom of that U shape and form a clump. ..
2. University studies at the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center and at a similar facility in Massachusetts have struggled to debunk the myth that coffee grounds are beneficial.
"Coffee grounds will not break down in a septic tank; they will build up over time and might cause the tank to have to be pumped more often. Also, because they are so acidic, they can compromise the pH of a tank. If the contents of a septic tank become too acidic, it can create an unhealthy environment for the bacteria that contribute to the healthy ecosystem of the tank and help break down waste."
In community based and larger treatment facilities carbonaceous removal and nitrification consume alkalinity and further treatment requires the addition of a carbon source and pH adjustment. Wastewater effluent has an average :
Biological Oxygen Demand of about 270, coffee is 5,560
Nitrogen in wastewater is about 55, coffee is 330
I recommend holding the strainer end over the glass container and rinsing off the grinds into it, then filling the glass container with a good stream from the faucet and pouring the contents into a 6-8" stainless steel strainer and saving them for the compost pile where the acidity will be very beneficial.
I tried this as well. Works great. I noticed no difference placing my plunger just ever so slightly over top w/ cap down. I do find Filter water makes much noticeable taste difference & especially if you have fluorides. Absolutely filter that or vapor it out. I kettle boil since that’s a sure 100c & it’s a nice 66c when some (making sure u preheated your press) Do try to get a decent bur grinder
Step 1 - “actually” follow the process using the proper equipment.
I think you need to watch how James really does it one or two more times ; - ) have been using his method since discovering it. superb!
I definitely think you had more floaty bits due to the coarseness of your grind. I made my first French Press today, following Hoffmann's guide, and I had very few floaters after the 4 minute stir.
Just tried his method
it turned out great.
Don't forget you had some larger coarse-grind coffee which would take longer to saturate and drop to the bottom. Hence, you had more coffee grinds floating.
Thnx for posting this! Like your tweaks, I made french press same way you normally had. Will try this technique next time! And I usually just do pourover most of the time, and JUST got a new espresso machine! So Will be seeing how this french press result compares to the other two types of coffees... Espresso's really in a world of its' own, so mainly just Pourover vs french press! Here we GOOOO!! Subbed n Liked! Cool!
Nice vid. Would suggest a decent grinder to get even grind size
I was watching a video about a technique where you also use a paper filter in a French press, I'm going to give it a shot as apparently it works very well
Instead of a French press would you get the same results if you poured it through a comparable filter?
Even a manual ceramic burr grinder would be 100x better than the blade grinder you used. A metal burr grinder would be much much better.
Hoffman says to wait 4 minutes to allow the floaty bits to sink. He didn't.
I appreciate the second opinion! I'm glad you enjoyed your cuppa - which is James's whole goal.
you have counter space for a proper burr ginder. a proper grinder won't break the bank you can fiind petty good one's for under $100 and great ones for $300
Yeah. Even a cheap one from target or Walmart, if it at least has burrs and not blades the grind quality will increase. The grind size and uniformity out of his grinder were real bad lol. No hate to him, but he does need a new grinder
Yes but I will stick with the 17 dollar Mr coffee blade grinder or buy it at a coffee roaster and they have burr grinder
Lots of other great comments here. Better grinder will make a huge improvement to what is shown! Another point I didn't see raised which is the age of the beans used. I used to buy coffee beans in big 2 to 2.5 lb. (1kg) bags from Costco here in the US. The printed date says "best when used by" which doesn't reflect the roast date. I finally started buying beans from a local roaster where the beans are 5 to 10 days from their roast date......and a much lighter roast than what the typical store-bought beans are. What I found is the flavor and robustness wasn't compromised......in fact, much, much improved. The other big thing I found with the fresh and lighter roasted beans was a much clearer brew and much less gritty sediment than with the older, higher roasted beans. I also see less foam and floaters with the fresh beans. This is with my exact brew method I have used for the last 5 years or so........1:15 ratio.......200 to 205 F water......quick stir..........let brew/sit for 4 minutes........second quick stir.........brew/sit for 6 more minutes........skim minimal floaters.......gently/slowly plunge........gently pour.
Dunno about you, but I’ve done Hoffman’s way several times now, and it really works to get a clean, clear cup.
I tried the Hoffman method and like you I had a lot of floating beans. I found that there is still some sediment at the bottom of my cup, albeit much reduced. I noticed that you didn't decant all your coffee and if you did, you'd see similar result. The flavour was harsher than my normal method so maybe over extraction? Next time I'll try steep 5 minutes instead of 7.
Like others have said, after four minutes you just need to gently break the crust rather than stir. This way the grounds fall to the bottom and you just get a few left, caught in the crema that forms on top. Also, sorry to repeat what others have said, but you need to get a better grinder. A Wilfa is excellent, and the basic model, which is still very good, can be got here for about €100 (I live in Italy, so don't know prices your end)
I think you may want to rewatch that video,lol
Thanks❤❤❤
I would grind with a good grinder so that all grounds are evenly cut and work with press better.
Blade grinder and Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee? Also, you get rid of the foam a little, without disturbing the grinds. You, on the other hand, had removed half of your coffee grinds instead. But thanks for the video.
After that long time steeping, how is the coffee still hot enough?
😱😱😱 got a mini heart attack from that "grinder"
I love French Press. I’ll be criticized for this but I don’t really think about any variables at all - especially in the AM when I’m still groggy I just put some grinds in and let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes. Always comes out good.
My two step method for a crystal clear clean tasting coffee with no silt. Proper amount of freshly ground coffee, medium fine, into French press. Add boiling water, set timer for three minutes then gently stir floating coffee until it sinks below surface. At three minutes lower plunger then pour coffee through paper cone filter into a carafe. I use a 1.5 liter French press and pour it into a 1.5 liter Melita Carafe with a #6 cone and filter. Of course it can be scaled down for one cup or anything in between. Because the water is hotter and the grind is finer the extraction is more efficient with no off flavors, and the silt is collected in the filter. This is a quick way to brew 1.5 liters of consistently excellent coffee. I home roast many different coffees and this method works with them all. I also highly recommend using a quality bottled water, artesian spring, if possible delivered to your door in 5 gallon bottles.
Okay, but where's the shirt link? Bladerunner is my favorite - love the shirt! 😁
Try this: put your grounds and hot water in the french press. Put filter in place at the top of the water line and steep for 10 minutes ( I do this to reduce evaporation). After 10 minutes very slowly plunge the coffee. I then slowly pour 2/3rds of the coffee in a warmed thermos and then I filter the last third into a cup using a paper towel and strainer. I know... not as sexy as the other filtering methods, but it works.
Never ever saw anyone remove the grounds floating when all you have to do is put the plunger in to the top of the water and at steeping time you plunge the liquid to press the grounds to the bottom and enjoy.
Great video loved it 7:50am
Oh, the taking out too much was probably from either stirring too fast & not enough time to let debris settle. Could be from an uneven grind but usually is very little left up too
Holy crap man! 2 cups of water to 4 tablespoons of coffee.. put the coffee in the coffee maker, heat up some water and pour enough to cover the coffee.. mix(just a little) once you have a nice gold/brown head on it add the remaining cup and a half or whatever you have left.. let it sit for 4 or 5 minutes and push the filter filter screen down slowly.. and yes, I use espresso fine grind. Makes a great cup of coffee without being stuffy about it. It’s not a $1500 bottle of wine.
I plunge after 4 minutes and i like the coffee so im just going to keep doing that
Miminum of 4 probably not more than 5 or 6.minutes
You haven't uploaded in a while, which is a shame because I really enjoy your videos! Cheers!
what is the size of your french press?
Well, if you change type of water, then you change a lot already - like in beer, water quality and taste have big impact on final drink taste.
Seems like the stirring at 4 mins and only pressing the plunger down into the water are the keys to a silt and floaty bits free cup.
The reason you removed so much coffee from the surface is because of all the boulders due to the grinder you used. Needed to be finer and more consistent, which you could get from a proper burr grinder.
huh? what do you mean, over-extraction? you cant over-extract with a french press due to it's concentration gradient. It doesn't over-extract because water can only absorb so much, and once it reaches it's equilibrium, it's done. Immersion brew methods like the french press are considered some of the most forgiving for this reason. Over-extraction is more of a percolation brewing problem.
Me still being far too lazy while watching this video: Ah yes, eyeball pre-ground store brand coffee with tap water.
doesnt the coffee get cold? I mean how hot is it
I'd say it's the perfect temperature to drink it. Definitely not scolding hot but that isn't desirable anyways, right?
Temp was mentioned... "Just off a Boil". My Electric Kettles offer 200° and 205°, just off a boil. I use 200°. As mentioned below... your grind is way too coarse. If you want to up your coffee brewing... invest in a good grinder! Made all the difference for me. A good hand grinder, made for coffee, will work... but that gets old if making a 60-gram dose. But even those will cost $100+ for a good one. I bought an entry-level Baratza, refurbished for about $250. It was the best purchase I made as far as affecting my coffee brewing.
It looks like a very weak cup of lukewarm coffee. As a french press user for 40 years, the taste and temperature have always been very important but the bit of sludge at the bottom of the cup was never anything I lost sleep over.
I just switched to this method and it is neither. It's a great temperature and in terms of strength: that depends on your recipe. I go for a 1:12 ratio and the taste is very deep and rich.
As long as you have the money to buy the equipment you are good to go. That's the barrier most do not understand.
Better Grinder = Better Coffee
The reason you had so much coffee floating around after you mixed it is because you put the spoon all the way to the bottom and stirred. He only stirred the top of the water where the bits were floating. Not the whole thing. Just the floating parts.
“I will follow them to a tee”
“You’ll notice my differences…”
Me: …huh? 🧐
“I will follow to tee”!! Enjoyed your video nonetheless.
Way too coarse a grind - That's why too much floated to the top. He found it hard to break old habits - and his normal habit of grinding must be exaggeratedly coarse. He heard sometime about a 'coarser' grind being less bitter - so ground for about 2 seconds just barely breaking the beans into big chunks barely capable of releasing any flavour.
So what’s up with this cholesterol problem with metal filtered coffee?
You can't copy it exact because of differences in water quality. A slight change in the quality of your water can change a lot. You'd have to have VERY exceptional water quality to skip this step.
James also lives in a pretty hard water area in London so he has to follow that step. If he just used water from his tap he'd have pretty bad tasting coffee.
Oh my god, I laughed so hard, made my day :D Talks about the best coffee beans in the world and uses a blade grinder for spices to grind the beans. Come on. Seriously? Even a beginner with a little half-knowledge knows that the coffee grinder is the most important thing next to the beans.
Truth. This video had so many problems. Also, Jamaican blue Mountain coffee was considered the best coffee in like the 90s. Those beans look very roasted as well. Makes no sense.
Joe, you really need to read the newspaper while waiting, you can not just stand up doing nothing. It makes all the difference!
You have more floaty bits because they were larger and needed more time to soak in water
I think it's great but I gotta be proactive. I have to start this 5 minutes BEFORE my gf asks for a cup of coffee or else she'll be waiting forever.
I received a coffee maker like this. I've never used one like this. I don't have a scale . So I'm going to guess...
I’d say no need to wade through all this - just do what James Hoffman’s ‘Ultimate French Press Technique’ video tells you - which is what this guy concludes at the end!
Hoffman says water just "off the boil", not 200 degrees.
James didn't stir the bottom only the top a little, not like you did. Then mostly removed the slug off the top. Maybe that's why you had so much coffee grinds you stired the bottom to. Try again and see by not stirring the bottom. Might help.
you did the stirring wrong, only touch the surface and not stir it like a soup. James' technique works
chunkiest coffee that i have ever seen, i can dice onions finer than that🤣
You have a super calming presentation vibe, Joe and appreciate you putting content online. But I sincerely believe you lost even the most basic coffee lover when you ground your beans with a weedwacker. Consistent grind is square one. Also, discounting the need for high quality water was wrenching. Municipal water right from a tap can be iffy with traces of chlorine and other chemicals, and greatly determines the taste of recipes from pizza and bagel dough to especially coffee. Best of luck with your channel going forward, but a few basic coffee tools will really go a long way in successful results and credibility.
Two big ptoblems: You do actually need to use filtered water; A spinning blade grinder won't work well.
First, your grind is way too coarse and irregular. If you are using a high quality coffee then you really need a good burr grinder to get the best out of it. Otherwise you are just wasting coffee and money. Second, not using filtered water is definitely not an option. It is a must.Third, a fine grind can produce sludge but will never lead to over extraction since over extraction is not possible with immersion techniques, like the French press. All the best.
I call bs on no sludge. I did this too but still comes out sludgy and I know it’s because I used the same type of grinder he did in this video. Some of the coffee is coarse and some fine and is just too inconsistent. With a burr grinder, I bet the coffee will come out completely smooth
I mean, if you have no problem with your results, then there’s no reason to change up what you’re doing.
But just search grinders versus spice grinders on CZcams and see what coffee professionals opinions are of using a blade grinder. It’s not pretty.
You used a whirly blade grinder!?!?
That's truly brilliant in terms of marketing. Use someone's name for clickbait, then not follow their instructions, so fans will leave a bunch of comments and youtube will promote your video even better. Bravo! No sarcasm btw! Good luck with your channel.
P.S. Waiting for the video "tested ultimate chemex techniqe, but I don't have chemex, so I'll just use a cup and paper towel instead" ;)
Medium coarse fine are all subjective.
You said you were going to follow his method "to a T" but then you used a blade grinder and didn't follow his technique??
you stirred it too much, you agitated the coffee " James Hoffman's words not mine" but pretty close I'd say. I have been following his steps for the better part of 2 years now and oh my if it's not the best way to do french press. coffee tastes better using this method.
I was shocked by how good it is. I had stopped using the french press because I was doing it all wrong and making terrible coffee
"How do I not be in a rush"? Well, for starters, don't edit down your deep breath scene. That is the antithesis of not being in a rush
I just actually almost "to the T" repeated James Hoffman's French Press Hack (Minus gram scale, so more "to the S" I think by not filtering your quality tap water, you as well aren't quite reproducing the experiment. A chopper not a burr grinder, eh? Party foul perhaps because less uniform grinds likely?! Temperature is NOT mentioned in JH's YT Ultimate FP method, but I am TOTALLY convinced from another YT vid of his 212F/100C H20 is the way to go for best extraction. Aha, you actually stirred after 5 mins rather than just "breaking the crust" I had far far fewer floaters than you with my med/ coarse grinds after just breaking the crust literally 4 or 5 floaters plus the foam removed. I'll use a tea style strainer spoon next go. It is arguably beneficial to moisten the beans pre grind, I have not tried this in a blade grinder, only my burr. Looked like when you poured you could have plunged a bit further down and poured a bit more into your jar. as I poured I could see a tad of silt at the bottom of the angle of pour so I stopped decanting b4 that came out. My second attempt (with dampened burr ground beans), I probably could have poured cautiously without the screen/plunger it was that clear,,,,there were no dregs/zero silt at the bottom of the empty cup, so success. Thanks for repeating the experiment. try it again with filtered water a burr grinder and BREAK THE CRUST dont stir vigorously at 5 mins, You seriously had 10 x the floaters I had. Tomorrow I will have a gram scale and shall try BOILING WATER FIRST followed by GRINDS ATOP WATER. This has become my goto with my also goto Clever dripper. I will also wet a spoon and stir my beans b4 placing in the hopper. Yes cleaning the grinds from the FP IS A HASSLE.
I hope this helps you, dude get some decent equipment before you go any further, at least a good grinder you can't help people with coffee if you don't have the right tools to start off with, there's decently priced grinders out there so your not out a fortune ie eurika minion or a niche, but it's the most important thing by x10000 to get great coffee, you can make amazing espresso with a flair paired with a great grinder, but not the other way round if you have a slayer and a crap grinder it's always going to taste crap it's never really the machine it's always the grinder that defines the quality of your in the cup experience, if want serious coffee followers your going to have to up your equipment level if you need any help just ask I will try to get you there quickly, if not good luck with the channel 👍🤞
This is a coffee channel and you don't have some sort of filtered water pitcher?
removing the very grinds that literally makes the coffee ?? I dont get it
Soo dont push the plunger to not disturb the bed at the bottom but pour the coffee in cup and disturb the bed anyway.. I'm missing something.
i believe u have your metrics wrongly adverrised..i believe u r using correct measures though when preparing the coffee..just the numbers on the screen
HAH! 15 minutes Pause early in the cold morning! Good Luck! p.s. Am I the only Bloke who survived Covid............... who can't smell the aroma or differentiate between French Roast and the cheapest Floor Sweep Dark Grind at WallyWORLD?
Man, you riuned the final result already at the beginning, it with your brrr blade grinder.
And please don't use farenheits for the temperature of water, it's unconvenient.
Also why do you drink it from a jar :D
Need a conical burr grinder
That's an expensive bag of coffee to be sticking into a blade grinder.
specially if it's only running on 120v !..
Your hair looks familiar. 😆
You need a grinder!
Turned this off the second you grabbed a spice grinder. 🙄
Bye
You can get a decent coffee out of a blade grinder, but don't grind it all in one continious blade storm. Pulse grind for half of a second and then shake it really hard. Repeat a couple of times and then check your grind size. Grind more if you want to go finer. Your grind was too coarse (and very uneven) for James' recipe, try again and post a video
The water is extremely important. Too many chemicals ruin the brew
skipping the water is not going to make too much of a change ?..
I don't think you can call the coffee silt-free when you didn't even pour out all or most of it. You just poured a tiny amount.