A French press requires coffee of a coarser grind than does a drip brew coffee filter, as finer grounds will seep through the press filter and into the coffee. Coffee is brewed by placing the ground coffee in the empty beaker and adding hot (93-96 degrees Celsius, 200-205 degrees Fahrenheit) water, in proportions of about 28 grams (1 ounce) of coffee to 450 ml (15 fluid ounces) of water, more or less to taste. Start by adding about 1/3 of the water, stir slightly, let "bloom" for 30 seconds, and add the remaining 2/3 of the water, pouring gradually over the entire surface of the floating grounds. Cover and let brew; the total brewing time from beginning to end should be four minutes. Press the plunger to separate the grounds and hold them at the bottom of the beaker, and pour. One may wish to decant the coffee into a serving vessel at this point; if the brewed coffee is allowed to remain in the beaker with the used grounds, the coffee can become astringent and bitter, though this is an effect that some users of the French press consider desirable. It is widely believed that the optimum time for brewing the coffee is around 4 minutes. Others may consider the coffee spoiled after about 20 minutes. Other approaches, such as cold-brewing, require several hours of contact between the water and the grounds to achieve the desired extraction.
