French Press brew ratio - cup quality variation with brew quantity?

Hey Guys,

I've been brewing french press for a few years now and I've always tried to use the french press at work to make small cups (250-350mL) of coffee and I've always found that my brew results are never as good as when I make two cups in one press in the morning (700-900mL typically).

This has led me to think that there is something inherently different about the results of coffee brewed in a small batch in a french press and a large batch in a french press. Could this be because the amount of fine grains making their way into the cup in a small batch is higher whereas the large batch gives a cleaner cup? The taste of the large batch is more clear and with less heavy body typically. Or perhaps I need to adjust something between large and small batch to make things work better. Or maybe I should filter the small batch coffee with a paper filter.

Any ideas on best methods for small cups from a french press?

PS: My current brew profile for a small batch is about 15g coffee to 320g water, which is 47g/1L. My local roaster recommends 66g/1L.

I brew at least two cups each time. If I might take a stab, it's losing heat faster than a larger batch causing the quality to differ.

I don't make less than 500ml usually, fits my normal travel mug and I like at least that much in the morning if I'm not having espresso. Your ratio's sound pretty normal to me.

But if heat loss might be causing problems I'd try pre-warming your brewing equipment and your mug. I don't normally do this for my french press because I don't feel like I need to but when I'm making pour over I'll either run very hot tap water into everything or if it's a microwave safe mug you can warm it up in there with some water inside.

I don't think a few grains ever mess up anything beyond that last sip full of them, and that of course builds character.

Like TooTall said - temp. Smaller amounts cool faster than they steep properly. Assuming a small glass beaker for your press, get a Mr. Coffee mug warmer or similar to fit your beaker and keep everything warm while steeping the coffee. If you are using a larger press to make a small amount of coffee, get a smaller press. Or get a thermally insulated press, pour boiling water in to raise the temp of the inside, then pour it out, add coffee and more hot water, then steep with the top on.

One of the things we did was switch from glass presses to stainless ones. The metal seems to hold the heat longer resulting in a better steep. Building on what Jorn said, they come in all different sizes so you could even get one in a smaller size...between the size reduction and material change I’d wager you’d be good to go. I think the brand we got is Freiling but not 100 percent sure on that.

Interesting thoughts guys. I will give insulating the equipment and check the results. I adjust my grind size yesterday for the first time in a long time and found that increasing the grind size was producing a more acceptable level of undissolved solids in the cup.

I think you're out of luck: coffee is never as good at work as it is at home.

When I French Press coffee I only make a 3/4 th cup of coffee, so not sure if making a couple of cups would taste better or not but then I would have at least an extra cup of coffee I don't want to drink.

In the last month I came up with a strange idea, I have a bunch of drip coffee maker filters that are pleated sort of cone shape with a flat bottom instead of a cone shaped bottom, and the flat section fits perfectly to the filter mesh thing of my French press, so I placed the filter around that mesh thing, insert it into the beaker and get it to go past where the lid will go (otherwise you'll trap the filter with the lid and will rip it when you press the plunger, I found that out!), and then press the coffee...and what do you know? no coffee mud at the bottom of the cup! I got that idea from suddenly realizing what the AeroPress was doing!

The ratio of coffee to use in a French press is entirely up to you and what you like, some like it strong like me and will use more coffee and some like it weaker and will use less coffee. Coffee is one of those drinks where there is a lot of experimentation going on till you find what you like which can change over time as your taste buds change, and can change with the coffee you buy.

The grad students in my father’s chemistry set up a rig with a stirring heater, a large beaker and a ring. Coffee and water went in the beaker, set it on the stirring heater and drop in a stirring magnet, then pour through a filter cloth tied to the ring into your cup. Made big impression on me in a Rube Goldberg sort of way.

They also set up a still.

try skimming the crust of the coffee from the surface before you plunge the filter down
it will give you a cleaner cup of coffee

Ok, so I had some friends over and they wanted coffee, so I made 5 cups of coffee in my French Press using the same ratio of coffee to cup I use to make my own, I couldn't tell any difference in the taste when I make just a 3/4th of a cup, so the only thing I can think of is that you aren't using the exact same ratio of coffee to cup. One of my friends never had a French Press coffee before and ended up adding water to his! I was laughing while putting water in his cup, so were the other guys.

for the last year i've basically been doing ~80 grams semi-course grind coffee to a full press, which i measured a few times at 800grams of water.
so 10:1 water to coffee.
Lately, to conserve coffee, i've been doing more like 65 grams, ground a little finer, to about the same amount of water...i haven't measured the water exactly yet...less coffee means slightly more water in the press.

just play with your ratios a bit and see what you like. i let it steep for 5 mins.

Hey Guys, thanks for all the feedback here. It seems to me that pre-heating the french press has really made a big difference in the quality of the brew. I haven't found anything to insulate the press lying around the office, but that is the next thing I'll try to see if it makes any difference.

French Press Coffee Brewing Guide - How to Make French Press Coffee
This works for me on French press.

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Originally Posted by WheelNut

Hey Guys, thanks for all the feedback here. It seems to me that pre-heating the french press has really made a big difference in the quality of the brew. I haven't found anything to insulate the press lying around the office, but that is the next thing I'll try to see if it makes any difference.

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I don't make press coffee much anymore, but when we have folks over and I need to serve 5 or 6 people I do. Something as simple as a kitchen towel wrapped around the carafe will do a lot to keep it at temp during the brew and after.