What's new

Espresso in French Press

jmatkins

BoM January 08
Rating - 99%
159   1   0
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
10,234
Location
Shrewsbury, Ma
Ok I wanted to give this a try and wanted to know who all has had tried it. I want a close as a shot of espresso as I could get in my French Press. Looking to see what your set up/coffee to water ratio was.

Thanks!
 
Rating - 100%
32   0   0
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
1,361
Location
Ohio
Never done it...get an espresso maker, w/o the pressure you'll never really get close IMO.
 

Presto

Padron Whore
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
Joined
Sep 20, 2010
Messages
154
Location
Aurora, IL
A French Press will produce the most rich coffee you have ever had. (As long as you use fresh espresso beans and grind them right before use) However, it will not come close to being a shot of espresso. I have been French Pressing coffee for years and wouldn't drink it any other way... As a cup of coffee. Nothing is espresso except espresso, from an espresso machine. As for the ratio I use, I grind about 4-5 scoops of beans for an 8 cup press. The ratio is about the same as making regular coffee (1 scoop for every 2 cups, or more if you want it stronger). Hope this helps answer your questions.
 

javajunkie

BoM July '12
Rating - 100%
343   0   0
Joined
Sep 5, 2011
Messages
8,150
Location
top of kentucky
Never done it...get an espresso maker, w/o the pressure you'll never really get close IMO.
this. espresso is extraction through pressure as much as steep or temperature, and you will NEVER duplicate it. that is not to say you cannot get a denser and richer cup without the equipment. that is why the press is so beloved; rich mouthfeel, total controll almost of the extraction, low point of entry cost, and ease of use.

if you need to go pimp on a budget on this, look up the aeropress. it is NOT espresso, despite what they say, but it will provide a denser cup. which is good. and they are very small, easy to use, and realistically cheap for the quality of the device.

EDIT: also, the thing is the size of a travel mug. as someone with a teeny tiny kitchen, this helps hugely!
 
Rating - 100%
31   0   0
Joined
Aug 20, 2013
Messages
2,135
Location
Long Island, New York
I use a bialetii Moka for espresso. The smaller pots make phenominal espresso. even from the "supermarket" brands. If I use "supermarket" brand I use mocha d' oro or lavazza
 
Rating - 100%
32   0   0
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
1,361
Location
Ohio
I use a bialetii Moka for espresso. The smaller pots make phenominal espresso. even from the "supermarket" brands. If I use "supermarket" brand I use mocha d' oro or lavazza
these are very common and will get you very good "espresso". It's the poor mans espresso machine in Italy, and every kitchen has one (statistically speaking). I had one and it worked well enough, worth giving a try to see if you like it for the cost of admission. The results will be much closer to true espresso than a french press.
 

dscl

BoM October '14
Rating - 100%
68   0   0
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
1,648
Location
Lake in the Hills, IL
Not to sound like a broken record, but you want get anything near espresso out of a French Press or an Aeropress (even though they market as such). If you don't have the counterspace consider the mypressi TWIST - http://mypressi.com/
 
Rating - 100%
127   0   0
Joined
Jan 12, 2011
Messages
3,070
Location
Hilton Head Island
get a small moka pot (I have bialetti). Grind coffee very fine, pack coffee tight, screw on top of moka pot very tight apply heat and you end up with super strong coffee kinda like espresso.

I might have a extra moka pot laying around. I'll let you know if I do.
 

NickThePyro

GO COUGS!
Rating - 100%
41   0   0
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
1,299
Location
Kent, WA
Without an espresso machine you cannot create a true "espresso" any other way. You can create a lot of heat and pressure in devices such as an AeroPress, but it wont be the exact same. But I will say for $20 my AeroPress makes a damn good highly concentrated brew.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
686
Location
Atlanta, GA
Yep French presses are designed to work with a more coarse grind and espresso does best with a very fine grind, they are not interchangeable unfortunately. Now you can use an espresso roasted bean and coarse grind it for your press and that makes a very rich cup of joe. I've used Black Cat espresso blend in my press with excellent results.
 
Rating - 100%
31   0   0
Joined
Aug 20, 2013
Messages
2,135
Location
Long Island, New York
Here is a little video I made for a friend who was getting his first moka pot.
[video=youtube;78zqL6GCBlM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78zqL6GCBlM[/video]
It's a bit crude but you will get the point
 
Top