Brew guide
Two plungers, two very different cups. The French press has been around since 1929 and makes a heavy, rich coffee with a bit of sediment. The AeroPress arrived in 2005 and makes a clean, bright cup in under two minutes. Both are cheap, both are hard to break, and both make better coffee than most pod machines. Here is how to choose, with the recipe we use for each.
Want body and an easy routine for two or more people: French press. Want a clean cup, one at a time, fast, and something that survives a backpack: AeroPress. Either way the coffee matters more than the gear. Use beans roasted in the last month and grind them when you brew.
Body: French press wins
The French press uses a metal mesh filter. Fine particles and coffee oils pass through, so the cup is heavy, round and a little textured, with a thin layer of silt at the bottom of the mug. The AeroPress uses a paper filter that catches almost everything. The cup is lighter, cleaner and sweeter, closer to a pour-over than a plunger. If you take milk, the French press stands up to it better. If you drink black and like to taste the origin, the AeroPress shows it more clearly.
How many cups: tie
French presses come in sizes from 350 ml to 1.5 L, so one press does the whole table. An AeroPress makes one cup, two at a stretch. The workaround is to brew a strong concentrate and top each cup up with hot water, which takes about 90 seconds per pressing. Fine for two people, tedious for six.
Durability: AeroPress wins
The AeroPress is polypropylene and bounces. Most French presses are glass and do not. Stainless or double-walled plastic presses exist and are as tough as the AeroPress, so this comes down to which press you buy. For travel there is also the Wacaco Nanopresso, a pocket espresso maker rather than a plunger, if you want crema on the road.
Ease: French press wins
Coffee in, water in, wait four minutes, press. There is one recipe and it is hard to get wrong. The AeroPress has hundreds of recipes, inverted and upright, bloom or no bloom, and that is part of the appeal for people who like to tinker. If you want a coffee at 6 am without thinking, the press is kinder.
Our recipes
| French press | AeroPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Grind | Coarse, like raw sugar | Medium-fine, like table salt |
| Ratio | 60 g per litre (30 g for a 500 ml press) | 15 g coffee to 220 ml water |
| Water | 95 degrees, off the boil for 30 seconds | 85 to 90 degrees |
| Time | 4 minutes steep, stir at 1 minute, press slowly | 30 second bloom, stir, steep to 1:30, press over 20 seconds |
| Pour it off | Straight away, or it keeps extracting and goes bitter | Straight away |
Both recipes assume a scale. A tablespoon of coarse coffee weighs about 6 g and a tablespoon of fine coffee about 8 g, which is enough variation to throw a cup. Scales cost less than a bag of beans.
Which coffee
We roast single origins lighter, for filter, pour-over and plunger brewing, and the blends fuller, for espresso and milk. For the French press, a blend or a fuller single origin such as our Brazil or Guatemala gives the body the method wants. For the AeroPress, try a washed Ethiopian or a Colombian and drink it black; the paper filter lets the fruit through. See the current single origins and blends, or let the 60-second coffee finder pick one.
Choosing between them
- Milk drinker, or brewing for a few people at once: French press.
- Black coffee, one cup, want the origin to show: AeroPress.
- Travel, camping, office desk drawer: AeroPress.
- Simplest possible routine: French press.
- Cannot decide: both together cost less than a mid-range pod machine.
FAQs
Which makes stronger coffee, AeroPress or French press?
Strength is set by the ratio, not the device. At the same dose the French press tastes heavier because of the oils and fine particles; the AeroPress tastes cleaner. An AeroPress concentrate at 15 g to 100 ml is far stronger than a standard French press.
What grind for a French press?
Coarse, about the size of raw sugar. Finer and the mesh clogs and the cup turns muddy and bitter.
Can I use espresso beans in an AeroPress?
Yes. Any bean works in either device. Darker, fuller roasts give a heavier cup; lighter single origins give a brighter one. Grind is what you change, not the bean.
Why is my French press coffee bitter?
Usually one of three things: grind too fine, water too hot, or coffee left sitting in the press after plunging. Pour it all off at four minutes.
Fresh beans for either press
Roasted weekly in Hurstville. Tell us how you brew at checkout and we grind to suit, or leave them whole. Free shipping over $80.
Shop the beansGear: AeroPress, Wacaco travel maker, or the brewing gear range. Run a cafe? See the wholesale coffee supply page.
