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A French press, also known as a cafetière, cafetière à piston, caffettiera a stantuffo, press pot, coffee press, or coffee plunger, is a coffee brewing device, although it can also be used for other tasks. The earliest known device was patented in 1852 in France by Jacques-Victor Delforge and Henri-Otto Mayer.
NameEdit
In English, the device is known in North America as a French press or coffee press; in Britain and Ireland as a cafetière, after the brand, La Cafetière; in New Zealand, Australia,<ref name="codeblack/plunger-french-press">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and South Africa<ref name="bunacoffee/french-press-coffee-plunger">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as a coffee plunger, and coffee brewed in it as plunger coffee. In Italian, it is known as a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}};<ref>it:caffettiera a stantuffo</ref> in German as a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}},<ref>de:Pressstempelkanne</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("stamp pot"), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("coffee press") or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; in French as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}},<ref name="but.fr/article/cafetiere-a-piston">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>fr:cafetière à piston</ref> or simply as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (also the usage in Dutch),<ref>nl:cafetière</ref> though some speakers might also use genericized trademarks, such as Melior or Bodum.
Design historyEdit
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Over the years, the French press has undergone several design modifications. The first coffee press, which may have been made in France, was the modern coffee press in its rudimentary form—a metal or cheesecloth screen fitted to a rod that users would press into a pot of hot water and coffee grounds. In 1852, two Frenchmen, a Paris metalsmith and a merchant,<ref name="nytimes/2014/who-french-press">Template:Cite news</ref> Henri-Otto Mayer and Jacques-Victor Delforge,<ref name="worldgoo/press-really-france">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> patented a forerunner of the French press, that did not create a seal around the filter.<ref name="coffeehow/french-press">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A patent was filed by a Frenchman, Marcel-Pierre Paquet dit Jolbert, officially published on 5 August 1924.
In 1928,<ref name="sheldrake/birth-french-press">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a coffee press was created by Milanese designers Giulio Moneta<ref name="fibsardegna/estrazione-caffe-2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Attilio Calimani which had a spring to seal the filter, and patented it in the United States in 1929.<ref>Apparatus for preparing infusions, particularly for preparing coffee Google Patents</ref> It underwent several design modifications through Faliero Bondanini, who patented his own version in 1958 and manufactured it in French clarinet factory Martin SA under the brand name Melior.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its popularity may have been aided in 1965 by its use in the Michael Caine film The Ipcress File.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The device was litigated and further popularized across Europe by Melior-Martin, a French company, Household Articles Ltd. (La Cafetiere), a British company, and Bodum (Chambord), a Danish tableware and kitchenware company.<ref name="alternativebrewing/history-french-press">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="danishmuseum/bodum-french-press">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="thecookingworld/french-press">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="retrowow/cafetiere">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The modern French press consists of a narrow cylindrical beaker, usually made of glass or clear plastic, equipped with a metal or plastic lid and plunger that fits tightly in the cylinder and has a fine stainless steel wire or nylon mesh filter.
OperationEdit
Coffee is brewed by placing coarsely ground coffee in the empty beaker and adding hot water, Template:Cvt, in proportions of about Template:Cvt of coffee grounds to Template:Cvt of water, more or less to taste. After brewing, the plunger is depressed, holding down the coffee grounds while the coffee is served.
A French press works best with coffee of a coarser grind, about the consistency of cooking salt.<ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref> Finer coffee grounds, when immersed in water, have lower permeability, requiring an excessive amount of force to be applied by hand to lower the plunger and are more likely to seep through or around the perimeter of the press filter and into the coffee drink.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, finer grounds will tend to over-extract and cause the coffee to taste bitter.<ref name=":0" />
Some writers give the optimal time for brewing as around four minutes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Other approaches, such as cold brewing, require several hours of contact between the water and the grounds to achieve the desired extraction.
Plunging slowly prevents accidental scalding of the brewer and is purported to maximize the extraction of the oils and flavonoids from the ground bean.<ref name="seriouseats/french-press-tips">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The mesh piston normally does not compress the coffee grounds, as most designs leave a generous space—about Template:Cvt—below the piston in its lowest position. If the brewed coffee is allowed to remain in the beaker with the used grounds, the coffee may become astringent and bitter, though this is an effect that some usersTemplate:Who of the French press consider desirable.
- French press beaker and piston.jpg
Piston separated from the beaker
- French press filter bottom side.jpg
Bottom side of the mesh
- French press filter upper side.jpg
Upper side of the mesh
VariationsEdit
French presses are more portable and self-contained than other coffee makers. Travel mug versions exist, which are made of tough plastic instead of the more common glass, and have a sealed lid with a closable drinking hole. Some versions are marketed to hikers and backpackers not wishing to carry a heavy, metal percolator or a filter using drip brew.
Other versions include stainless steel, insulated presses designed to keep the coffee hot, similar in design to thermos flasks. Coffee filters commonly used in South Indian households are a stainless steel version but without insulation. The decant known as decoction is mixed immediately with milk and sugar to make kaapi.
Template:AnchorOne variation also called "French pull" or "reverse French press" uses a pull-design: the coffee grounds are placed in a mesh basket, which is then pulled into the lid after brewing, trapping the grounds out of the coffee. Others produce a similar effect by having shutters that can be closed via the top of the press, sealing the grounds off from the coffee entirely. French presses are also sometimes used to make cold brew coffee.
Template:AnchorAnother variation using a basket to hold the coffee grounds is called "American press", where the hot water is filled in first and then the basket is slowly pushed down (and sometimes also pulled up again) through the water column.
An all-in-one French press consists of a heating element that can receive its power from a 12-volt power source.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Other usesEdit
In the same way as coffee, a French press can also be used in place of a tea infuser to brew loose tea. To some extent the tea will continue to steep even after the plunger is depressed, which may cause the tea remaining in the press to become bitter. It might thus be advisable to decant the tea into a serving vessel after preparation. The same French press should not be used for both tea and coffee unless thoroughly cleaned, as coffee residue may spoil the flavor of the tea. However, this method is more suitable for light teas and is not suitable for masala chai (which must be boiled) or Chinese tea (which tends to be diffused for a long time, with tea leaves reused as a rule).<ref name="liu">Template:Cite book</ref>
A French press can also be used for straining broth from shellfish or other ingredients.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Further readingEdit
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ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Cafetière à Piston Presse Française - Melior