It is an easy to use and low cost extraction method depending on its capacity and materials.
The French press, also known as a plunger coffee maker, is a method of extraction by immersion, that is to say that the ground beans are completely covered by hot water to produce the coffee infusion. The extraction is carried out by pushing the plunger in which there is a mesh that acts as a filter.
Although its origin is French, around 1852, the patent for this creation is Italian. In 1929, Attilio Calimani and Giulio Moneta patented the model we know today. There are coffee pots of different sizes depending on the quantity to be prepared, from those that can hold one cup to those of one liter.
As for its use, a medium grind is recommended. The approximate waiting time for the infusion is 4 minutes. Once it is ready, the plunger is pressed slowly and steadily to filter the coffee.
The result in the cup is a full-bodied coffee, with an intense flavor and a great presence of natural oils, as well as a sandy texture due to the presence of sediments. However, as in other methods, it is possible to control the type of grinding, the water temperature and the infusion time to experiment and obtain other effects