The french press, (also called plunger pot or cafeteire) is an immersion or infusion style brewer. the coffee grinds sit in the water and then your press the plunger through and pour off your coffee. the cup is often described as heavy with a rich mouthfeel.

A common ratio to start with for the press is somewhere between 12:1 to 15:1, and this translates to about 65g to 85g or coffee per liter.

The brewing method is simple, just wait four minutes after adding the fresh off boil water, stir the crust and plunge down gently. the best thing to do is pour off all the coffee right away. wither serve it or place the extra in a carafe or thermos. If the brew remains in the plunger pot, it will continue to extract the soluble parts, and you will start to get a more astringent taste. I am told some people like this though, so you should at least try it to see if you find it pleasurable. I find it bitter. Here is a video on brewing with a press.

I received this french press as a part of our wedding gift registry. When we returned from our honeymoon in Hawaii with many pounds of coffee we directly through out our old drip brewer and began to use the Bodum French Press exclusively.

The biggest drawback I found to the french press was the cleanup. Always dealing with a mess of grinds that need to be scraped out, rinsed down the drain, tossed into the compost pile etc. I would often think fondly of the ease of a filter drip brewer, and the grab and toss cleanup.