How to Make Espresso With French Press? Will this Method Keep You Away from Breaking the Bank?

A survey has found that around 50% of total Americans used to consume espresso and espresso-based drinks. Folks love espresso because of its rich and flavorful brew output.

Lots of coffee addicts love to drink espresso but unfortunately, not all of them are capable of investing large amounts of money in a nifty espresso machine. Purchasing a handy espresso machine means spending at least a couple of hundred dollars. Which leads some people to forget about espresso.

If you’re an espresso lover, but don’t have an espresso machine, you can still make a great cup of espresso with a French press. Here’s how to do it.

In this guide, we will show you how to make espresso with a french press. French Presses are pretty affordable to purchase. You can buy a good french press coffee maker even without spending a hundred bucks. After reading this guide, you can utilize your inexpensive French Press for making drinkable espresso.

So let’s not waste any more time and dive right in.

French Press is a manual coffee brewer that is widely famous in the USA. People who love to drink bold and aromatic cups of coffee can go for French Press. The French Press coffee maker was invented by two French Inventors named Mayer and Delforge in 1852. Since then lots of innovative design models have come onto the market. Nowadays, you will see a bunch of different types of French Presses available in the market.

There are basically two parts of a French Press coffee maker: beaker and plunger with lid. Beakers are usually made of glass, transparent plastic, or stainless steel. At the top of the plunger, there’s a lid that is made of either plastic or stainless steel. Instead of using paper filters, French Press coffee makers use stainless steel wire or nylon mesh filters in order to separate the coffee grounds from the water-ground mixture.

People love to drink French Press coffee because of its full-bodied and richly aromatic output. As it’s a manual brewing method, you don’t need to depend on any electronic device. This means you have complete control over the brewing process.

The whole brewing process usually takes around 6 minutes, where 2 minutes is for heating water in a kettle and the other 4 minutes is for actual brewing.

Like the Pour-Over, you don’t need to gather a bunch of different additional items for brewing with French Press. You just need some coarsely grounded coffee, an electric or stove-top kettle for heating the water, and a nifty French Press. French Press coffee makers are portable as well. You can take it while doing outdoor activities like camping, hiking, etc. In this guide, we will learn how to make espresso with a french press. Let’s move forward.

Espresso is also an amazingly popular brewing method in the USA. Espresso machines are needed in making excellent cups of espresso. While making espresso, a small amount of nearly boiling water forces through some finely grounded coffee under pressure.

The whole process produces thick and richly flavored coffee which lots of folks love to have. However, purchasing an espresso machine means a pretty large amount of investment. 

In general, there are 4 types of espresso machines: semi-automatic, automatic, super-automatic, and manual espresso machine. All of them are quite expensive compared to a French Press or Pour Over coffee maker. Some people like making espresso manually, while others look for convenience.

When purchasing an espresso maker, more convenience means more amounts needed to invest. If you are a busy person and want to drink delicious coffee while in a rush, you can go for an automatic or super-automatic espresso machine.

On the flip side, if you want superior control over the brewing process and also save some money consider purchasing a semi-automatic or manual espresso machine. We have a complete guide on the best home espresso machine, so feel free to check that out.

Brewing good quality espresso generally depends on the skilled barista and also on the espresso machine. By using a handy espresso machine you can get great espresso shots. In this guide, we will try to show you the path of making espresso with a french press.

This doesn’t mean that you will get the same result that you usually get from an espresso machine. You will get a strong cup of coffee that will be slightly the same as espresso. So, if you are happy to make good quality french press coffee along with espresso-like coffee using your French Press then keep reading this step-by-step guide. 

For making espresso with a french press collect a good burr grinder, freshly roasted espresso beans, a kettle, a measuring scoop or a scale, and a French Press.

First off, grind your coffee beans to very fine grind settings, as you know that espresso requires a fine grind size. In order to do so, we recommend you use a good burr grinder. Don’t use any blade grinders because they are not so good for delivering consistent grind sizes. As a result, your coffee won’t be evenly extracted but rather than taste bitter or sour. You definitely don’t want to sip such a cup of espresso. Do you?

For making espresso using French Press, use 1 ounce (28.34 grams) of coffee for every cup of water.

Now, heat the water using any type of electronic or stovetop kettle. Most coffee connoisseurs think that 195°-205° Fahrenheit is pretty good for making great espresso. After heating the water wait for at least 30 seconds before pouring it into the French Press beaker. This will lower the temperature from boiling water to an ideal temperature for brewing.

You have ground the coffee, heated the water, and now it’s time to add coffee grounds into the beaker. As you are not making french press coffee, double the amount of ground coffee than how much you usually use for making French Press coffee. It will give you an espresso-like strong and richly flavored output.

Pour a little bit of water into the beaker and let the coffee bloom. After pouring the water, wait for a few seconds. This part is essential for exacting the rich flavor and coffee oil from the coffee. As a result, you will get strong and evenly extracted cups of espresso.

Now, add the rest of the water and again wait for around 4 minutes. This segment of brewing is called steeping coffee. You can wait for a bit longer if you prefer really strong cups of espresso. But remember, taking too much time may end up with a bitter-tasting espresso.

After that particular period, place the plunger on the French Press and press slowly with even pressure through the mixture. When the plunger arrives halfway, wash the top of it and press the plunger again all the way. Your espresso (using French Press) is ready to drink. Enjoy!

Apart from French Press, there are two more ways for making espresso without an espresso machine. You can use AeroPress and Moka Pot as well for making espresso. In this segment, we will take a quick look at how they make espresso. Let’s see…

We all know the versatility of an AeroPress. Some people used to say that it can make great espresso. But it’s not actually true. AeroPress can not provide the right amount of pressure that an espresso machine can. But you can make something that will be slightly similar to espresso. Even, you can make better espresso than what you get from a French Press.

For doing that, use finely ground coffee for brewing. Make sure to rinse the AeroPress and paper filter with hot water. Now, place the drain cap with a paper filter inside. Add your ground coffee into the brew chamber and tamp(use a tamper or cylindrical pot). After that, place another paper filter over the tamped grounds. It’s time to pour the hot water (195°-205° Fahrenheit) into the chamber and press the plunger real quick to create pretty good amounts of pressure. Your espresso from AeroPress is ready to drink.

Moka Pot can be another easy way of making espresso. You just need a burr grinder, freshly roasted coffee, a scale, and a Moka Pot. In order to brew coffee with Moka Pot that will be strong like espresso, you have to grind the beans very fine. Don’t forget to measure the right amount of water and grounds for getting a good flavor profile.

To begin the brewing, add some filtered cold water to the bottom chamber of the Moka Pot. Place it on the stovetop or other heating source. When you see some bubbles in the water, fill the basket with coffee grounds and place it in the water chamber.

After that, screw the top part with the bottom water chamber and wait for getting coffee in the upper chamber. When you hear some gurgling sounds, cut off the fire and enjoy your espresso-like coffee.

In Moka Pot, water is forced under pressure to go through the coffee grounds. But it’s not actually capable of creating the standard pressure that an espresso machine can. However, the result is not so regretful, for sure.

We hope this comprehensive step-by-step guide will help you to understand “how to make espresso with French Press”. Follow this guide, and don’t forget to share your opinion about the tastes. We have tried our best to keep this whole guide simple to understand.

If you have any questions regarding this guide, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We would love to hear from your side. Also, share it with your friends and family to let them know how they can make espresso without breaking the bank.

Happy Brewing!