French Press Vs. Pour Over

You love coffee and you want to start making coffee by hand but you don’t know what brewing method is best?  

In this article, we’re going to give you the rundown on two of the most popular brewing methods.

French Press vs. Pour Over Brewing Guides

French Press

Also known as a cafetiere, coffee press and plunge pot, the French Press essentially has 3 parts: cylindrical glass beaker, a plunger, and a filter.

Pros

• Creates a strong, bold, and rich cup of coffee.
• Make it how you like it. From the type of grind to the brew time, you can control the strength and richness of your coffee.
• The coffee’s oils are drawn from the grounds, making the flavour more intense. 
• Not just for coffee… Loose leaf tea can also be used in a French Press.

Con

While the screen filter will keep out larger grounds, some smaller ones might get through, which can create sediment at the bottom of your mug.

How-To: Add your grounds and hot water, wait, and plunge. Stir before pouring into your mug and enjoy!

Brew Time: 4 minutes. Don’t leave it for much longer as the coffee will get more and more bitter.

Pour Over

It's all in the name. Slowly, pour heated water over coffee grounds in a circular motion. The coffee then drips through the filter paper creating the perfect brew. 

Pros

• The pour over not only looks impressive but also makes great tasting coffee.
• Incredibly easy to clean. Simply throw the paper filter in the bin and rinse the pour over frame.
• Creates a light, smooth brew due to the addition of the paper filter and a shorter extraction time.
• The paper filter holds the grounds and oils preventing bitterness and sediment at the bottom of your coffee.

Con

It’s not as simple as pour the water and wait to brew. You need to put a bit of time into making the perfect cup. Whilst you can get versions that can make multiple cups, pour over is usually used to make one cup at a time so it takes some patience.

How-To: Wet the paper filter in the pour-over basket to wash away paper flavours and seal it in place, then pour that water out of your mug. Add your grounds to the paper and slowly pour over the water. Be careful to keep an eye on the water level as you don’t want to pour too quickly and overflow.

Brew Time: Between three and four minutes.