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☕ Brew Methods · 2026How much coffee for a French press: benchmark roasters brew between 1:15 and 1:18 - about 56 g per 34 oz press at the strong end, 45 g per 800 g of water at the mild end - with 205°F water, a coarse grind, and a 4-6 minute steep. The table, the method, and the cold brew variant.
Written and reviewed by the CoffeeLabAdvisor editorial team · Published 2 September 2026
The working French press ratio is between 1:15 and 1:18 coffee to water by weight - the two benchmark recipes this page reads land on each end. Stumptown brews 56 g of coffee to 850 g of water (about 1:15, the stronger cup); Counter Culture states a “1:18 coffee-to-water ratio” outright - 45 g to 800 g. Both use water at 205°F, a coarse grind, and a stirred steep pressed at four to six minutes. The table below turns that into how much coffee per press size, in grams and scoops.
Both source recipes are weight-based, so the honest answer is a small table rather than one number. At the two published ratios:
| Press size | Water | Coffee at 1:15 (strong) | Coffee at 1:18 (mild) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 oz mug's worth | ~350 g | ~23 g (3 tbsp) | ~19 g (2.5 tbsp) |
| 34 oz press (the standard) | ~850 g | ~56 g (8 tbsp) | ~47 g (6.5 tbsp) |
| 50 oz press | ~1,250 g | ~83 g | ~69 g |
Tablespoon counts are approximations - coarse-ground coffee varies in density, which is exactly why both roasters publish grams. A kitchen scale removes the argument; our ratio calculator scales any of these to any vessel.
The recipes differ only in strength and patience:
The same vessel makes genuine cold brew, and the search traffic suggests half of press owners suspect as much. The method changes in two ways: the grind goes to the extra-coarse extreme, and time replaces temperature - room-temperature or fridge water, with the long steep our cold brew guide documents (commonly twelve hours and up), then a slow press and a strain into a clean vessel. Ratios run stronger for cold brew because it is usually diluted to serve; the cold brew guide's grind section covers the why. A second screen - the insulated Secura below ships with one - earns its keep here, since long steeps find every gap in a worn mesh.
French presses are gloriously simple objects, which keeps the buying question small. The glass Bodums - the $20 Brazil and the steel-framed Chambord icon, both made in Portugal per their listings - brew identically; the Chambord premium is aesthetics, not extraction. The insulated stainless Secura changes two real things: a 50 oz batch size and heat retention through the steep, plus a spare screen in the box. All three were verified against their live listings today, and every one of them brews the recipe above without modification.
Three verified presses: the budget glass workhorse, the design icon, and the insulated big-batch steel - same method across all three.
The $20 workhorse - same brewing as presses at three times the price. Listing states the Bodum 34 oz Brazil French press in high-heat borosilicate glass, made in Portugal.
Check price on Amazon →
The design icon of the category - the same glass brewing in the classic steel frame. Listing states the Bodum 34 oz Chambord French press in high-heat borosilicate glass with polished stainless steel, made in Portugal.
Check price on Amazon →
The big-batch, keep-it-hot option - insulated steel instead of glass, half a liter more capacity. Listing states a 50-ounce 304 stainless steel insulated coffee press with an extra screen.
Check price on Amazon →By weight, 1 gram of coffee per 15-18 grams of water: about 56-67 g for a standard 34 oz press at the stronger end, or 45-47 g at the milder end - roughly 7-9 tablespoons. The benchmark recipes this page reads are Stumptown's 56 g to 850 g and Counter Culture's 45 g to 800 g.
Between 1:15 and 1:18 by weight. Stumptown's published recipe works out to about 1:15 for a stronger cup; Counter Culture states 1:18 for a milder, longer-steeped brew. Start at 1:16-1:17 and adjust one step at a time toward the cup you like.
Four to six minutes, per the source recipes - Stumptown presses at 4:00, Counter Culture at 6:00 with its gentler ratio. Both stir early to break the crust. Past the press, decant what you are not drinking; coffee sitting on grounds keeps extracting toward bitterness.
Coarse - breadcrumbs to coarse kosher salt in the roasters' own descriptions, near the top of our grind chart. Finer grinds slip through the metal mesh and over-extract during the long steep, which is where muddy, bitter press coffee comes from.
About 205°F - just off the boil - in both source recipes. Boil the kettle, wait roughly thirty seconds, pour. The long steep makes the press forgiving of small temperature drift, which is part of why it is such a reliable beginner method.
Sources for this page: Recipe figures (56 g / 850 g ≈ 1:15, ~205°F, coarse-like-breadcrumbs grind, stir at 1:00, press at 4:00, the decanting step): Stumptown Coffee Roasters' published French press guide, read 2026-09-02 · Recipe figures (45 g / 800 g, the stated 1:18 ratio, 205°F, medium-coarse kosher-salt grind, stir at 0:30, press at 6:00): Counter Culture Coffee's published quick French press recipe, read 2026-09-02 · Press facts (materials, sizes, made-in-Portugal, extra screen): the verified listings, read via the Creators API 2026-09-02 We have not lab-tested brewers; where a figure is a manufacturer's, the page names the manufacturer, and machine capabilities come from our own published review records.