Making coffee in the french press is easier than making it in a carafe, with the difference, that it is easier to sieve, as it needs no separate strainer.

Even though the best grind of coffee is medium ground, finer grounds can be used resulting in a shorter brewing time, this should then not exceed 3 minutes.

Cleaning the french press afterwards takes bit of time. But this should still be done after every use as the coffee oils have the tendency to go rancid and would spoil the next brew.

As there is quite an array of French press pots for sale, it can be quite an ordeal to choose the right one. My advice is to first decide on the right size, as there really is no point in buying a small pot when you need to serve coffee to bigger audience.

The second decision is the quality. Here you have to know that cheaper makes often use inferior quality sieves, which have a tendency to curl and fray, these makes don't always allow you to order spare parts like sieves. For a few dollars more you often get a better designed coffee pot.

Learn how to use the french press going by these 5 steps:

1. To keep the coffee warm it is best to warm the glass pos beforehand by filling it with hot water. Let it warm the pot then pour the water away(or reuse it to make the coffee).
2. Now take the hot pot (be careful not to burn your fingers!) and dry it. Put in the right amount of coffee grind. This calculated using 10 tbsp per 33 fl oz.
3. Now pour over the hot water (just below boiling point). Stir the mixture with a long spoon. Please note: freshly ground coffee is harder to stir, as it does not easily soak in the water.
4. Once the all the grind is stirred in you can put the plunger on the pot, but wait! Wait for about 4 minutes to give the coffee a chance to brew. ( 3 minutes for the fine grind) Once the time is up, hold the pot by the handle with one hand and with the other hand slowly push the plunger down.
5. The coffee should be served almost straight away.

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