IT'S NOT FRENCH PRESS, IT'S... AMERICAN PRESS™

A NEW WAY TO BREW™

YOUR MORNINGS JUST GOT BETTER

better coffee faster, in 3 easy steps

  • 1

    Add Hot Water & Coffee

  • 2

    Press

  • 3

    And Pour

DETAILED BREWING INSTRUCTIONS

and a story of better coffee

  • Rip our guts out, so to speak

    Grasp the handle in one hand and carafe in the other, then slowly pull. The pod, lid and plunger will all come out as one piece.

  • Open the pod

    Move the lid up towards the handle so it’s not in the way, hold the plunger sideways, grasp the textured pod top with your thumb and forefinger in one hand and the pod bottom in the other hand, then twist. We recommend setting the plunger + lid down upright - It’s round, and round things do have a tendency to roll :-)

  • Fill ‘er up!

    Fill the pod with your choice of coffee (we recommend starting with a medium, all-purpose grind if you’re grinding your own coffee, or simply use pre-ground coffee). A wide range of grinds and even loose-leaf tea all work great in an American Press, but please avoid fine grinds (cone filter or finer resist water flow too much and may be too hard on both you and your American Press).

    Don’t worry about being too precise for now. We recommend simply shooting for a mostly full pod. Depending on personal preference, you can use as little coffee as you like or as much as you can fit, all to taste, but more coffee will result in higher pressures and longer extraction times and, consequently, stronger coffee, and ditto for using finer grinds (we don’t recommend fine grinds, especially with large doses). 

  • Attach pod

    This step is just Chapter 2 in reverse! Well, other than the holding the plunger sideways part. You’ll want to keep those grounds in the pod for now, so hold everything upright, then rotate the pod clockwise until it’s fully locked in place (you’ll hear a “click”), then set the whole plunger assembly aside (upright!).

  • Fill the carafe with hot water

    Fill the carafe with hot water (after waiting a bit for your water to stop boiling).

    The standard fill is 12 fl oz or 355 ml, which is marked on the carafe. You can use more, which will force some water into the pod before you start pressing (that’s not a bad thing!), but don’t exceed 14 fl oz or your press may overflow when you mount the loaded coffee plunger. 

  • Mount the plunger

    Grasp the plunger assembly by the handle as shown, then press the lid down to make sure it’s fully seated.

  • (OPTIONAL, but recommended): Choose to Pre-Infuse?

    You don't absolutely have to, and there are some recipes that will call for a direct press without pre-infusion, but most of the time we recommend pressing the pod down just enough to fill it with water (you'll see a little coffee emerging from the pod, which is your cue to stop pressing and start enjoying the sight of freshly ground coffee bubbling and foaming out of the pod as it off-gases, and the sight of your grounds expanding as they soak up water), and then wait anywhere from a few additional seconds to a couple minutes, depending on your own personal preference.

  • Press

    Take your time here. A typical pressing should take at least 30 seconds on up to a couple minutes depending on your own personal tastes and preference. Again, we don’t think you need to worry about being too precise, and you can certainly go faster or slower, but if you skip the pre-infusion step AND press very quickly your coffee may be under-extracted, particularly with more coarse grounds, so either pre-infuse with a medium-coarse to medium grind, or take your time pressing with a medium-fine (but not fine!) grind.

    Please see our American Press recipes section below for different combinations of pre-infusion and pressing times. 

  • Pour

    It’s good to the last drop and we promise not to spill a drop, so pour it all out of there and get ready for some #caffeine!

  • Enjoy!

    We don't really need to explain this step, now do we?.

  • Disassembly

    Carefully remove the plunger. There will be a bit of a vacuum as you pull the plunger assembly out of the carafe, which will help pull any standing water/coffee out of the pod and separate it into the bottom of the carafe (it’s normal for there to be some residual coffee left in the bottom of the carafe after this step, which helps dry the grounds for easy cleanup, kind of like a spin cycle on your washing machine - just dump this residual coffee out).

    Be careful if you’re doing this immediately after brewing. Steel parts will be hot!! 

  • Gettin' those coffee grounds (or tea leaves!) out, the American Press way

    Carefully detach the pod by grasping the pod top with your thumb and forefinger and the bottom of the pod with the other hand, then twist counterclockwise and shake the used grounds in the trash or compost, then rinse off any residual grounds stuck in the pod or on the filter screen inside the pod top (note, the filter screen is held in place only by friction and can easily be removed for more thorough cleaning).

THE END

(spoiler alert: there’s a sequel but the plot is just a “rinse and repeat” theme)

RECIPES

DOSING GUIDELINES BASED ON STANDARD 12 FL OZ / 355 ML WATER DOSE (MAIN FILL LINE):

  • Start with 22 grams of medium grind coffee (a mostly full pod before tapping to settle)
  • Try 20 grams if you find the coffee too strong, or 24 grams if you prefer stronger coffee
  • Try 25 grams if using the maximum fill of 14 fl oz (25 grams is about the maximum capacity of the pod)
  • If using very fine espresso grind (not officially recommended at this time), do not use more than 20 grams to limit pressing resistance)

  • 1

    • 12 fl oz hot water
    • 22 grams medium-coarse coffee
    • Pre-infuse for 2 minutes followed by a 45 second press.
    • Total brew time: 2 minutes, 45 seconds

  • 2

    • 12 fl oz hot water
    • 22 grams medium grind coffee
    • Pre-infuse for 1 minute, followed by a 90-second pressing.
    • Total brew time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

  • 3

    • 12 fl oz hot water
    • 20 grams medium-fine coffee
    • Press slowly for 2 minutes, without pre-infusing.
    • Total brew time: 2 minutes.
A note on grind settings: Please avoid fine-grind coffee meant for cone filter (a.k.a. "fine drip"), espresso machines or Turkish coffee, as well as extremely coarse coffee meant for French press. Those are specialty grinds you’re not likely to encounter unless you're grinding at home, with the exception of "fine drip" that may mistakenly be offered up as "medium grind" coffee for automatic drip machines when it is in fact quite fine (fine if you want really strong coffee from your automatic drip machine, but not the best choice for American Press). We also recommend being careful with blade grinders meant for spices as fines they can create may clog your American Press’s filter and cause it to become hard to press. If your American Press does become hard to press, reverse your press by 1-2 inches (suction from this will blow any fines out of the pod and into the carafe; you'll see a cloud-like plume of fines burst into the water; kinda cool, and your press should immediately become easy to press again) - Do not force the press if it does not respond to heavy pressing.