Dialed-in starting recipe

Starting recipe for the French press

A new bag shouldn’t cost you half its beans in guessing. Here’s where we’d start on a French press with fresh, roast-to-order specialty coffee — plus how to correct in one cup, not ten.

Method
Immersion
Dose
30 g coffee : 450 g water
Ratio
1:15
Grind
Coarse — like breadcrumbs
Water
95°C
Time
Steep 4:00 (+ a patient 5 min settle)

The trick almost nobody does: after 4 minutes, break the crust, skim the foam, then wait another 5 minutes before pouring. The silt settles and the cup goes from muddy to velvet.

The three steps

  1. Add 30 g coarse coffee, pour 450 g water at 95°C.
  2. Steep 4:00, break the crust and skim.
  3. Wait ~5 more minutes, press just to the surface, pour gently.

If the first cup is off

😖 Sour / weak

Weak or flat → steep 1 min longer, or grind slightly finer.

😤 Bitter / harsh

Bitter or gritty → coarser grind; pour more gently, leave the last sip in the pot.

Change one variable at a time. A starting recipe is a starting point, not a prophecy — burrs, water and beans all drift. That’s the whole idea of dialed-in coffee.

What we’d brew on it

  • Sumatra — deep, earthy, heavy body — made for a press.
  • Adira Blend — chocolate-forward comfort cup.

Skip the guessing entirely

Every Adira order comes with a starting recipe built for your exact machine and grinder — emailed to you and saved to your My Cup account. This page is the generic version; yours gets translated to your burrs. And if the first cups are off, Stefan helps you dial it in personally.

Start with your first dialed-in bag →

First bag ships free with code FIRSTBAG · No subscription required