Tried making cold brew in a French press, ended up with coffee grit in my teeth for a week

Last month I figured I'd save money by using my French press to make cold brew instead of buying it at the shop. I left coarse grounds in water for 18 hours, then pushed the plunger down. The filter let through so much fine sediment that my first sip felt like chewing sand. I tried straining it through a paper towel, which worked but took forever. Now I just buy a $5 cold brew maker from Target and haven't looked back. Has anyone else had a French press fail on something simple like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamief671mo ago

You're calling a $5 mesh pitcher a "rite of passage" but really it's just another plastic gadget taking up counter space. A French press can work fine for cold brew if you use a coarser grind and stop pressing the plunger the second you feel resistance. I've been doing it for years with zero grit by pouring through a regular kitchen strainer first, which takes maybe 15 seconds.

james_bell1mo ago

French press is great for regular coffee but a total mess for cold brew. The metal screen just can't catch the fine stuff that settles after that long steep. Paper filters are the only way to save it, but by then you've wasted an hour of your morning. Target has those mesh pitchers for like ten bucks that actually work. Consider it a rite of passage for the home coffee tinkerer.

max2231mo ago

Yeah, I hear you. I've done the French press cold brew thing and found the same issue with fine sludge no matter how careful I grind. For me, a cheap nut milk bag does the trick and takes all of ten seconds to rinse out, plus it keeps the metal screen from getting clogged over time. @james_bell is right that the screen alone just can't handle that long steep, but a simple cloth bag or even a paper filter in a cone can save the brew without needing a whole new gadget.