Is French Press Like Espresso? (Solved & Explained!)

While they are both flavourful and strong cups of coffee, the French Press and the espresso are very different when it comes to the method and delivery of the end result. A French Press uses immersion to steep the grounds whereas espresso is made under high pressure, with almost no steeping involved at all.

If you are ordering an Americano or a Cappuccino in a café, you are likely going to be enjoying espresso coffee, whereas French Press is more common in the home. They can both have intense flavour, but there are very distinct differences between the two that any discerning coffee lover would be very quick to notice.

This article will go into detail about the French Press and espresso methods of coffee making, where they come from, how they work, and ultimately what the differences in concentration and flavour are from the coffees that you get from each one.

What is Espresso Coffee?

For many, the espresso is the king of coffee and it’s the basis for most of the different coffee drinks that you will see on a menu. Espresso is made by forcing a small amount of hot water through coffee grounds under high pressure, and it is characterised by its concentration, intensity, and a thin layer of foamy “crema”.

What is French Press Coffee?

The French Press, otherwise known as a cafetiere, is a device that is very common around the world as a way of immersion brewing at home. The grounds are steeped inside a jug to allow for the coffee to be fully extracted, and then a metal plunger separates the grounds so that the liquid can be poured out.

Can You Make Espresso Without An Espresso Machine?

To make a true espresso you need 9 bars of pressure, which is only really possible from an espresso machine. While some coffee making devices, like the AeroPress, can utilise some pressure to assist in the brewing process, without a high level of pressure the coffee will never come out with the same concentration and intensity.

How Does an Espresso Get Made?

In an espresso machine, the ground coffee is packed together into a dense disc and then near-boiling water is forced through them under high pressure. This means that the water is able to absorb a high level of soluble coffee on its way through so that the coffee it produces is as concentrated as possible.

How Does a French Press Make Coffee?

For espresso, the water spends very little time in contact with the coffee grounds but French Press coffee is quite the opposite. As an immersion brewer, the French Press allows the coffee grounds to steep in a large amount of hot water so that the flavour and aroma can be extracted gently over time.

What Type of Grounds Does an Espresso Use?

The coffee grounds used to make espresso are as fine as they can be, so they can be packed tightly and they have a greater surface area for quick extraction. If the grounds were coarser, the gaps between them would be greater and the water would pass through too easily, not absorbing enough soluble coffee on the way.

How Big are the Grounds Used in French Press Coffee?

A French Press uses relatively coarse grounds because it has more time for absorption, even with a smaller surface area. If you put fine grounds into a French Press, they will be too small so the flavour will be over-extracted and bitter, and they will pass through the filter and into your cup, making your coffee muddy and gritty.

How Does Espresso Coffee Taste?

An espresso is highly concentrated and very intense, but it should be sweet and rich rather than bitter or sour. A true espresso is actually quite creamy, partly because of its thick texture and the layer of crema that sits on the top, but it should also have a full body and give off a very strong aroma.

What Sort of Roast is Good for Espresso?

For most people, a medium-dark roast is the best when it comes to making an espresso, because lighter roasts don’t give enough strength of flavour. The darker the roast is, the more intense the flavour will be, and while some espresso fanatics swear by the darkest roasts possible, they may be a bit much for the average drinker.

What Does French Press Coffee Taste Like?

Although a French Press coffee is more diluted than an espresso, it has a longer brewing time and retains most of the natural oils from the grounds, so it is still full-bodied and rich. A French Press coffee will be less sweet and intense than an espresso and bring out more of the nuances of flavour in the grounds.

What Sort of Roast is Good for French Press?

A lot of baristas also favour a medium-dark roast when it comes to making French Press coffee, for similar reasons, although some people may prefer a lighter roast as well. Because of its brewing method, you can get more of the nuances from a lighter roast in French Press coffee than you do in an espresso.

Can French Press Coffee Have Crema?

One of the main distinctions that sets an espresso apart from other coffees is the tell-tale golden layer of thin foam that forms on the top. These are actually tiny bubbles that occur when the carbon dioxide is not allowed to escape during the brewing process, so it only happens under the intense pressure which French Press cannot replicate.

Is French Press Coffee or Espresso More Caffeinated?

Despite how thick and concentrated an espresso is, the average French Press Coffee is actually more caffeinated because it has a longer time to brew. More caffeine is extracted into the liquid with French Press coffee, even though it seems less strong and more diluted overall, so it will ultimately give you more of a kick than an espresso.

Is French Press or Espresso Easier to Make?

Both of these methods are pretty straightforward once you know what you are doing, but an espresso machine is a more expensive and complicated piece of kit than a cafetiere. In terms of speed though, nothing is faster than an espresso – it is even named after how quickly the coffee is made.