Cafetiere Coffee
- Kenya Blue Mountain CoffeeOur Kenya Blue Mountain is grown from seeds originally from Jamaica, which produce a coffee that has the natural sweetness of Blue Mountain Jamaica, but has also taken on the rich aromatic flavours and intensity that is typical of Kenyan coffee. Kenya's acidic soils provide excellent conditions for the growth of quality coffee, especially the renowned arabica bean, which is known to take on fantastic cocoa notes in Kenyan coffees. Full bodied, with a good acidity, hints of nut and citrus and ...
From £17.99★★★★★803 Review(s) - Kenya Peaberry CoffeeKenya Peaberry is grown in the Nyeri region, situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya, where acidic soils provide the perfect conditions for coffee that is known for intense flavours and well-rounded aromas. The peaberry variety of bean, also known as 'caracoli', is created when a coffee cherry produces only one bean, as opposed to the usual two. This single, pea-shaped bean is separated from the regular 'flat berry' beans before roasting, which ensures a high-quality even roast, and, as ...
From £15.99★★★★★201 Review(s) - Ethiopian Yirgacheffe CoffeeGrown in the Sidamo Province of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is among the best of the washed coffees: coffees that undergo a process before roasting, whereby the cherry of the bean is removed before the bean itself is dried. Washed coffees benefit greatly from this process, as once the cherries are immersed in water, unripe ones will float and be removed from the process, while ripe ones will sink and be used. This ensures the highest quality beans in each batch. Legend has it that the ...
From £15.99★★★★★229 Review(s) - Colombian Medium Roast CoffeeMedellin Excelso is an excellent example of the exquisite, full-bodied coffee that Colombia is known for, and testament to the county's reputation as one of the finest exporters of coffee in the world. Made from beans that have been cultivated in the rich, volcanic soil of Central Cordillera, Medellin Excelso produces a heavy body when roasted, resulting in a delicious nutty flavour with just the right amount of acidity. This variety also offers a pleasing aroma, typical of many Colombian ...
From £14.99★★★★★102 Review(s) - Blue Mountain Jamaica CoffeeOur certified Blue Mountain Jamaica is a real treat for coffee lovers and demonstrates just why this variety is one of the most sought-after in the world. Grown on Jamaica's longest mountain range, the lush Blue Mountains, at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 feet on average, these high-quality arabica beans benefit greatly from a cool and misty climate, plenty of rainfall, rich soil and, of course, excellent drainage. The resulting bean reveals mild, sophisticated flavours and a pleasing lack of ...
From £48.99★★★★★165 Review(s) - Kenya AA CoffeeThis mild Kenyan coffee gets its AA+ rating based on the large sizes of the specially selected beans used: Kenyan coffee is graded by the screen size of the bean, with beans that are too large to pass through a sieve perforation measuring 18/64 of an inch designated as AA grade. Our excellent Kenyan coffee, grown in the fertile Nyeri region of Kenya, offers a strong, slightly tangy flavour that's great for filter coffees and for preparing in a cafetiere, and embodies all the characteristics ...
From £15.99★★★★★65 Review(s) - Viennese CoffeeOur mild Viennese blend is a premium South American bean, with added fig to give the coffee a very distinctive aroma and taste. South American coffees make up approximately 45% of the world's total coffee exports, with about a third being grown in Brazil where an ideal climate makes for excellent Arabica beans. A large proportion of South American beans are dry processed, whereby entire cherries are cleaned and placed in the sun for an extended period of time, before being graded, sorted and ...
From £13.99★★★★★132 Review(s) - Medium Roast Decaffeinated Colombian CoffeeWhen it comes to selecting a decaffeinated coffee, our Medium Roast Decaffeinated Colombian could be the best option to choose if you enjoy the fruity flavours and chocolate notes of our Dark Decaffeinated Colombian Coffee, but prefer a more mellow cup. These fine Arabica beans from Colombia offer a medium roast alternative that delivers on flavour and aroma without the caffeine. It is particularly suited for cafetière and filter use.
From £15.99★★★★★68 Review(s) - Costa Rica CoffeeSourced from selected Costa Rican estates, where beans are grown more than 2,000 metres above sea level for the benefits of a high altitude, this mild coffee is the perfect choice for a smooth start to the day. The high altitudes allow the beans to mature slower than other varieties, resulting in a fuller flavour, and an increased acidity that is not too overbearing, meaning that you can enjoy this coffee straight from the cafetiere at breakfast. The maturing process creates a strictly hard ...
From £14.99★★★★★70 Review(s) - Sidamo CoffeeEthiopian coffee beans grown in the Harar, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, or Limu regions each reveal distinct, yet uniformly excellent flavours and aromas. Our smooth Ethiopian Sidamo coffee is made from the finest Arabica beans, grown exclusively in the Sidamo Province. One of the most famous origin tales of the coffee suggests that a local innam at a Sidamo monastery threw these red coffee berries upon a fire, at which point their roasting gave off such a wonderful smell that they were raked off ...
From £15.99★★★★★41 Review(s) - Mocha Java CoffeePossibly the world's most famous coffee blend, and certainly among the earliest of known blends, the celebrated Mocha Java is a combination of two distinct arabica beans from Indonesia and Yemen. The Mocha bean, taking its name from the port city that sits next to the Red Sea, is a smaller, rounder bean than many other varieties. It is suggested that the first European to sample Mocha was the Spanish Jesuit missionary, Pedro Páez Jaramillo, who encountered the unique coffee during his time ...
From £14.99★★★★★69 Review(s) - Vanilla Nut Flavoured CoffeeWith our mild Vanilla Nut flavoured blend you'll get a coffee that is slightly sweet, full-bodied and excellent when served with desserts. The nut flavours play off the coffee beans' nutty tones wonderfully, for a taste that is rich and layered, whilst being less sweet than some of our other flavoured blends. A perfect partner to our popular Hazelnut coffee. We do not recommend the use of our flavoured coffees in Bean-to-Cup coffee machines, as some built-in grinders may struggle with the ...
From £16.99★★★★★63 Review(s) - Mocha CoffeeA mellow, fruity coffee with hints of spice and wine, Mocha is grown in the Southwest regions of Ethiopia where, according to legend, the first coffee plant was discovered by a 9th century goat herder. These beans are smaller and rounder than most other varieties, and are of the arabica variety, which is renowned for high quality and full flavours. Mocha coffee beans create sweet, chocolatey coffees with fruity undertones, a light acidity and a slight earthiness. The Mocha coffee bean came ...
From £14.99★★★★★41 Review(s) - Mysore CoffeeThe city of Mysore, located at the base of the Chamundi Hills in India, was first introduced to the world of coffee by the revered 17th century scholar, Baba Budan, who upon return from a pilgrimage to Mecca brought with him seven seeds from the port of Mocha, in Yemen, before planting them in Mysore's temperate mountains. The seeds flourished, and we have Baba Budan to thank today for the smooth and mild Mysore coffee. The sweet and delicate flavours of Mysore combine wonderfully with a ...
From £14.99★★★★★28 Review(s) - Breakfast Blend CoffeeThe first coffee of the day can be the most satisfying, and you can't go wrong with our delicious Breakfast Blend, made from a choice selection of beans for a smooth and satisfying drink that eases you into the day. Wonderfully aromatic, the blend is great when prepared by filter or cafetiere and is versatile enough to go into all your favourite morning brews, from lattes to cappuccinos, Americanos and a multitude of different drinks. Our Breakfast Blend is a mild strength, lighter roast, ...
From £13.99★★★★★59 Review(s) - Hazelnut Flavoured CoffeeA smooth, mild coffee with gentle, savoury hazelnut flavours that work wonderfully with sweet deserts after dinner, or make a great morning drink that won't be overly bitter. This rich coffee is excellent in all your favourite filtered drinks, and really comes alive when hot, creamy milk is added and the flavours blend. We do not recommend the use of our flavoured coffees in Bean-to-Cup coffee machines, as some built-in grinders may struggle with the oil-based flavourings used. Manual ...
From £16.99★★★★★76 Review(s) - Colombian Supremo CoffeeThe excellent Medellin Excelso used in our Colombian Supremo is grown in rich volcanic soil for a smooth, medium strength coffee that reveals lovely, well balanced and nutty flavours and plenty of heavy body, making it equally ideal for filter coffees and cafetieres. Coffee was likely first introduced to Colombia in 1723, slowly spreading as a commercial crop to various regions of the country and becoming a significant product for the country by the end of the 19th century. By 1912, coffee ...
From £14.99★★★★★34 Review(s) - Guatemala CoffeeThe rich, volcanic mineral soils, ample rainfall, and the perfect humidity, altitude and temperature of Guatemala help to produce some of the finest coffees in the world. The majority of Guatemalan coffees are grown in andisol: young, fertile soil that is formed from volcanic ash and lava, providing the ideal conditions for coffee growth when combined with the most suitable temperatures of 60 to 90 degrees F. Roasted to order, our Guatemala coffee offers a medium strength and a strong, full ...
From £14.99★★★★★52 Review(s) - Yemeni Matari CoffeeFrom north Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula, comes one of the truly exotic coffees of the world - Yemeni Mattari, the famed Mocha coffee which has been acclaimed for generations for its distinctive chocolate aftertaste. Yemen produces some of the best coffee in the world, despite very difficult conditions, and it has been doing so for hundreds of years. Only 3% of Yemen's land is considered arable, and just under a quarter of that is dedicated to coffee production. As a cash crop, coffee is ...
From £25.99★★★★★93 Review(s) - French Style Coffee with ChicoryFrench Style Coffee with Chicory replicates the unique characteristics of a beverage invented a long time ago. Made with a mix of two parts ground coffee and one part roasted, ground chicory, this delicious blend produces a full-bodied cup with a rich intensity of flavour. The roots of the chicory plant yield a slightly woody, nutty taste that complements the coffee well. In France, the practice of blending coffee with chicory became popular during Napoleonic times, and was soon adopted in ...
From £13.99★★★★★69 Review(s)
Taking the plunge: your complete guide to cafetiere coffee
Underrated, affordable and fuss-free, cafetiere coffee is by far the easiest type of coffee to brew at home. Requiring very little equipment, the device (which is also known as a French press), gives you more control over the strength of your coffee and creates a delicious, well-bodied and thick textured brew.
While the cafetiere is easy-to-use, when it comes to this brewing method, common misconceptions and mistakes often stand in the way of a tasty brew. We're yet to come across anyone who enjoys the gritty taste of sludge that results from a poorly made serve.
Our below guide will equip you with everything you need to know about how to make perfect cafetiere coffee at home, from step-by-step brewing instructions to how to get the optimum grind for your French press.
The java jargon decoder
Here are a few terms that may come in handy as we explore coffee for cafetiere.
- Extraction - The process of brewing (aka grounds dissolving into water).
- Overextracted - When you extract too many soluble particles in the coffee, leaving you with a bitter-tasting brew.
- Grind size - The size of particles once you've ground your coffee. The scale ranges from extra coarse to very fine. Unfortunately, there's no universal setting for grind size, so a quick Google image search will help you determine if you've got your grind size right.
- Ratio - The amount of ground coffee used vs the amount of water used.
- Blend - A combination of two or more different single-origin coffee beans that are mixed to create a new flavour.
A little history
Seeing as the cafetiere is also known as a French press, it comes as no surprise that the design originates from France. Patented in 1852 by French duo Mayer and Delforge, the 'infusion Coffee Maker' was the first of its kind, comprising of the essential components we know so well today - a pot with a metal filter attached to a rod.
This first machine was incredibly flawed and a good cup of coffee it certainly did not make. The mesh filter couldn't be manufactured with enough precision to fit into the pot, clinging to the sides and causing grounds to slip past the filter. However, with the fundamentals in place, the cafetiere's design has continuously been tweaked to improve its performance - from Attilio Calimani's added sealing in 1929, right up to the two-stage, microfilter of Espro Press's precision brewer in 2018.
Today, there are thousands of different cafetieres to choose from, with main categories including stainless steel, plastic, glass, ceramic and hybrid. Each device has its pros and cons but is a world away from the original 1852 prototype and give you all you need to make perfect cafetiere coffee with a single piece of equipment.
How is cafetiere coffee made?
A coffee cafetiere is an infusion brewer, that consists of three main components - a carafe/pot, plunger and lid. Unlike filter brewers or Moka pots (where water passes through the grounds), cafetiere coffee is created by allowing the coffee grounds and the water to steep together in the pot. The plunger then drives a mesh filter through the brewing water, pushing small insoluble particles to the bottom of the pot.
There are lots of benefits of opting for cafetiere brews. Steeping coffee helps produce a more uniform extraction, and the process allows a little oil and small particles to flow through, creating a vibrant body and texture. You have a higher level of control over how strong or weak you'd like your coffee and in terms of ease and affordability, there's also no need for additional equipment such as paper filters or cloths.
The biggest downside to cafetiere coffee is its infamous sludge - the gritty residue you can find at the bottom of your cup. Due to the large meshing of the plunger, some particles can still come through into your pour and when drunk, are bitter with an unpleasant and sandy texture.
What's important to remember is by following the correct grinding instructions, using the right brewing methods and taking care of your equipment, you can counteract many of these negative elements, in particular, learning how to make cafetiere coffee without the dreaded sludge ruining your drink.
The secret to great cafetiere coffee? Get the grind right
For this brew method, we always advise going for coarser grounds and generally advise on a medium-coarse grind. It's important to note, however, that darker roasts tend to be more brittle, so your grind size will need to be a little coarser. Conversely, coffee from higher altitudes can sometimes need to be ground to a finer texture.
If the world of grinding sounds daunting or complicated, don't worry. Having delivered coffee directly to doors for over 30 years, our team are experts on producing the optimum grind for each of our roasts. Plus, we have over 100 different types of cafetiere coffee for you to choose from. Simply select the 'Cafetiere' grind option when adding our coffees to your basket, and we'll do the work.
How to use a cafetiere: your step by step brewing guide
- Ratio: 1 x heaped tablespoon per cup, measuring out at 7g per 120-150ml of water.
- Grind: Medium-coarse (your grounds should look like superfine sugar).
- Equipment: Cafetiere, kettle, coffee.
Brewing instructions:
- Preheat your device with hot water or boiling water to encourage a more consistent steep temperature throughout your brewing process. Make sure to pour this hot water away before adding coffee or new water.
- Grind your beans to a medium-coarse consistency or get your pre-ground beans.
- Boil a kettle of either filtered water (if you live in a soft to moderately hard water area) or bottled mineral water (if you live in a hard water area).
- To get your ratios right, place your cafetiere on your scales and weigh out precisely the right amount of coffee per serve.
- Pour your boiling water into the cafetiere while it's still on the scales. Remember 1g equates to 1ml. Try to get all the grounds wet (gooseneck kettles are handy for this step).
- Give your brew a quick stir with a dessert spoon to agitate the particles, then steep for 4 minutes.
- After four minutes, you'll be able to see a crust-like foam form on the top layer. Use your spoon to stir the crust slowly. Most of the coffee should then fall to the bottom of the pot, but if there's any remaining foam, make sure to use the same spoon to skim it off.
- Wait another 4 minutes to allow as many particles as possible to settle at the bottom of your device.
- Place your lid on top and slowly press the plunger entirely down.
- And you're ready to pour! If you're serving more than one cup, we advise pouring a little into each cup and topping up until full.
The best coffee for cafetieres
UK coffee companies usually have up to 12 varieties suitable for cafetieres. We have over 100. You can browse our wide selection here and take a look at some of our customer favourites below.
Monsoon Malabar Coffee
Often described as 'delicious' with a 'magic aroma', our Monsoon Malabar is the perfect everyday coffee. Grown in Malabar (one of the wettest regions of southern India), once our beans are picked they're immediately transported to an open warehouse for four to five months. This process exposes the beans to the harsh, moist conditions of the monsoon prone area, filling them with moisture and reducing acidity. The result is a heavy-bodied coffee with a distinctive chocolatey, spicy and nutty aroma.
“Exquisite proper coffee. Monsoon Malabar blend has been our favourite for some years. We appreciate a good coffee with ample strength and chocolatey undertones, but absolutely no bitterness. This one is the perfect smooth choice for those who are very particular about their coffee.”
Nona B. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kenya Blue Mountain Coffee
Grown from seeds originating in Jamaica, this blend has all the natural sweetness of Blue Mountain Jamaica with the rich aromatic flavours and intensity of Kenyan coffee. Full-bodied, with good acidity drawn from Kenyan soils, your brew will give you notes of nut and citrus with a delicious caramel aftertaste.
“This was something my mum drank when we visited her. I just could never get my coffee to taste or smell like hers and then she bought us some beans. It was life-changing - now we drink nothing else. This really is about the best coffee on the market at a reasonable price and we love it.”
Chris P. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dark Decaffeinated Colombian Coffee
Dark Decaffeinated Columbian is one of our best-selling decaf roasts. With beans that give you luxurious flavours such as sweet fruit and chocolate, you can enjoy a full-bodied, full-flavoured cup of coffee without a caffeine buzz that will keep you up at night.
“Excellent. I love my coffee dark and strong tasting but I have to have decaf. With this, I can have both! Best I've tasted.”
Maldwyn P. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FAQs
How much coffee to put in a cafetiere?
To start with, work out the capacity of your device. Place it on your scales and fill it with water until it reaches just below the spout. Remember, 1ml equals 1g, so you just divide the number of your scale reading by 20 to work out how many grams of coffee to add. The ratio we recommend is one heaped tablespoon per cup, measuring out at 7g per 120-150ml of water (this is more accurate than using measurements such as one scoop etc.).
How long should cafetiere coffee infuse for?
We recommend 4 minutes. Any longer than this and your coffee will be over-extracted and taste bitter. If you want a stronger coffee, it's better to add more of the ground coffee rather than steeping it for longer.
Can you use filter coffee in cafetieres?
Filter coffee requires finer grinds, which aren't ideal for the large holes in the appliance's meshing. Similarly, grounds for espresso machine brewing will be even finer and will not be suitable for this type of coffee making. Always opt for a coarser grind for this brewing method if you want to avoid a gritty and weak brew.