When it comes to french press, it is a common practice to grind coffee beans before steeping coffee, but if you want higher quality coffee and don’t have the time to grind your own beans, what are you to do?
Yes, you can use Folgers coffee or any other instant coffee in a french press. The french press is designed for coarse ground coffee rather than fine ground instant coffee, but it is still possible to brew instant coffee in a french press.
Instant coffee is much more versatile than it gets credit for. Not only can you use it in a french press, but you can use it to create different types of coffee using various techniques.
On the other hand, the french press is known to incredibly improve the quality and taste of your morning cup while also giving you more control over taste than traditional drip machine.
There are, however, some really important things to take into account before using folgers in French press.
How To Make Folgers Coffee In A French Press
The steps to using folgers in french press are nearly identical to the step you would use if you wanted to use coffee beans.
You can choose to warm a small amount of water to prep your beaker, but it is perfectly fine if if you skip this step.
Bring some water to a boil. While the water is boiling, measure out your desired amount of coffee grounds and add it to the beaker.
Once the water is boiling, remove it from the heat and allow it to sit for about 30 seconds.
After the water has cooled down, carefully pour it on the coffee grounds. Stir the water and grounds together. Allow the coffee to steep for a while.
You may notice a crust of grounds at the surface of the liquid.
You can handle the crust in one of two ways. If you want a fuller taste to your coffee, simply stir the grounds into the liquid again until they fall to the bottom of your beaker. If you want a lighter taste remove the crust with a spoon.
Then cover the beaker with the lid and the plunger. Slowly depress the plunger. You must take this step slowly particularly because you are using pre-ground folgers coffee.
This means the grounds will likely be finer than the grounds you would normally use for a french press.
This ironically may cause a blockage in the mesh used to separate the grounds from the liquid which will make it more difficult for you to depress the plunger.
Once you have fully depressed the plunger, you are ready to go! Pour and enjoy.
Using Folgers in French Press: The Correct Ratio
A key difference between a drip machine and a french press is that the coffee grounds and the water spend a different amount of time in contact which affects how your coffee is flavored.
For a traditional drip machine, the water is run through the grounds once, making the roast of the grounds the driving factor in the flavor of your coffee.
However, a french press utilizes steeping.
The coffee grounds are allowed to mix with the water, and the water is flavored by the coffee grounds over time. This makes the amount of coffee grounds that you use very important.
Therefore, the coffee-to-water ratio that you need to use depends on the preference you have for the flavor of your coffee and the size of your french press.
If you are unsure about your desired flavor, a 1:12 ratio is a good place to start.
This will give you a mild brew strength and a good place to gauge your preference for your French press coffee.
It will be strong enough for you to add your desired creamer and sugar, but it has a delicate enough taste for experimentation.
In order to know how much Folgers to put in your french press, you also need to know the size of your french press or how much water your french press can hold.
For a medium roast, a 12 oz. (3 cups) french press needs 10 oz. (300mL) of water and 4 Tbsp (23g) of coffee.
A 34 oz (8 cups) french press would need 30 oz (900mL) of water and 15 Tbsp (68g) of coffee.
How To Make Folgers Coffee Taste Good
There are many different ways that you can make your run-of-the-mill coffee taste like it’s straight out of a cafe.
It’s not completely uncommon for those who enjoy coffee to drink their coffee black, meaning without any cream or sugar.
But, if you are someone who needs a little flavor to their coffee or needs ideas on how to spice up their daily cup of joe, here you go.
Switch Up Your Creamer or Sweetener
With budgeting and the regular rush of life, it is easy to get stuck in a routine even down to your coffee.
If you are someone who uses milk as creamer in their coffee, consider using actual coffee creamer.
If you are feeling particularly adventurous, there are plenty of flavored coffee creamers out there for you to try.
Just as there are a number of ways to switch up your usual creamer, there are just as many ways to switch up your sweetener.
There are liquid sweeteners, organic sweeteners, low-calorie sweeteners, you name it!
Try Your Coffee Chilled
Hot coffee is not the only enjoyable way to drink your coffee.
There are plenty of “cool” options for you to test out.
For the beginner, a good start is to just add ice to your regular cup of coffee.
If you want to avoid watering down your coffee, you need to do a little bit of preparation.
Brew your coffee as normal and pour it into a container or cup with a lid. It is important that you add the sugar while the coffee is warm, especially if you are using solid sugar.
If you mix solid sugar in cold coffee, you are almost sure to get grains of undissolved sugar when you go to drink your coffee.
Put your coffee somewhere where it can chill for a couple of hours, overnight if you can. Once your coffee is chilled, add your creamer and ice and enjoy!
What Kind Of Coffee Does Folgers Use?
Folgers has a diverse lineup of coffee grounds that they manufacture and sell, and this diversity is reflected in the coffee beans that they use.
The company imports its coffee beans from several different countries in Central America, Africa, and even Asia.
Because they outsource the coffee beans used in their coffee grounds from so many different countries and continents, Folgers rely heavily on the efforts of local farmers and harvesters for their product.
The beans are processed and packaged for shipping overseas and imported to the United States for roasting and commercial packaging. Folgers’ singular roasting facility is located in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This is about as much information that you will find about the process that Folgers coffee goes through to get to your local grocery store.
The official Folgers website has a great section about sustainability and the early history of the company, but even other sources have little to no knowledge of the manufacturing process.
Folgers is a very prominent coffee company but it is not the only one on the market. Another household coffee brand that you may be familiar with is Maxwell House.
Just like Folgers, it is hard to find much information about the manufacturing process that the company uses to produce their grounds.
However, we can know for certain that the beans used in their coffee are grown overseas and imported to the US due to the climate requirements to grow coffee beans.
Unlike Folgers though, Maxwell House does not offer much information about the journey from plant to pot that their coffee takes on their official website.
In fact, the official Maxwell House website has a list of their products, a few recipes, and not much else.
If you look through the Wikipedia page for the company you will find the detailed history of the company, but nothing major about the manufacturing process.
Can You Use Folgers Coffee In A Keurig
Yes, you can use Folgers in a Keurig too.
Regular drip coffee machines are made for pre-ground coffee like Folgers.
Keurigs are made to take pop-in cups, but you can also use refillable cups for pre-ground coffee.
The company manufactures and sells reusable cups that are compatible with their machines. If you do not own a reusable cup or can not buy one for whatever reason, Folgers makes coffee pods that are compatible with Keurig.
Can You Make Folgers Coffee Without Coffee Maker
You can definitely make Folgers coffee without a coffee maker!
Coffee makers were not always around and people have been brewing drinks for years.
As long as you have a stovetop or some way of heating water, you can make coffee. You don’t even need a paper filter!
The simplest way you can brew coffee without a machine is by using a pot and stove.
You can mix and boil the coffee grounds together in a pot over heat.
Once the coffee is brewed to your liking, you can pour off the liquid into a mug, leaving the grounds in the pot.
Can You Make Folgers Coffee Without Coffee Maker
You can definitely make Folgers coffee without a coffee maker!
Coffee makers were not always around and people have been brewing drinks for years.
As long as you have a stovetop or some way of heating water, you can make coffee. You don’t even need a paper filter!
The simplest way you can brew coffee without a machine is by using a pot and stove.
You can mix and boil the coffee grounds together in a pot over heat.
Once the coffee is brewed to your liking, you can pour off the liquid into a mug, leaving the grounds in the pot.
Can Folgers Coffee Be Used In A Percolator
Percolators are perfectly compatible with Folgers pre-ground coffee.
Just like a drip machine, a percolator allows the warm water to flow through the grounds to get its flavor instead of steeping the grounds in the water.
There are two types of percolators that you can use: stovetop and electric. The two work in about the same fashion though, and as you might expect, the electric is much more refined than the stovetop.
The percolator works by heating water in its vessel until it moves up the vertical tube and into the basket where the coffee grounds are.
The water will move through the grounds and basket and fall back into the vessel. This process will continue until the machine is removed from the heat source.
Now, this process of recirculation is where the two types differ.
The stovetop has no automated processes so the water will keep circulating through the grounds until you remove the percolator from the stovetop.
It is common for the coffee to burn, so it is important that you watch the stovetop percolator as it’s brewing.
The electric percolator attempts to solve the problem of burned coffee by only warming a small area of the bottom of the vessel.
Less of the coffee is exposed to direct heat which lowers the chances of it burning.
The electric percolator has a temperature regulator which trunks off the machine once the liquid reaches a certain temperature.
At this point, the electric will switch from a brewing mode to a warming mode.
Can You Use Folgers Coffee For Whipped Coffee
Yes, you can absolutely use Folgers instant coffee to make whipped coffee.
In order to make whipped coffee using folgers, you will need a bowl, drinking glass, sugar, measuring utensils, and a whisk.
For this recipe, either a manual or electric whisk will work.
- In a bowl, measure and mix equal parts of coffee, sugar, and hot water.
- Whip the mixture until it becomes thick and creamy.
- Fill the drinking glass a little past halfway with milk and scoop the whipped coffee into the top of the glass.
For a single serving, try adding a tablespoon of each ingredient.
The coffee ground, water, and sugar proportions are essential to creating the whipped consistency, but I would encourage you to experiment with the proportion of whipped coffee to milk.
Final Thoughts
The average coffee drinker may not give much attention to how coffee is made. Drip coffee machines are very compatible with busy lives after all.
But there are so many wonderful techniques and machines that enhance our run-of-the-mill coffee experience.
That being said, elevating the quality of your coffee doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice the convenience of instant coffee.
Though french presses are designed to brew coffee with grounds that are more coarse than the ones you would get from an instant coffee company, with a little creativity and some adjustments, you can really improve your coffee more than you realize!
Share this article with a friend who you think may be in need of a french press or a fresh take on their morning cup!
