Contents
- Best Coffee for French Press - Top 7 Picks
- 1. Lifeboost Organic Medium Roast Coffee - Our Top Pick
- 2. Kona Peaberry Dark Roast Coffee - Best Dark Roast
- 3. Peet's Coffee Major Dickason's Blend - Also Great
- 4. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee - Best Medium Roast
- 5. Lion Coffee - Best Flavored Coffee
- 6. Coffee Bros Medium Roast - Also Consider
- 7. Koffee Kult Coffee Beans
- How to Choose the Best Coffee for French Press - Buyer's Guide
- FAQ: French Press Coffee Beans
The french press is a simple brew method that creates a complex, delicious cup.
Choosing the best coffee for french press means minding details you may not consider with other brew methods. The fastest way to accidentally brew a cup of bitter sludge in the French press is by using the wrong beans or grind size!
Read on to learn how to choose the perfect coffee for a balanced cup that is rich and sweet til the last drop.
OUR TOP PICK
It’s in the details! Organic, clean, fair trade, low-acid. Delicious medium roast has rich berry and nutty flavor, perfectly extracted by the French press. They even offer a money back guarantee, so you can see for yourself why this is the best coffee.
Best Coffee for French Press - Top 7 Picks
These are the best coffee beans recommended for french press brewing. Let's dive in!
OUR TOP PICK
| OUR TOP PICK | Lifeboost Medium Roast |
| CHECK PRICE → |
BEST DARK ROAST 
| BEST DARK ROAST | Kona Peaberry Dark Roast Coffee |
| CHECK PRICE → |
ALSO GREAT 
| ALSO GREAT | Peet's Coffee Major Dickason's Blend |
| CHECK PRICE → |
MEDIUM ROAST 
| MEDIUM ROAST | Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee |
| CHECK PRICE → |
Flavored Coffee 
| Flavored Coffee | Lion Coffee |
| CHECK PRICE → |
Also Consider  | Also Consider | Coffee Bros Medium Roast |
| View on Amazon → |
 | Koffee Kult Coffee Beans |
| View on Amazon → |
1. Lifeboost Organic Medium Roast Coffee - Our Top Pick
Features:
- Organic, Fair trade or Direct Trade
- Shade grown single origin - South America
- Low acid
- 100% money back guarantee
As you know, being the best is about the details. We’ve sung the praises for Lifeboost before, and truly think it is a special coffee.
They offer three different roasts, and our pick for French Press is the medium roast. Lifeboost is organic, shade grown (bird friendly!), single-origin coffee that is sun-dried and spring water washed. About as pure as coffee can get!
This coffee is free of pesticides and mycotoxins. This is important because the french press has no paper filter and the coffee beans are not removed from the device when serving, so you want to avoid any of that in your cup!
As for flavor: shade-grown in South America, it has a delicious sweet and nutty flavor profile that pairs excellently with the French Press. Dark roasted coffees can be overwhelming and oily with this method, and lighter roasts are a little more finicky to brew.
But perhaps the best part of this coffee is that it is low-acid. This makes the coffee easy on the digestion and teeth, so you can drink daily without worrying. And, they offer a 100% money back guarantee if you don’t like it! C’est bonne!
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
This ‘clean’ coffee promises low-acid, making it a wise, healthy choice for your daily cup.
2. Kona Peaberry Dark Roast Coffee - Best Dark Roast
Features:
- Dark Roast
- Peaberry has zippy quality to it
- Blend, Product of USA- Hawaii
- Whole bean
A Kona peaberry might be one of the rarest coffee beans in the world, but does it mean it’s good? The reviews of this coffee say yes, the unique flavor of these beans is some of the best coffee connoisseurs have ever had.
Here, we recommend the dark roast, because the peaberry has a naturally zippy flavor that is smoothed out with a darker roast. Kona coffee is known for being rich, a character best brought out by the french press method.
The french press method is all about taking time and savoring the coffee, so it makes sense you would want to start with something really rare and special. This is a perfect coffee to treat yourself on the last day of a project. Or maybe you are sharing coffee with a friend you haven’t seen in a while and you want to make them a really special cup!
Kona coffee from Hawaii is just about the only way to taste coffee grown on American soil, not to mention coffee grown on an island has a far different flavor than mountain coffee.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
Brewing this coffee in a french press is like serving a rare pot of gold!
3. Peet's Coffee Major Dickason's Blend - Also Great
Features:
- A time-honored bestseller
- Dark roast, rich smooth and complex
- Blend
- Available whole bean or ground for french press
The French love a time-honored classic. Peet’s has been a go-to coffee spot for 50 years now.
This coffee is a bestseller that, as they say, “epitomizes Peet's: flavorful, deeply roasted, and unsurpassingly satisfying.”
This coffee has been a favorite since the 1970s, which means it has been brewed countless ways. Their website even recommends it for the french press! Blended coffees tend to have a more stable flavor profile from year to year, so you can expect to be drinking this one for a long time.
This coffee is roasted to order with same-day shipping, which means it will arrive extremely fresh at your doorstep. The fresher the coffee, the stronger aroma and flavor in your french press!
Also: there’s a cute story! It’s named after a retired army officer who worked with Mr. Peet to create his ideal cup of joe. So, you’ve got a story to share with friends when you brew this one.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
A tried and true favorite is a great pick for your everyday french press, and is a crowd-pleaser if you intend to share.
4. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Coffee - Best Medium Roast
Features:
- Organic
- Single origin, heirloom
- Medium roast
- Roasted to order
Ethiopia is recognized as the birthplace of coffee, where the goat-herder Kaldi famously witnessed his goats dancing after eating coffee berries. Any true lover of coffee must experience heirloom Ethiopia beans at least once in their life!
Surprisingly, Ethiopian coffee is hit-or-miss due to its fruity nature. The coffees have a strong strawberry or blueberry jam undertone that may not be immediately recognized as coffee for those not in the know. But oh, is it delicious!
Volcanica offers an Ethiopian coffee as an approachable medium roast. The Yirgacheffe varietal has won many awards in the coffee world due to its delicious juicy strawberry and cocoa flavor notes.
Like the Peet’s this coffee is roasted to order and will arrive fresh as can be. This coffee is a true treat in the french press and goes great with just a touch of cream.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
If you haven’t tried an Ethiopian coffee in the French Press, buy this now!
5. Lion Coffee - Best Flavored Coffee
Features:
- Toasted Coconut flavor
- Light/medium roast
- Great iced and hot
- USA grown, Hawaiian coffee
Like our last coffee, Lion Coffee’s Toasted Coconut Coffee is a taste for the curious -- or for those who just plain love coconut!
This coffee has a solid 5 stars on their website, with users claiming it to have “just the right amount of coconut”. Lion is another well-established coffee company, with roots in Honolulu back to 1979.
As we mentioned earlier, light roast coffees may be more difficult to perfect in the french press. Because this is a medium-light roast coffee with creamy, nutty flavor added in, this coffee will come out very balanced and with an aroma that will fill your whole house.
This is another coffee great for entertaining. After a big meal with friends, you can bring out your beautiful french press and serve this coffee like a dessert. Then your guests will stay awake for hours of good conversation, and you may even find yourself planning an island vacation!
Maybe you’re the only person in the house who loves toasted coconut? Then you can brew this coffee double strength in your french press and pour over ice. Add a splash of coconut milk for a creamy getaway in the afternoon.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
If you’re looking for a fun and flavorful hot or iced french press coffee, try this one.
6. Coffee Bros Medium Roast - Also Consider
Features:
- 100% arabica blend from Brazil, Ethiopia, and Colombia
- Medium roast
- Ethically sourced
- Whole bean
- Traditional flavor notes of berry and hazelnuts with balanced body and acidity
Coffee Bros is a young brand, started in late 2019 by two brothers who wanted to bring fresh, quality coffee to Amazon. They source and roast the coffee themselves, offering seasonal coffees. This means they buy and roast one season at a time.
An advantage of working with smaller coffee roasters is they buy smaller lots of green coffee and roast through it quickly-- this means your unroasted coffee hasn’t been sitting around a warehouse for years. After roasting, the coffee is specially packaged and sent to Amazon warehouse, so it is available on Prime!
Coffee Bros defines itself by ethical sourcing practices. They even plant one tree for every 5 bags of coffee sold.
Coffee Bros offers about 10 blends online, but our pick is the medium roast Signature Blend. The flavors in this blend fit the profile we are looking for in a good french press coffee-- fruity and nutty, with a balanced body. Due to their standard of freshness, this coffee will also produce a great aroma.
Not only will you get a great flavor and aroma, you can feel good knowing you helped the environment and bought from a small family business. If you are looking for a coffee to taste as good as it makes you feel-- this is it!
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
This is a solid choice for a feel-good coffee. Its berry, nutty flavor profile will do great in a french press, and you’re helping a family business plant trees!
Features:
- Dark Roast Specialty Coffee
- Organic
- Whole bean from Colombia, Guatemala and Sumatra
- Family owned and operated
- Roasted in an environmentally friendly facility
- Larger sizes available
Our last coffee on the list is certainly not the least. Koffee Kult is putting out some exciting coffee, especially for french press. A dark roast is similar to a french roast and will give that thick, chocolatey flavor that the French love.
Sometimes coffee is roasted dark to cover up a dull flavor in the bean itself. Koffee Kult takes care to source some of the top organic specialty coffee beans in the game. You don’t have to sacrifice high quality for good dark roasted flavor!
And while the coffee is organic, they don’t need to brag about it as a point of sale. The coffee speaks for itself. The blend of arabica beans from colombia, guatemala and Sumatra is rainforest friendly and roasted in an environmentally friendly facility. Like some of the other coffees on this list, this coffee is roasted to order and shipped that day.
Also, like Coffee Bros, Koffee Kult is a growing family run business. They are based in South Florida but you only have to go to Amazon to buy their beans. A bonus-- they even have a 5lb bulk option, so you can save even more!
THE GOOD
THE BAD
What's the Bottom Line?
This is a super high quality, freshly-roasted dark roast coffee to give that classic french roast flavor.
How to Choose the Best Coffee for French Press - Buyer's Guide
In order to get the full “French” experience of the French press, we recommend operating by these French principles.
Is it fresh?
Every coffee company is going to tell you their coffee is fresh. But how fresh is ‘fresh’?
Some roasters offer same-day roasting and shipping, while others do not even include roast date on the product. If you’re going to add cream and sugar, or even make it iced, having the absolute freshest coffee may not be the most important factor in making a tasty cup.
See our tips for best storage containers to keep coffee fresh here.
Can you savor the taste?
J’adore flavor! The French press is a method to savor, so you want to love the flavor. Choose a coffee with flavor you know you like.
As mentioned above, light roasts don’t fare as well in the french press.The traditional “french roast” is heavy and chocolatey, a flavor profile that is adored by some but “too much” for others. If you’re looking for more diner-style or a drip coffee vibe from your brew, stick with a medium roast.
A liter french press is like a bottle of wine, a perfect sharing size that leads to good conversation. If you find yourself making coffee for others quite often, you may want to opt to keep around some delicious but economical beans. However, if cost is no issue, by all means use this opportunity to treat your friends to some of the world’s finest coffee!
What’s on the label?
Certifications are important, but taste is just as important. When you see labels like organic, fair trade, rainforest alliance, etc. you will certainly be getting a ‘feel good’ product. But, it doesn’t necessarily mean the coffee is going to be a high quality.
Excellent coffee can be grown organically on small farms that don’t have the extra cash to go through the certification process. Also, some brands may use the certification labels to justify a mediocre flavor. Still, organic coffee is undoubtedly better for health and the planet.
Who roasted this?
Last, you may be interested in using your dollars to support small or family run businesses. A larger, well-known roaster has the benefit of consistent, cost-effective offerings. Smaller roasters may buy and roast smaller coffee crops that have flavors that are a little funkier. It’s good to experience both!
L'histoire de la presse
Did you know the “french press” was designed in Italy as a tomato juice separator?
The coffee maker version of this device was filed in France in 1924, so we call it the french press pot! Outside of North America, the device may be called a coffee press, coffee plunger, cafetière, and even “stamp pot”. “Coffee press” just doesn’t have the same je ne sais quoi.
With a French press, users are transported to the drizzly streets of Paris where they are sipping their morning coffee at an outdoor cafe, reading the newspaper and expecting friends.
In French schools, children receive “food education” in order to develop their palate.
They are taught to value fresh food, eating and drinking slowly, and sharing meals with friends.
The French prefer thick, black coffee (thus the famed “french roast!”). This is part of their cultural appreciation for strong flavor. You don’t necessarily need to buy a French Roast to enjoy a French Press. In fact, the unique brewing style of this device works with all kinds of coffees.
FAQ: French Press Coffee Beans
Can you use regular ground coffee for French press?
The french press method is best used with coarse-ground coffee (about the size of raw brown sugar). The longer contact time between grounds and water works best with a coarser grind, but if you have pre-ground coffee that is a bit finer, try adjusting your “steep” time to be a little shorter. All of the coffees listed either come whole bean or you can request them to be ground specifically for french press.
Does French press make stronger coffee?
Stronger coffee is relative-- it depends on how much coffee you use to start with, and how long you brew the coffee. French press can easily make stronger coffee because you can put as much as you like. French press coffee often tastes stronger because it has a heavier body. The smallest particles sneak through the filter and even make the coffee in the cup appear cloudy.
What is the purpose of a coffee press?
The french press is an easy way to make bulk strong coffee without using much electricity. It is easy to clean and fun to put on the breakfast table like a teapot and serve to friends.
How long should I leave my coffee in my french press / Can I leave coffee in my french press overnight?
It depends on the grind size, but 4 minutes is the standard brew time for french press. You can easily utilize a french press to make cold brew, by letting grounds and water steep overnight (do not press the plunger down till morning!). Be sure to clean your french press thoroughly after leaving it overnight to avoid buildup of coffee oils.
What should I look for in a french press?
See our buying guide here. A good, sturdy plunger that comes apart easily to clean. A durable pitcher body-- a stainless steel or ceramic body is great for maintaining even temperature throughout the brew. But also -- make sure it’s one you like looking at! There are so many fun colors and shapes nowadays, a lot less mechanical looking than they used to be.
A Few Final Words
You want the best coffee for your french press. You bought it because you wanted a classic, time-honored brew method that can be shared. You even like that it’s “french”. Now make sure you select a coffee that fits these values. Will you purchase something delicious but practical for every day? Or a special indulgence?
Additional Resources from DrippedCoffee:
