Ground Coffee for French Press (Cafetière) & Plunger
Cafetière, plunger, French press - three names for the same brewer, and all three need the same coarse, even grind. Here's why and how to buy for it.
If you've searched for "ground coffee for cafetière" or "ground coffee for plunger" and landed here, the short version is: you're looking for French press coffee, just under a different name. Cafetière is the term used in the UK and much of Europe; plunger is the common term in Australia and New Zealand; French press is the American term. All three describe the exact same brewer - a cylindrical pot with a mesh plunger that presses the grounds to the bottom after steeping. The coffee you buy and the grind you ask for don't change based on which name you use.
Why the Grind Matters More Than the Name
A cafetière/plunger/French press works by full immersion: you add coarse grounds to the pot, pour hot water over them, let them steep for about four minutes, then press the plunger down to separate the grounds from the liquid. Because the mesh filter is relatively coarse (compared to paper filters), the grind size has to be coarse too - roughly the texture of breadcrumbs or coarse sea salt.
Use a fine grind in a cafetière and two things go wrong: fine particles slip past the mesh filter and end up as sludge in your cup, and the over-exposed surface area over-extracts during the long steep, making the coffee taste bitter and gritty rather than rich and clean.
Buying Coffee Beans or Ground Coffee for a Cafetière
Whether you're buying whole coffee beans for cafetière use and grinding at home, or buying pre-ground, ask for (or set your grinder to) a coarse, even grind. If a bag simply says "ground coffee" with no grind spec, it's most likely cut for drip machines - noticeably finer than what a plunger needs - and will give you a muddier, harsher cup than a proper coarse grind would.
Freshness matters here too, though less urgently than with a fine espresso grind: coarse grounds have less exposed surface area and stale a bit more slowly, but you'll still get a fuller, more aromatic cup from coffee ground within the last few weeks than from a bag that's been sitting for months.
Quick Method
- Use roughly 2 tablespoons (about 15g) of coarse grounds per cup of water - see our full ratio guide for scaling up.
- Pour water just off the boil over the grounds and stir once.
- Let it steep for about 4 minutes.
- Press the plunger down slowly and pour immediately - leaving coffee sitting on the grounds after pressing keeps extracting and turns bitter.
Related Reading
For the deeper brewing guide - ratios, steep time variations, and blend recommendations - see Best Coffee for French Press. For how much coffee to use per cup regardless of brewer, see How Much Ground Coffee Per Cup?.
Whatever you call your brewer - cafetière, plunger, or French press - the coffee it wants is identical: a coarse, even, reasonably fresh grind, steeped for about four minutes.