Perfectly made Cafetiere (French press) coffee

Mrs Beeton, the 19th century cook and writer, famously started her recipe for rabbit pie with the line, “First catch your rabbit”. Well as I'm on the subject of coffee, rather than rabbits, I'll paraphrase Mrs. Beeton by starting with the line "first choose your coffee!" and if I may say so I would suggest that for starters you give our Daterra "sunrise" a try.

The most important elements about the coffee are 1. that it is fresh; in an ideal world this means buying coffee that is as near to its roasted date as possible (in the trade we call this its "born on date) and using it within a couple of days of opening the packet. If you're not lucky enough to have a speciality coffee roaster nearby, then your local supermarket will I guess have to do! The main thing is that you use the coffee as soon after you have opened the packet as possible, even a week is stretching it.

2. that it is ground correctly. Too fine and you're liable to take all night plunging the coffee and do yourself an injury, too coarse and the coffee will be like dish water; which is a great shame if you have paid a lot of money for your coffee.

The next thing is to ensure that you have warmed both the glass and metal elements of your cafetiere. Do this by pouring freshly boiled water into the cafetiere and raising and lowering the plunging part in the water. Pour the water away when done.

If you have a brand new cafetiere it's a good idea to make a pot of coffee first and throw it away. This will get rid of any metalic taste that you tend to get with new cafetieres.

Remove the plunging part of the cafetiere, and measure in the desired amount of coffee. This is always a difficult one, and you should experiment with different amounts to help you determine your preferred strength. A rule of thumb is around 7g for a decent sized cup, or 14g for a large mug. But remember this is only a starting guide.

Now boil some water, remember use freshly drawn water, the more oxygenated the better the infusion with the coffee.

Let the water calm down a bit and pour over the grounds in the cafetiere. We're looking for a temperature of around 88-92 degrees centigrade. Ensure as you pour that all the grounds are covered in water. Leave enough room for the plunger to rest on top of the coffee.

With truly fresh coffee you may need to tap the cafetiere gently on the surface to break the crust of coffee that forms, and then pour on more hot water.

Now place the plunger carefully on top of the coffee in the cafetiere, leaving the plunging handle fully raised. The clever bit here is to make sure that all the grounds remain beneath the plunging mesh. This, I can assure you is sometimes easier said than done!

Wait for around 4 minutes to allow the coffee to infuse properly. For larger cafetieres, you might like to stir the grounds around in the water to guarantee a proper infusion, prior to placing the plunger on the top of the coffee.

Once the time has elapsed, press down the plunger handle so that the grounds are taken to the bottom of the cafetiere.

Serve immediately into slightly warmed cups. If you take milk, ensure that it too is warmed. For a bit of luxury try some single cream.

With regard to sugar white or brown depending upon personal preference.

Enjoy!