I use a $5 nut milk bag instead, it lets me brew way more at once; I do 1/4 kilo grounds with 2 liters of water. It also has the benefit of reducing cafestol, which makes it healthier, according to some.
I often filter my french press cold brew after-the-fact with a paper filter to achieve this.
Huh? I don't plunge until after it brews, and the purpose of the plunge is just to keep the water out of the grounds from that point forward, to (essentially) stop the brewing process. Or so I thought
Anything that gets more small particles past your filter will add to your coffee's bitterness. This can happen when using a ground coffee that has a lot of fine particles, or if you agitate when you pour/plunge.
I have a french press for camping, it's fine but when I want that first cup of coffee and it's cold and rainy outside you better believe I'm not pressing it slowly.
Also my reaction the first time someone tried to tell me to plunge slower.
>Have to imagine the coarseness/evenness of your grind is a 10x bigger factor in that regard
100%. Plunge speed makes a minor difference at most, and only then when you have a suitably coarse and even grind.
If you want to play with the concept I think the best way is to prep a press, but instead of plunging the filter into the coffee before pouring, press it only to the top of the liquid and pour, allowing gravity to pull coffee through the filter. Pour a small cup like this, then press the rest of the way and pour another cup.
The original suggestion of plunging slowly and gently is entirely sensible, since it's the only variable available in the context.
But I realized less disturbing is better, and I started barely using the plunge - just to catch grounds when pouring.
After a while I went back to pour-over. The flavor is so much better - French press is now used for loose leaf tea and I have a lot more fun plunging.