Someone gave me a french press...

A medium or filter ground coffee is best. Espresso type is too fine and will clog and pass through the mesh. You can use any blend of coffee you like. Mine holds 800-900ml (just under four American cups) and I use four heaped soup spoon/dessert spoons which gives quite a strong coffee. You can always use less coffee or dilute it with hot water if you prefer it weaker. It is somewhat quicker and less fuss than making filter coffee. One simply has to boil the kettle, put coffee in the press, add the water when boiling put on the plunger and lid, wait for 3 minutes or so and then slowly push the plunger down. Be sure to apply a positive but fairly gentle pressure directly downwards. I have scalded myself badly in the past by applying too much pressure and knocking the jug over! If it seems too hard to press down, it is because the grounds have clogged the mesh. Lift the plunger up and try again. Provided you use plenty of water (and the trap and wastepipe are clean to start with), it is quite OK, I find, to wash the used grounds down the sink.