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See why.French Press Coffee Makers
French press coffee makers are not only elegant, but they also can potentially deliver a thicker, more full-bodied cup of coffee.
By Published Nov. 1, 2013
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What You Need To Know
The French press (or cafetière à piston, as the French call it) uses a piston-like mechanism to force ground coffee through hot water, sending the spent grounds to the bottom of the pot and leaving a full-bodied brew on top. Oily and thick from minute particles of the grind suspended in the brew, French press coffee is impossible to confuse with drip coffee.
But there are potential drawbacks: The mass of steeped coffee grounds creates pressure, making it hard to push down the filter, sometimes shattering glass pots or spewing coffee out of the pot’s spout. Also, heat escapes glass pots quickly. Some people dislike suspended coffee particles in their brew. And spent grounds are messy, wet, and hard to dislodge from the bottom of the pot when it’s time to clean up.
Recently, we’ve seen a number of French presses that promise to address these issues, so we rounded up six 8-cup models priced from about $25 to roughly $120, including our favorite traditional glass pot. We brewed and tasted pots of coffee, compared the coffees’ temperature after brewing, and cleaned the pots by hand. Would we be able to find the best French press coffee maker in our lineup?
Comparing Pot Designs and Performance
All the pots operated similarly. One model uses a two-layer fine-mesh filter in the shape of a basket, surrounded by a two-layer silicone gasket—modifications that kept fine sediment out of the coffee. Many tasters enjoyed its “smoother” cup, but others bemoaned its “thin” texture, complaining that the result was not much like French press coffee. Compared with other models that we tested, this model's big, basketlike filter was also a bit harder to press down—and fussier to clean. Two different pots received slightly lower overall ratings for coffee quality than others (with some complaints about bitterness, despite high marks for good body). (Presses that produced lesser-quality coffee were slightly downgraded.) Both of these pots use a mesh filter with a coiled spring around its perimeter to keep out grounds during pressing, rather than a silicone strip like newer models. But a third pot got high marks with the same traditional spring-style filter. The difference turned out to be the amount of “play” in the stem as you press: With more lateral movement, those two lesser pots let the filter tip slightly, allowing more grounds into the brew. Unlike other pots, these two also lacked a grille over the spout to capture larger particles as you pour.
Insulated pots kept the coffee hotter. The all-steel models in our lineup use double-walled insulation to retain heat, which also eliminated the risk of shattering. While purists say that flavor is ...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Heat Retention: 3 stars out of 3.
- Quality of Coffee: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use/Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
This thick, insulated pot was as simple to use as a traditional glass press, but it kept coffee hotter much longer. It’s also sturdier, with a round, comfortable handle. It took top honors in our tasting, producing coffee that tasters called “rich,” “rounded,” “nutty,” and “full-bodied.”
Recommended
- Heat Retention: 3 stars out of 3.
- Quality of Coffee: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use/Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
Some tasters found the texture of this coffee “a little thin” for French-press coffee: “Seems lighter, less full-bodied, less viscous.” That’s a result of its unique double filter, which prevents sediment from passing into the coffee, producing a “clean cup [with] no grit.” The big basketlike double filter, ringed by a grippy silicone gasket, was harder and slower than usual to press, and it was a bit more time-consuming to clean up around its nooks and crannies. But the solidly built, insulated steel pot kept coffee piping hot.
- Heat Retention: 1 stars out of 3.
- Quality of Coffee: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use/Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
Tasters praised the coffee from this classic pot: “good flavor, lots of sediment,” with a “pleasant” taste and a “slightly richer,” “not-too-thin texture.” It’s easy and straightforward to set up and clean. But the thin glass walls of this traditional press lost heat faster than insulated pots did. It does a great job if you’re drinking the coffee right away, but it cools off quickly.
- Heat Retention: 3 stars out of 3.
- Quality of Coffee: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use/Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
This handsome, sturdy, insulated pot kept coffee hot and was easy to use. Nevertheless, tasters rated the coffee as slightly more bitter than that of other top-rated pots, though still “very smooth” and “balanced,” with “a decent thickness.” Its filter was able to tip slightly as we pressed, letting more grounds into the brew; it also lacked a grille over the spout to hold back larger particles. The pot was especially easy to clean, due to its smooth, simple surfaces, which didn’t trap grounds or water.
Recommended with reservations
- Heat Retention: 1 stars out of 3.
- Quality of Coffee: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use/Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
While we liked the coffee made from this pot, its claim to fame is the innovative GroundsKeeper, which helps you pull spent grounds from the bottom of the carafe. However, this can still make a mess when the grounds are wet and slushy (tip: pull out the GroundsKeeper over the trash can). A steel sleeve over the glass pot does little to insulate; the temperature of the coffee dropped as quickly as that of other thin glass pots. The sleeve also trapped stray grounds and water, necessitating removal from the fragile glass pot for washing.
- Heat Retention: 1 stars out of 3.
- Quality of Coffee: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use/Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
This traditional-style press works fine but feels a little cheap compared with others in the lineup. The glass pot is very tightly fitted into the stainless-steel cage, making it hard to remove, although this usually isn’t necessary for routine cleaning. Its filter was able to wiggle and tip slightly as we pressed, letting more grounds through into the brew and making the coffee slightly bitter; it also lacked a grille over the spout to hold back larger particles. The thin glass pot cooled off fastest of the lineup; its lid has no deep collar or spout cover to help trap heat.
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.
Lisa McManus
Lisa is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, and gadget expert on TV's America's Test Kitchen.
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