Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
- You can brew coffee in a number of ways, but many caffeine addicts swear by the French Press method.
- Of all the French Presses we researched and tested, the Bodum Chambord is the best one you can buy with its glass and metal design that's as durable as it is beautiful.
Coffee brewing methods are many and varied — You have pourover, cold brew, classic espresso, and more. One of the most popular methods is the French Press, which lets your coffee grounds swirl around in boiling water to brew before you push the plunger down and pour the coffee right into your mug. There are dozens of great French Press coffee makers out there, but they're not all created equal.
We've researched the best ones and tested a few ourselves to find out which French Presses are the best you can buy. Before we get into our picks, let's get into important terms, things to look for in a French Press, and how these special coffee makers work.
What to look for in a French Press
- Glass French Presses: Glass carafes are gorgeous because you can watch the coffee brew and see the grounds go down as you plunge. They are more fragile, of course, so you should get one that's made out of borosilicate glass to avoid thermal shock and breakage. Most glass French Presses also have plastic or metal braces for added protection. Having a sturdy base is important, too.
- Stainless Steel French Presses: A double-walled design is key for stainless steel French Presses. Two walls will help keep the heat in and make for a better brew. You should also check for the quality of the stainless steel — 18/8 and 18/10 ratios of chromium to nickel are best. Stainless steel carafes are more durable, but you miss out on the fun visual element of glass French Presses.
- Plunger and handle design: The plunger keeps the grounds out of your cup of Joe, and the handle helps you keep the carafe steady as you push the plunger down. It's also key for pouring coffee into your cup. Most plungers have multiple metal screens to keep the grounds out of your coffee, including a large steel screen and a finer mesh screen to catch tinier particles. Some use a basket design, but most don't. The handle should be sturdy, strong, heat resistant, and not prone to breakage.
- Capacity: How much coffee do you want to make? French Presses come in different sizes, as do coffee mugs. It's best to look for a French Press with a capacity of one liter or more, depending on your needs. You can always fill a big carafe with less water, but you can't fill a smaller one with more, so bigger might be better. Take into consideration that many coffee mugs range is capacity from 8 to 16 ounces, so "cups of coffee" is a tricky metric to follow.
Here are the best French Presses of 2019:
- Best French Press overall: Bodum Chambord
- Best high-end French Press: Frieling Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press Coffee Maker
- Best stoneware French Press: Le Creuset French Press
- Best affordable stainless steel French Press: SterlingPro Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press
- Best travel-friendly French Press: Bodum Stainless-Steel Travel French Press Mug
- Best alternative French Press: AeroPress
Updated on 04/08/2019 by Malarie Gokey: Updated prices and formatting. Added a new pick — Le Creuset's French Press — based on testing.
Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.
SEE ALSO: The best espresso machines you can buy
The best French press overall
Why you’ll love it: There are many French Presses as simple, but few as elegant as the Bodum Chambord and its “form-follows-function” ethos.
Bodrum’s Chambord will, at least in my eyes, forever be the prototype to which all other French Presses are compared, and, unless you’re fussy about grit in the bottom of your mug or particularly accident-prone, it's almost certainly the French Press for you.
When I was growing up, my parents drank coffee from nothing else, and, apart from someone clumsily dropping one, I can’t ever remember a single thing going wrong, some 20 years, day in, day out.
Okay, so there’s not a lot to a French Press: stainless steel for the frame and plunger, a little polypropylene for the handle, and heat-resistant borosilicate for the carafe. If you want to jazz up your pot a little, consider the cork-topped plunger. Bodum, though a Danish company, makes its French Presses in Portugal, which is, after all, the cork capital of the world.
Reviews of the Bodum Chambord on Amazon are largely positive (about 3,000, rounding out to 4.2/5 stars), but a good number of them complain about the same thing: The stainless steel frame that holds the carafe in place is wont to warp over time, especially if you’re not careful when you remove the carafe. That would be more or less fine if the plastic handle weren’t supported by it on one side with no fastener.
As a result, the handle tends to slip out of the frame once it’s been bent, and that’s how catastrophe takes place. I’ve noticed this myself and had one or two close calls over the years, but I was able to bend it back into place which, touch wood, has held. Still, it’s certainly an inconvenience. What’s more inconvenient is a limited one year warranty that doesn’t cover the glass.
But, while this press may be sort of fragile, and the warranty may not be terribly encouraging, it’s fairly inexpensive and does its job well. Just treat it carefully, and be sure to let it cool down before cleaning. Although it is heat-resistant, borosilicate becomes much less stable when heated up. Otherwise, consider investing a little more in a stainless steel model. Glass is still glass, for now. — Owen Burke
Pros: Affordable, easy to use, attractive design
Cons: Plastic handle, delicate frame-to-handle attachment, strainer allows some grounds to get through
Buy the Bodrum Chambord on Amazon for $15.99 (originally $23.99)
The best high-end French press
Why you'll love it: The Frieling Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press Coffee Maker is the ultimate high-end French Press with its gorgeous design, superb build, and long warranty.
If you want a top-of-the-line, stainless steel French Press, the Frieling Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press Coffee Maker is the best one you can buy. It's made of remarkably high quality 18/10 stainless steel, and it has a double-wall design to keep the heat inside and away from your hands.
The dual-layer steel wall also keeps your coffee piping hot, and Frieling claims it's four times better at keeping your coffee warm than glass French Presses. The Frieling French Press we recommend has a 36-ounce capacity, but the company also makes French Presses in sizes ranging from eight ounces to 44 ounces.
Inside, there's a two-stage filter system with both a big metal filter and a fine mesh one, and a metal wire inside the coil presses the plunger tight against the stainless steel wall. Together, these features ensure that you don't get many coffee grounds in your cup. Frieling's French Press is also dishwasher safe, so it's very easy to clean when you're done.
The company offers a five-year warranty in case of any defects, and buyers on Amazon are very happy with how durable it is. While glass French Presses tend to break in accidents, stainless steel ones like this do not. The handle is also long and comfortable to hold.
A number of sites call the Frieling the best high-end French Press you can buy, including Consumer Reports, FreshPresso, Brown's Coffee, the Little Coffee Place, and Coffee Maker Clips.
Pros: Quality stainless steel design, double wall insulates coffee, durable, large handle
Cons: Expensive
Buy Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press Coffee Maker on Amazon for $99.95
The best stoneware French Press
Why you'll love it: Le Creuset's beautiful French Press is made from dense stoneware that won't absorb flavors or crack from too much heat.
Le Creuset is well known for its excellent stoneware and enameled cast iron cookware. Its new French Press is also exceptionally well made and uses the same dense stoneware and enamel exterior as Le Crueset's other cookware. You can choose from several beautiful colors to get a French Press that matches your style and kitchen decor.
I've been using this French Press to make coffee each morning, and it works just like every other French Press. I put in some coarsely ground coffee, pour boiling water over the grounds, and let it steep for a few minutes before plunging the mesh insert down to prevent the grounds from getting into my mug.
I've also used it to brew tea, and it's worked wonderfully. Tea leaves need lots of space to brew properly, and this French Press gives them more room to brew than a small infuser would. I've noticed a big improvement in tea taste with this French Press.
The main benefits of Le Crueset's French Press— beyond its incredibly beautiful design — is that the stoneware is very easy to clean. It's even dishwasher safe. It doesn't absorb any flavors from the drinks I brew in it, nor does it imbue any metallic taste to my drinks.
However, because it is stoneware, it can break and chip if you're not carreful with it. It's not as durable as stainless steel, but it is more hardy than glass and much nicer looking than plastic.
Pros: Beautiful, fun colors, multiple sizes, solid stoneware, well made, long lasting, stoneware doesn't absorb flavors, dishwasher safe
Cons: Pricey, stoneware can break
Buy the 12-ounce Le Creuset French Press on Amazon for $49.95
Buy the French Press from Le Creuset for $50
See the rest of the story at Business Insider