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Thank you for addressing the clean-up problem! That's what keeps me from using my French press more, but almost no one covers that elephant in the room in reviews.
As the owner of a Bodun French press that was given to me by someone who didn't want one she got in a Christmas grab bag, I'm entirely happy with that $0 purchase! Watching this makes me realize that I don't need the extra bells and whistles. Sometimes simple is good. As for the Bodun, I can live with the fines. The glass carafe loses heat quickly, though, and the coffee does keep extracting if you don't pour it completely right away, but a separate thermal carafe solves both of those problems.
I also have a Bodum! I find that wrapping the carafe in a tea towel (you can tuck the ends into the handle pretty well) can keep the coffee warm enough when you come back for a second cup. That last half a mug... maybe not as warm :)
my grandma sewed together a thing to put on the brewer that has stuffing in it? kind of like a small pillow/glove? that you put around it, and it honestly works so well! itll still be warm enough hours later
I got into French press brewing when my office's coffee machine went down. We couldn't have heating elements, but we DID have a microwave. As for the grit, I learned to drink coffee via Cowboy coffee in Romania; the French press may not be the smoothest in the world, but it's nowhere NEAR the worst! I simply leave the dregs in the cup, like you do with Turkish coffee. I've not considered reading the coffee grounds on a French press. Had a woman do that with a Turkish coffee I had once, which was an interesting experience. For my money the French press is the best balance between cost, easy of use, and quality of drink produced. You can improve any one of those, but only by sacrificing one or two of the rest. I do recommend the stainless steel insulated models. Used mine twice today. The issue is that glass shatters, especially if you have young kids.
For removing the grounds, I put a splash of water in it, swirl it around, and chuck the grounds into the compost pile (or, if I'm lazy, the yard). Occasionally a few get stuck, but a second splash of water takes care of that.
I was gonna recommend the Moka pot for a slightly cleaner, But still kinda murky cup. But if you like paper filter you probably wouldn't appreciate them very much either. I'm a fan of espresso and moka pot
I tend to clean my French press by scooping the grounds into the kitchen compost bucket with a rubber spatula (like you'd use for baking). It's not perfect but way easier than trying to shake them out. You could sieve the rest like you did in the video or just go for a second pass and try to clean up a bit more. Though weather permitting... I will just fill it with water and take it directly to the garden compost bin and dump it out there too 😅 First method is preferable if you don't have a compost bin.
Yay, a new Morgan video! I love my French press for its simplicity and ease of use and the chewiness feels more like a feature of that kind of brewing for me. I'm a former barista and know what the specialty coffee world is like but, I don't know, if someone is willing to pay $100+ for a French press, only to use extra paper filters, I would suggest that maybe they just don't like the French press style of coffee and that a V60 might be the way to go.
Or another way to go would be the V60's cousin, the Hario Switch, which provides the best of both methods--immersion and filtering. Or, similarly, the Clever Dripper.
ooh the one with the wooden handle is so pretty! I myself have the cheapest french press from ikea, it's a 0,4 liter one so it's cute and tiny and is totally fine for my coffee brewing skills
I don't watch a lot of coffee videos, but yours are the ones I enjoy the most. I have consumed an awful lot of black coffee, from all over the world, during my 81 years, and don't remember ever having a cup of French press coffee. I still think that the best coffee I had for quality and flavour, was the Nabob coffee, sold in Canada back in the 50s through the early 70s. ( I started drinking coffee when I was 12) I prefer, the less perfectly filtered coffee, and find it is a treat, when I find that rare bag of, perfectly dark roasted, Arabica coffee beans. The best coffee I have tasted, was a breakfast coffee ( I am sorry, I can't remember the name, but couldn't have pronounced it or spelled it even if I did) I found in the 80s, in Amsterdam. I would stuff my luggage for the flight home, with as many pounds as I could pack, The coffee was that good.
I’ve loved French press coffee ever since I bought my first press (a Bodum) many years ago; especially its more “chewy”, textured feel. Since then I bought a pretty blue stoneware LeCreuset one (the Bodum was lost in my last move lol) and it’s faithfully given me many delicious cups of coffee!
I have an Espro press. One of the theoretical benefits of the filter design is that it completely stops brewing once you plunge it. Between that and the insulated carafe, it means you can brew multiple cups and have them stay hot and not overextract if you don't pour them all at once. I don't really take advantage of that since I'll pour all the coffee I want at once, but that's the theory. The paper filter, in addition to catching even finer fines than the mesh, is also supposed to capture some of the oils from the coffee and result in a more pour-over-like cup. I have not compared the results to actual pour over, but I do like to make my coffee with the paper filter.
I do have the espro travel press and I do agree that they are comparable with the paper filter, now is it comparable to something like the chemex filter... no but your standard V60 and Kalita 10X/Wave will
That's how Espro market it. I strongly suspect it's bollocks though, as the water can still move through the filter freely, and there's no way the filter is so good that it's somehow stopping extracted coffee getting through at a molecular level (I've got one and it doesn't even stop all the visible grounds getting through particularly reliably). I think it's more just down to the fact that you can't really overextract with immersion brewing, since the water and the grounds reach a point of equilibrium after a while. I reckon literally any French press would do the same thing. At least as far as the overextraction thing goes - the thermal carafe is pretty nice and does do a very good job of keeping the coffee hot.
I had the Espro as well, until i shattered it... Anyhoo, yeah, the fines that it did let through were finer than the standard Bodium prress so there was that. The paper filter disks were fiddly, if you didn't line them up right they would channel water through the gaps. The design weakness is the filter baskets though, they are poorly made. Either the mesh will tear away from the plastic frame after a couple of years, or the plastic nubs that hold the baskets together will wear and it will get overly loose. For the price I would have expected something much sturdier.
I got a small and basic french press for Christmas 2022 and I love it! I use the James Hoffmann video technique and it works wonders. I even grind it as fine as filter coffee.
Back before pour-over, Aeropress, and then finally espresso got ahold of me, I went through a few cheap French presses (including the IKEA one) because I would always end up breaking the glass. I finally invested in the 4-cup stainless steel Bodum French press and it was fantastic! Basic, sturdy and dishwasher safe. I still have it for when I need to make more than one cup of coffee at a time.
I clean my French press by using a mesh strainer very similar to yours (similar size, mesh, etc.), but I place it in the sink with a standard larger flat coffee filter in it so the filter fills the mesh more or less. I add some warm water to the French press carafe, swish to loosen the grounds, and pour that into the filter in the strainer. The filter catches all of the actual grounds while letting the water strain through into the sink drain. Do this a couple of times to get all of the grounds out of the press carafe, then you can rinse and wash the carafe rather easily as normal. Leave the grounds to finish draining in the mesh for a bit, then you can just dump the compacted filter/grounds into the trash or compost or whatever. Super easy.
I fold a paper towel into a cone and put it in a cheap steel pourover basket. Couple of rinses of the French Press later and it's all flushed out with zero grounds down the drain. And nothing sticking to a strainer either. And I can leave it and rinse the mud out of the cup into it later, too.
I I picked up the OXO half off at a Belk and I'm really happy with it. Smooth results, easier cleanup than the cheapest options (I can't get a fancy one, I"ve been in grad school since 2019). I drink one French press of coffee a day most days, and I've found that waiting until the evening when the coffee grounds have dried out a bit makes the grounds lifter work much better with less mess.
I got a french press this year, and I really love it. I am still quite new to coffee and the one I got was relatively cheap, and has saved me quite a lot of money from going to coffee shops.
I started off my journey into coffee years ago with an IKEA French Press and fine ground extra dark roast. I have thankfully evolved from younger me’s shall we say… missteps 😅 Thank you for the happy video Morgan!
I found it interesting that you said that most people get started with the French press. I would have thought that was the ubiquitous moka pot but that must just be continental Europe (or even just parts of it). In my childhood that was the only way anyone I knew made coffee at home. It's great to see people coming from different coffee backgrounds and albeit the French press is my least favourite way of making coffee I don't mind others liking it
As a Brit (ie Europe but not continental), My first proper brewer was the awful french press and I'm not sure I'd even heard of a Moka pot until about 10 years ago when speciality coffee started kicking off. I feel 80s to early2000s British coffee culture owes me something I will never be paid.
When the French Press is done correctly nothing beats it. I have experienced a lasting great experience with the French Press and I can’t say that for other coffee makers I’ve tried.
Was kind of entertained that Morgan’s favorite cup of coffee was the one that tasted the “least like French press coffee” 🤣 I get it though. Thanks for saving me $100. Gonna keep rocking my glass Amazon French press. Does the job and god knows I have way too much coffee gear already 😂
I just bought the Yeti French Press about 3 months ago and I've been extremely happy with it. It does a great job too at keeping the coffee hot between cups. However, I tend to use the full contents of the pot to fill my Yeti Stronhold 30 oz Rambler.
I don't have a French Press, so I make immersion coffee by pouring the hot water into a large measuring cup containing the grounds, waiting and occasionally stirring, then pouring this thorough a mesh filter (originally designed for a Melitta brewer). It is possible to keep most if the grounds in either the measuring cup or the filter, depending on whether the coffee is stirred just prior to pouring. For a less gritty cup of coffee, a paper filter in a Melitta brewer cup can be used. FWIW, a true Melitta brewer has a relatively small exit hole to reduce the flow rate (intended to increase water contact time with the coffee grounds).. Some of the imitations flow more quickly and will make a quicker cup of finished pseudo-French-Press coffee.
A Melitta cone will drain in a few seconds if there's no coffee in the filter. The slowness comes from the fines being pushed to the filter and clogging it up.
@@blairhoughton7918 I have learned that the design of newer Melitta brewers differs from the older one I own. Part of the original Melitta design was the relatively small "drip opening" to restrict outflow and increase contact time, especially important for those coffees with few fines*. The goal was to simplify the process and reduce the effect of pouring speed on flavor. This was particularly helpful for users like restaurants who would be using multiple brewer setups simultaneously and could not spend a lot of time carefully pouring each cup. I have tested these (older) Melitta-brand brewers against a knockoff which has two large drain holes. The difference in drain times is significant when using a relatively course mesh filter and pouring largely fines-free coffee (allowing grounds to settle before final filtering in the method mentioned above). The filter adds very little resistance in this case. FWIW, Melitta appears to have changed its design in recent years (I don't know when). It has followed market trends for lower restriction to compete with the Hario V60 and others that rely more on pour technique. Nevertheless, the exit restriction is still mentioned in marketing: materials: "A medium-size drip opening provides a consistent brew and eliminates risk of bitterness." *With some pre-ground coffees, the grounds go through multiple screens to eliminate fines. These produce a weak pour-over unless water flow is controlled by something like a physical restriction or a drawn-out pour technique.
You left out an important test. I have used a plethora of cheap french presses and they all had one problem. But first, in my family I am the only coffee drinker and I always have two cups, often both while reading, in the old days the newspaper and now bits from the internet on my phone. My problem was that after slowly drinking my first cup of coffee, the second cup was cold. This first world problem eventually led me to purchasing a double walled Bodum which I loved, my second cup of coffee was always hot. I would have tested the double walls as to which one was the hottest after a half hour sit.
Thanks for this review, I've always just assumed that the metal filters were all from the same giant factory in China. I appreciate seeing a comparison on a brewer that doesn't get a lot of love in the coffee youtuber space. Personally, I just stick a paper filter under the plunger and it works great! I have the OXO and one tip for the grounds lifter is to tilt the carafe as you pull the grounds out and it will come out cleaner without having any falling out over the sides. And of course, do it over the trash can/compost bin.
I ended up getting a kind of oddball french press. A Stanley adventure all-in-one. The press is a cup-shaped insert that fills as you push it into the carafe. And even if you don't like French presses for making coffee, they work really well for loose leaf tea too.
Been using my Frieling double walled stainless French Press for 11 years and one thing I love it keeps temps really well. Tried glass ones, uses too much plastic, temps would not stay hot.
my mom got me a cheap aerolatte and i love it!!! decent seal, super easy to clean, and imo the glass holds on to heat quite well (i have the 12 oz? can keep a large cup warm if i forget for like 20 min LOL.) no dishwasher in my apt, but handwashing is easy with this one. i try to pour all the coffee out and scrape the grounds from the mesh/carafe gently with a spoon into the compost, not too much left behind in the mesh.
I used to watch your videos during COVID , today suddenly I remembered about you and searched " a girl preparing for a coffee making contest" and got you again .
I rarely use french press or cold brew, but when I do I secondary filter it using an Able chemex filter. For cleaning, same thing I put some water in the brewer swirl it with the grounds and send it down Able chemex filter. when the water drains, you can toss out the grounds a lot easier, rinse and done.
14:47 what ive always done is, with the lid on, pour out the rest of the liquid so that im left with only the grounds. Then, i take a spoon and scoop out the grounds into the trash. Finally, a quick rinse and into the dishwasher
Thanks for the great comparison. I haven't used a French press in a couple of years so you've managed to tempt me a bit. I don't have a dishwasher, other than myself, so that criteria doesn't make a lot of difference to me.
I have a really nice Bodum from the mid 90s that’s a lot like the o o (only without the grounds lifter). I paid 60 bucks for it, and it’s wonderful. It’s got a glass carafe and all metal parts everywhere, so no silicon seal. With that said, I replace the filter about every year. I wonder if it’s easy to find replacement filters for some of these higher end ones rated here.
I clean my french press the same way! I love french press coffee but am also enjoying an aeropress with a metal filter. I hated it with the paper filter. I used to travel with a Stanley Boil & Brew French press before I got the aeropress. I originally started out with the General Mills instant flavored coffees & then moved to a stovetop percolator & then a drip maker before I made my way to the French press.
I have the Frieling stainless French Press. It needs a pre-heat with boiling water, otherwise the brew temperature is way too low. I would assume the insulated presses you tested would also benefit from this.
I got the Fellow Clara french press on a really good discount a few yeara ago. 100 bucks is a lot for a simple brewer, but it's very nice looking and the double wall insulation keeps your coffee hot for a VERY long time.
I have used the espro fornyears and I love it. I inly paid $69.99 for mine, though mine is glass. I use the filters and grind to a fin drip brew level of grind this yields a velvety, almost choclaty rich coffee, that is not gritty. On cleaning, simply rinse, then fill to 1/3rdish with hot water, and a drop of soap, then press and pull as though frothing milk, to froth the soapy water, finally rinse and let dry. I suspect this would actually work for all french presses
I will make a 44oz (1.5L) thermos of coffee when I use my french press. How I brew requires a v60 filter and some patience. Basically brew like normal, I forgo the plunger as it is not needed, wait till the grounds for the crust on top, stir once and after the brew time is done I pour it through the paper v60 sitting on top of my thermos. The trick to getting most of the grounds out is to swirl the press as it gets towards the bottom so the grounds are moving before you pour.
I own Bodums. As far as the amount of silt there a number of factors. If you slowly plunge and wait a minute for it to settle, slowly poor off the coffee, stop when you see the silt, and if you coarse grind your beans you'll get very little silt. The goal should be no grit but with some mouth feel otherwise you wouldn't be using a french press. While the Bodum and other glass presses don't keep it warm, I drink my coffee right away in rush to get out the door or I'm poring it into a thermos to take to work. The only time insulation would be nice if you're entertaining guests who will be getting the coffee over a long period of time.
I have improved my French press coffee by using the partial-press…. method shown by James Hoffmann and some others on their videos. It improves clarity and makes cleaning easier.
I was really hoping to see a display of the mud in each sample. I've been thinking for some time about double filters to try to trap the fines in a vortex, and that double basket one should have done something. Though I think they didn't leave enough space so everything may just flow through as a stream.
Thanks for the video, I appreciate your content! $150 to finally get a french press that'll allow you to filter the coffee dust out adequately..... Never been a fan of french press coffee; I don't like to have to chew my coffee, nor do I like the bitter, over extracted taste - might as well just make cowboy coffee, I've had better results that way. A $10 pour-over with a $15 electric kettle will give you far superior coffee every time.
Hey Morgan, Espro owner here 🙋♀️ Actually the Espro presses are all top rack dish washer safe! 😊 (I assume because the water temperature on the top rack is not expected to be as hot as on the bottom rack) Nice review 😃
Fun fact, here ( 9:21 ) the footage hasn’t even been sped up, Morgan is actually still experiencing the effects of the monster coffee energy drink they consumed one month ago. Reports say GrahamDrinksCoffee, as well as the cats, are under the same effects. 😞
I remember my OXO having silicone around the edge of the grounds scoop, so either we are both hallucinating or both correct. ...I also seem to remember that it used to be called the Groundskeeper, which I thought was adorable. Maybe I'm losing my mind LOL
Just in case Morgan doesn’t know why the difference between silicon and silicone matters to some of us: Silicon is the chemical element, number 14. It sits right under carbon in the periodic table. It is a hard brittle, bluish grey crystalline solid. Silicone is a family of chemical compounds that contain silicon, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Silicones include oily liquids and rubbery solids. Many, but certainly not all of the rubbery parts of kitchen equipment are made from silicone rubber.
Your comment, and Morgan's pronunciation of the word, "silicone" made me smile, as it made me think of a lapel button I purchased in a gift shop in Bozeman, Montana which reads, "I am silently correcting your grammar." :)
I’m curious to know how long the double walled ones keep the coffee hot. Over steeping was touched upon but not analyzed further. I would have liked to see Morgan taste some after they’ve sat for a while (an hour?) and critiqued the temperature and flavour. Can you get a decent 2nd cup from the same brew?
I have the doubled-walled Hario french press. Sooo pretty, so unnecessary, not for big batches. But man, so little silt, it's quite impressive. Also, I feel the press works best with medium roasts (and darker, if you are into it).
i clean mine with a bit of water poured into a cheap paper filter on one of my chemex style pour overs then chuck the paper with into the compost feels less messy than scooping it out
I happen to have both the Espro and the Clara. The Espro does a great job at creating a “clean” FP cup, but doesn’t always filter all of the liquid. I end up having to lift the plunger for a final pour. The Clara is nice, but I cannot for the life of me pour it without liquid running out down the unit 🤷
I know you made a video on it four years ago, but would you recommend a Flair espresso maker? Also, would the updated models be much different from that previous video? If so, could you make an updated one? It seems so interesting
I've learned that I personally really don't like French press. I only really enjoy coffee that is passed through either thick paper like my chemex, or 2 aeropress filters. I seem to appreciate the brightness and clarity very much.
Regarding the ESPRO, I'm surprised it's not actually dishwasher safe. I never read the manual, since it's a French press, and how hard can they be? I had one a while ago (it disappeared in a move...). That thing had been through the dishwasher over and over again without a single hiccup. Carafe itself goes on the bottom rack, rest of it goes to the top rack. Am I just lucky or is ESPRO just selling themselves short?
No Thermos (née Nissan) insulated stainless steel French press? I ended up buying one after the second or third Bodum was broken by someone else...on my second one because of Life Events. Like everything else here save for the cast iron, it gets thrown in the dishwasher. I remember that my original 1990s one ended up with some water getting trapped in the bottom so I fixed that by drilling a couple of drain holes in the plastic. (Take out of dishwasher, turn upright over the sink, let drain, return to station.)
Hey there🙂 do you have a video that you reviewed/ explained reusing coffee pods? Or is that sacrilege 😳 I'm a truck driver and do not drink truck stop coffee.. I have a nespresso (love it). But the pods are very expensive. So I refill the pods. Thank you for considering. Greg
The big problem I have with most French presses is that they're either 1L (that's a LOT of coffee; I can't grind that much in my hand grinder, and wouldn't want to!) or they're 300ml full capacity, which means you *might* get 240ml of brew out of it if you're lucky. I spent the last 25 years in Seattle; while I don't go for the Mondo, my favourite mug is just shy of 500ml, and I've got a few others that are bigger. Enter the Bodum Columbia 500ml. Double-walled, stainless body, dishwasher safe (though I don't), _and_ the silicone-rimmed microscreen plunger gives a pretty clean cuppa for an FP. I usually go for about 420ml of water in the brew, which nets me 350ml in the cup and enough room for whatever adulterants... and it's squat form factor means I can stuff it in my carry-on and haul it all the way out here to the Continent without having to leave other stuff behind. If you want a little more but not a full litre, there are various 20oz stainless presses with traditional mesh filters, and Espro make two - one glass, one stainless - at 18oz (~550ml)... Interestingly the Bodum Columbia 500ml will run you anywhere from €65-90 on this side of the pond, but if you get it from the American webstore they've got it on special for $38, even less than what I paid for mine (which was right around $50). They might be phasing the little guy out, so... But yeah. One of the anti-geeky reasons I like an FP so much is that if I screw up the brew, it's still usually a decent cup. No faffing about with WDTs, tamping just so, preheat the brew group, none of that. Just measure, grind, pour, time, and press; while I like a _little_ fuss, my brother just eyeballs his the whole way and still gets a decent cuppa out of his. (I do use an RDT bottle; stainless burrs == static!!)
I bought an espro but have switched to using my old cheap bodum with K 185 filters. Cleanup of the espro's double layer is too annoying and a paper filter is clearer anyway.
It''s funny, to me how nobody's figured out a way of having a press with a removable bottom. Just have the bottom be a thing which screws apart, have a sieve on the ready to put the grounds in and dump out. Then, clean the bottom, the sides are not obstructed (since it's just a bottom-less cylinder) and rinse stuff off before reassembly. Greg of _How To Drink_ fame have a bunch of bottles from Crew Supply which have bottoms that can be unfastened for cleaning. If they can do it, why nobody else?
After repeatedly breaking the glass containers I recently got myself a stainless steel one for less than about 35 €. Plunger is just as simple as one would expect for this price point.
if i want my french press right away (Because thats mostly all i drink unless i want a hot drink then i use my Keurig its a blue mini one) i put a 5 minute timer on it if i dont want a cold brew is that to long? thats what the instructions say (granted its quite old) so much so its falling apart on the top (im just to broke to get a new one hints the Keurig) and i love my french....I dont understand what the ¨chewy¨ means because im used to it so i dont quite tell a difference.... i mean i can tell a difference between drip and french but im a nerd so
Join my free newsletter Coffee, For Here and get weekly deep dives into coffee topics, exclusive recipes, and exclusive behind the scenes: morganeckroth.kit.com/subscribe
Looking forward to some awesome recipes ❤
In France a French press is just called a royale with cheese.
😅😆
Wat
@@orifkhodjaev1449 it's a joke related to the movie 'Pulp Fiction'
Brilliant 👏
😂
Thank you for addressing the clean-up problem! That's what keeps me from using my French press more, but almost no one covers that elephant in the room in reviews.
It's what got me to switch to pour-over coffee; the easier cleanup. But...I will admit to liking the taste of a French press coffee...
@@BenChurchill76 maybe try something like the hario switch then, french press like brewing with the ease of cleanup with a filter
Use a rubber spatula to scoop the grounds out. Easy.
I just pour my grinds into a paper filter in a strainer. Then toss the paper once it dries.
As the owner of a Bodun French press that was given to me by someone who didn't want one she got in a Christmas grab bag, I'm entirely happy with that $0 purchase! Watching this makes me realize that I don't need the extra bells and whistles. Sometimes simple is good.
As for the Bodun, I can live with the fines. The glass carafe loses heat quickly, though, and the coffee does keep extracting if you don't pour it completely right away, but a separate thermal carafe solves both of those problems.
I also have a Bodum! I find that wrapping the carafe in a tea towel (you can tuck the ends into the handle pretty well) can keep the coffee warm enough when you come back for a second cup. That last half a mug... maybe not as warm :)
I pour mine into a warmed thermos.
@@thefaboo Bodum have thermal sleeves for some of them.
my grandma sewed together a thing to put on the brewer that has stuffing in it? kind of like a small pillow/glove? that you put around it, and it honestly works so well! itll still be warm enough hours later
Yes you have to decant a French Press entirely when the timer goes off.
I got into French press brewing when my office's coffee machine went down. We couldn't have heating elements, but we DID have a microwave. As for the grit, I learned to drink coffee via Cowboy coffee in Romania; the French press may not be the smoothest in the world, but it's nowhere NEAR the worst! I simply leave the dregs in the cup, like you do with Turkish coffee. I've not considered reading the coffee grounds on a French press. Had a woman do that with a Turkish coffee I had once, which was an interesting experience.
For my money the French press is the best balance between cost, easy of use, and quality of drink produced. You can improve any one of those, but only by sacrificing one or two of the rest.
I do recommend the stainless steel insulated models. Used mine twice today. The issue is that glass shatters, especially if you have young kids.
For removing the grounds, I put a splash of water in it, swirl it around, and chuck the grounds into the compost pile (or, if I'm lazy, the yard). Occasionally a few get stuck, but a second splash of water takes care of that.
This video taught me I don't like french press coffee. I always thought i wasn't making it right
You could probably tweak it and make a coffee you like with one. There’s so many variables to experiment with.
Maybe try the aeropress with the Prismo attachment
I like my aeropress and my pour over. I prefer the coffee made with paper filters
Try Weber workshop The Bird
I was gonna recommend the Moka pot for a slightly cleaner, But still kinda murky cup. But if you like paper filter you probably wouldn't appreciate them very much either. I'm a fan of espresso and moka pot
I LOVE my Fellow Clara. The heat retention and filtration really makes a difference
I tend to clean my French press by scooping the grounds into the kitchen compost bucket with a rubber spatula (like you'd use for baking). It's not perfect but way easier than trying to shake them out. You could sieve the rest like you did in the video or just go for a second pass and try to clean up a bit more.
Though weather permitting... I will just fill it with water and take it directly to the garden compost bin and dump it out there too 😅 First method is preferable if you don't have a compost bin.
Not me just shoving my hand into the press to grab as much of the grounds as I can.
Benefit of living in a highly alkaline soil area is I can put coffee grounds directly in my garden without fear.
Spatula's a great shout!
Yay, a new Morgan video! I love my French press for its simplicity and ease of use and the chewiness feels more like a feature of that kind of brewing for me. I'm a former barista and know what the specialty coffee world is like but, I don't know, if someone is willing to pay $100+ for a French press, only to use extra paper filters, I would suggest that maybe they just don't like the French press style of coffee and that a V60 might be the way to go.
Or another way to go would be the V60's cousin, the Hario Switch, which provides the best of both methods--immersion and filtering. Or, similarly, the Clever Dripper.
ooh the one with the wooden handle is so pretty! I myself have the cheapest french press from ikea, it's a 0,4 liter one so it's cute and tiny and is totally fine for my coffee brewing skills
I don't watch a lot of coffee videos, but yours are the ones I enjoy the most.
I have consumed an awful lot of black coffee, from all over the world, during my 81 years, and don't remember ever having a cup of French press coffee. I still think that the best coffee I had for quality and flavour, was the Nabob coffee, sold in Canada back in the 50s through the early 70s. ( I started drinking coffee when I was 12)
I prefer, the less perfectly filtered coffee, and find it is a treat, when I find that rare bag of, perfectly dark roasted, Arabica coffee beans.
The best coffee I have tasted, was a breakfast coffee ( I am sorry, I can't remember the name, but couldn't have pronounced it or spelled it even if I did) I found in the 80s, in Amsterdam. I would stuff my luggage for the flight home, with as many pounds as I could pack, The coffee was that good.
I’ve loved French press coffee ever since I bought my first press (a Bodum) many years ago; especially its more “chewy”, textured feel. Since then I bought a pretty blue stoneware LeCreuset one (the Bodum was lost in my last move lol) and it’s faithfully given me many delicious cups of coffee!
I have an Espro press. One of the theoretical benefits of the filter design is that it completely stops brewing once you plunge it. Between that and the insulated carafe, it means you can brew multiple cups and have them stay hot and not overextract if you don't pour them all at once. I don't really take advantage of that since I'll pour all the coffee I want at once, but that's the theory. The paper filter, in addition to catching even finer fines than the mesh, is also supposed to capture some of the oils from the coffee and result in a more pour-over-like cup. I have not compared the results to actual pour over, but I do like to make my coffee with the paper filter.
I do have the espro travel press and I do agree that they are comparable with the paper filter, now is it comparable to something like the chemex filter... no but your standard V60 and Kalita 10X/Wave will
That's how Espro market it. I strongly suspect it's bollocks though, as the water can still move through the filter freely, and there's no way the filter is so good that it's somehow stopping extracted coffee getting through at a molecular level (I've got one and it doesn't even stop all the visible grounds getting through particularly reliably).
I think it's more just down to the fact that you can't really overextract with immersion brewing, since the water and the grounds reach a point of equilibrium after a while. I reckon literally any French press would do the same thing. At least as far as the overextraction thing goes - the thermal carafe is pretty nice and does do a very good job of keeping the coffee hot.
Taking the oils out decreases the value drastically.
I had the Espro as well, until i shattered it... Anyhoo, yeah, the fines that it did let through were finer than the standard Bodium prress so there was that. The paper filter disks were fiddly, if you didn't line them up right they would channel water through the gaps. The design weakness is the filter baskets though, they are poorly made. Either the mesh will tear away from the plastic frame after a couple of years, or the plastic nubs that hold the baskets together will wear and it will get overly loose. For the price I would have expected something much sturdier.
I got a small and basic french press for Christmas 2022 and I love it! I use the James Hoffmann video technique and it works wonders. I even grind it as fine as filter coffee.
Back before pour-over, Aeropress, and then finally espresso got ahold of me, I went through a few cheap French presses (including the IKEA one) because I would always end up breaking the glass. I finally invested in the 4-cup stainless steel Bodum French press and it was fantastic! Basic, sturdy and dishwasher safe. I still have it for when I need to make more than one cup of coffee at a time.
I clean my French press by using a mesh strainer very similar to yours (similar size, mesh, etc.), but I place it in the sink with a standard larger flat coffee filter in it so the filter fills the mesh more or less. I add some warm water to the French press carafe, swish to loosen the grounds, and pour that into the filter in the strainer. The filter catches all of the actual grounds while letting the water strain through into the sink drain. Do this a couple of times to get all of the grounds out of the press carafe, then you can rinse and wash the carafe rather easily as normal. Leave the grounds to finish draining in the mesh for a bit, then you can just dump the compacted filter/grounds into the trash or compost or whatever. Super easy.
I fold a paper towel into a cone and put it in a cheap steel pourover basket. Couple of rinses of the French Press later and it's all flushed out with zero grounds down the drain. And nothing sticking to a strainer either. And I can leave it and rinse the mud out of the cup into it later, too.
@@blairhoughton7918thanks for sharing. I will add this to my repotoire!
I I picked up the OXO half off at a Belk and I'm really happy with it. Smooth results, easier cleanup than the cheapest options (I can't get a fancy one, I"ve been in grad school since 2019). I drink one French press of coffee a day most days, and I've found that waiting until the evening when the coffee grounds have dried out a bit makes the grounds lifter work much better with less mess.
I got a french press this year, and I really love it. I am still quite new to coffee and the one I got was relatively cheap, and has saved me quite a lot of money from going to coffee shops.
I started off my journey into coffee years ago with an IKEA French Press and fine ground extra dark roast. I have thankfully evolved from younger me’s shall we say… missteps 😅
Thank you for the happy video Morgan!
I found it interesting that you said that most people get started with the French press. I would have thought that was the ubiquitous moka pot but that must just be continental Europe (or even just parts of it). In my childhood that was the only way anyone I knew made coffee at home. It's great to see people coming from different coffee backgrounds and albeit the French press is my least favourite way of making coffee I don't mind others liking it
As a Brit (ie Europe but not continental), My first proper brewer was the awful french press and I'm not sure I'd even heard of a Moka pot until about 10 years ago when speciality coffee started kicking off.
I feel 80s to early2000s British coffee culture owes me something I will never be paid.
In Germany it would probably be filter coffee. Melitta left her imprint on the nation.
Literally just broke my old cheap french press and need a new one, perfect timing!!!!
Great vid. Confirming my suspicion that the aeropress is better in every way, and cheaper. For bigger volumes of coffee - pourover.
When the French Press is done correctly nothing beats it. I have experienced a lasting great experience with the French Press and I can’t say that for other coffee makers I’ve tried.
I feel like I remember your old OXO French press review and I remember you really liking it, especially the grounds lifter.
Hello from Colombia! One of my barista teachers uses the leftover coffee to make ice cubes for frappes, and it tastes amazing.
Of course, you can always use a paper filter on the plunger to get rid of the grit, if you're not a fan
Morgan, that might be a fun addition to a coffee hack video! Greetings from Canada 🇨🇦
Wouldn't this make the plunge extra hard?
@ Just press slowly and consistently. It'll press
Was kind of entertained that Morgan’s favorite cup of coffee was the one that tasted the “least like French press coffee” 🤣
I get it though. Thanks for saving me $100. Gonna keep rocking my glass Amazon French press. Does the job and god knows I have way too much coffee gear already 😂
I have always enjoyed using my Bodum Chambord. The classic French Press.
I just bought the Yeti French Press about 3 months ago and I've been extremely happy with it. It does a great job too at keeping the coffee hot between cups. However, I tend to use the full contents of the pot to fill my Yeti Stronhold 30 oz Rambler.
Latter is best practice. Leaving the coffee in the press overextracts it.
As a clumsy person, I'm never buying another glass french press.
I don't have a French Press, so I make immersion coffee by pouring the hot water into a large measuring cup containing the grounds, waiting and occasionally stirring, then pouring this thorough a mesh filter (originally designed for a Melitta brewer). It is possible to keep most if the grounds in either the measuring cup or the filter, depending on whether the coffee is stirred just prior to pouring. For a less gritty cup of coffee, a paper filter in a Melitta brewer cup can be used. FWIW, a true Melitta brewer has a relatively small exit hole to reduce the flow rate (intended to increase water contact time with the coffee grounds).. Some of the imitations flow more quickly and will make a quicker cup of finished pseudo-French-Press coffee.
A Melitta cone will drain in a few seconds if there's no coffee in the filter. The slowness comes from the fines being pushed to the filter and clogging it up.
@@blairhoughton7918 I have learned that the design of newer Melitta brewers differs from the older one I own. Part of the original Melitta design was the relatively small "drip opening" to restrict outflow and increase contact time, especially important for those coffees with few fines*. The goal was to simplify the process and reduce the effect of pouring speed on flavor. This was particularly helpful for users like restaurants who would be using multiple brewer setups simultaneously and could not spend a lot of time carefully pouring each cup.
I have tested these (older) Melitta-brand brewers against a knockoff which has two large drain holes. The difference in drain times is significant when using a relatively course mesh filter and pouring largely fines-free coffee (allowing grounds to settle before final filtering in the method mentioned above). The filter adds very little resistance in this case.
FWIW, Melitta appears to have changed its design in recent years (I don't know when). It has followed market trends for lower restriction to compete with the Hario V60 and others that rely more on pour technique. Nevertheless, the exit restriction is still mentioned in marketing: materials: "A medium-size drip opening provides a consistent brew and eliminates risk of bitterness."
*With some pre-ground coffees, the grounds go through multiple screens to eliminate fines. These produce a weak pour-over unless water flow is controlled by something like a physical restriction or a drawn-out pour technique.
You left out an important test. I have used a plethora of cheap french presses and they all had one problem. But first, in my family I am the only coffee drinker and I always have two cups, often both while reading, in the old days the newspaper and now bits from the internet on my phone. My problem was that after slowly drinking my first cup of coffee, the second cup was cold. This first world problem eventually led me to purchasing a double walled Bodum which I loved, my second cup of coffee was always hot. I would have tested the double walls as to which one was the hottest after a half hour sit.
Thanks for this review, I've always just assumed that the metal filters were all from the same giant factory in China. I appreciate seeing a comparison on a brewer that doesn't get a lot of love in the coffee youtuber space. Personally, I just stick a paper filter under the plunger and it works great! I have the OXO and one tip for the grounds lifter is to tilt the carafe as you pull the grounds out and it will come out cleaner without having any falling out over the sides. And of course, do it over the trash can/compost bin.
I ended up getting a kind of oddball french press. A Stanley adventure all-in-one. The press is a cup-shaped insert that fills as you push it into the carafe. And even if you don't like French presses for making coffee, they work really well for loose leaf tea too.
Been using my Frieling double walled stainless French Press for 11 years and one thing I love it keeps temps really well. Tried glass ones, uses too much plastic, temps would not stay hot.
my mom got me a cheap aerolatte and i love it!!! decent seal, super easy to clean, and imo the glass holds on to heat quite well (i have the 12 oz? can keep a large cup warm if i forget for like 20 min LOL.)
no dishwasher in my apt, but handwashing is easy with this one. i try to pour all the coffee out and scrape the grounds from the mesh/carafe gently with a spoon into the compost, not too much left behind in the mesh.
You aren't describing an aeropress?
@ aerolatte*... thanks for the catch! 😅
I used to watch your videos during COVID , today suddenly I remembered about you and searched " a girl preparing for a coffee making contest" and got you again .
I was recently in NYC and Joe coffee was unreal. As an Aussie who is a bit particular, it was definitely delicious.
super excited for newsletter.
I rarely use french press or cold brew, but when I do I secondary filter it using an Able chemex filter. For cleaning, same thing I put some water in the brewer swirl it with the grounds and send it down Able chemex filter. when the water drains, you can toss out the grounds a lot easier, rinse and done.
14:47 what ive always done is, with the lid on, pour out the rest of the liquid so that im left with only the grounds. Then, i take a spoon and scoop out the grounds into the trash. Finally, a quick rinse and into the dishwasher
Thanks for the great comparison. I haven't used a French press in a couple of years so you've managed to tempt me a bit. I don't have a dishwasher, other than myself, so that criteria doesn't make a lot of difference to me.
I have a really nice Bodum from the mid 90s that’s a lot like the o o (only without the grounds lifter). I paid 60 bucks for it, and it’s wonderful. It’s got a glass carafe and all metal parts everywhere, so no silicon seal. With that said, I replace the filter about every year. I wonder if it’s easy to find replacement filters for some of these higher end ones rated here.
I clean my french press the same way! I love french press coffee but am also enjoying an aeropress with a metal filter. I hated it with the paper filter. I used to travel with a Stanley Boil & Brew French press before I got the aeropress.
I originally started out with the General Mills instant flavored coffees & then moved to a stovetop percolator & then a drip maker before I made my way to the French press.
I have the Frieling stainless French Press. It needs a pre-heat with boiling water, otherwise the brew temperature is way too low. I would assume the insulated presses you tested would also benefit from this.
I have that first Bodum. It always made a fine cup of coffee
I love my French press! It was how I got started with specialty coffee:
I nicknamed mine Old Faithful. :)
I got the Fellow Clara french press on a really good discount a few yeara ago. 100 bucks is a lot for a simple brewer, but it's very nice looking and the double wall insulation keeps your coffee hot for a VERY long time.
I have used the espro fornyears and I love it. I inly paid $69.99 for mine, though mine is glass. I use the filters and grind to a fin drip brew level of grind this yields a velvety, almost choclaty rich coffee, that is not gritty.
On cleaning, simply rinse, then fill to 1/3rdish with hot water, and a drop of soap, then press and pull as though frothing milk, to froth the soapy water, finally rinse and let dry. I suspect this would actually work for all french presses
I love cafetière coffee but my god I am cursed to smash them. My family upgraded to metal after I dispatched 2 glass ones in a matter of weeks.
I will make a 44oz (1.5L) thermos of coffee when I use my french press. How I brew requires a v60 filter and some patience. Basically brew like normal, I forgo the plunger as it is not needed, wait till the grounds for the crust on top, stir once and after the brew time is done I pour it through the paper v60 sitting on top of my thermos. The trick to getting most of the grounds out is to swirl the press as it gets towards the bottom so the grounds are moving before you pour.
great review . you should have tested what press filtered the best. Run the coffee thru a paper filter and see what you have
I own Bodums. As far as the amount of silt there a number of factors. If you slowly plunge and wait a minute for it to settle, slowly poor off the coffee, stop when you see the silt, and if you coarse grind your beans you'll get very little silt. The goal should be no grit but with some mouth feel otherwise you wouldn't be using a french press. While the Bodum and other glass presses don't keep it warm, I drink my coffee right away in rush to get out the door or I'm poring it into a thermos to take to work. The only time insulation would be nice if you're entertaining guests who will be getting the coffee over a long period of time.
I immediately signed up for the newsletter. 😂
I have improved my French press coffee by using the partial-press…. method shown by James Hoffmann and some others on their videos. It improves clarity and makes cleaning easier.
Fun fact: A collection of french presses is actually called a 'steeping'
I was really hoping to see a display of the mud in each sample. I've been thinking for some time about double filters to try to trap the fines in a vortex, and that double basket one should have done something. Though I think they didn't leave enough space so everything may just flow through as a stream.
Give the James Hoffman French Press method a try, to reduce the gritty chewiness of the brew.
That OXO has been in my wish list at Amazon for a while now. Cool!
Thanks for the video, I appreciate your content!
$150 to finally get a french press that'll allow you to filter the coffee dust out adequately..... Never been a fan of french press coffee; I don't like to have to chew my coffee, nor do I like the bitter, over extracted taste - might as well just make cowboy coffee, I've had better results that way. A $10 pour-over with a $15 electric kettle will give you far superior coffee every time.
Hey Morgan, Espro owner here 🙋♀️
Actually the Espro presses are all top rack dish washer safe! 😊
(I assume because the water temperature on the top rack is not expected to be as hot as on the bottom rack)
Nice review 😃
Fun fact, here ( 9:21 ) the footage hasn’t even been sped up, Morgan is actually still experiencing the effects of the monster coffee energy drink they consumed one month ago. Reports say GrahamDrinksCoffee, as well as the cats, are under the same effects. 😞
The Oxo grounds scoop would probably be a bit less messy if you held the brewer over your compost bin while you pull the thing out.
I like my ESPRO. I didn’t get the silly expensive ones, you can get a mug one and a regular glass one called the E3 for about $30-50
I always forget to like these videos. But I want to because I always love them
Are Newsletters the new Podcasts? Seems like a lot of people are doing Newsletters now.
I like it!
I remember my OXO having silicone around the edge of the grounds scoop, so either we are both hallucinating or both correct.
...I also seem to remember that it used to be called the Groundskeeper, which I thought was adorable. Maybe I'm losing my mind LOL
I’m surprised you didn’t include the new Pure Over press! I feel like that one’s definitely an interesting new option.
Silicon ≠ silicone
Bodum does do “cheap but decent” pretty well. They also make a reasonable burr grinder and mill frother.
Well, you got "silicone" right at least once, so credit for effort 😂
Just in case Morgan doesn’t know why the difference between silicon and silicone matters to some of us:
Silicon is the chemical element, number 14. It sits right under carbon in the periodic table. It is a hard brittle, bluish grey crystalline solid. Silicone is a family of chemical compounds that contain silicon, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Silicones include oily liquids and rubbery solids. Many, but certainly not all of the rubbery parts of kitchen equipment are made from silicone rubber.
Yeah, and silicon is used for glass and circuit boards.
Your comment, and Morgan's pronunciation of the word, "silicone" made me smile, as it made me think of a lapel button I purchased in a gift shop in Bozeman, Montana which reads, "I am silently correcting your grammar." :)
@@russelljackman1413 Whenever someone says silicon to mean silicone (the opposite is rare), every chemist in the audience winces a little.
Surprised you don't have the Weber Bird for most expensive French press.
It's wildly expensive but really well machined when I saw a demo for it
I’m curious to know how long the double walled ones keep the coffee hot. Over steeping was touched upon but not analyzed further. I would have liked to see Morgan taste some after they’ve sat for a while (an hour?) and critiqued the temperature and flavour. Can you get a decent 2nd cup from the same brew?
I have the doubled-walled Hario french press. Sooo pretty, so unnecessary, not for big batches. But man, so little silt, it's quite impressive.
Also, I feel the press works best with medium roasts (and darker, if you are into it).
camera quality is FIRE
The cheap bodum works perfectly for me. Sometimes I don’t even wash it thoroughly. I just rinse it and keep going.
i clean mine with a bit of water poured into a cheap paper filter on one of my chemex style pour overs then chuck the paper with into the compost feels less messy than scooping it out
Nice bossa-nova take on "Happy Birthday" underneath your clean up! Happy birthday, if that was an easter egg ;-)
I happen to have both the Espro and the Clara. The Espro does a great job at creating a “clean” FP cup, but doesn’t always filter all of the liquid. I end up having to lift the plunger for a final pour.
The Clara is nice, but I cannot for the life of me pour it without liquid running out down the unit 🤷
I know you made a video on it four years ago, but would you recommend a Flair espresso maker? Also, would the updated models be much different from that previous video? If so, could you make an updated one? It seems so interesting
I've learned that I personally really don't like French press. I only really enjoy coffee that is passed through either thick paper like my chemex, or 2 aeropress filters. I seem to appreciate the brightness and clarity very much.
Interesting to one that has it's own paper filter when iirc Lance Hendrick has shown a technique to that with any french press using regular filters
I am told you can even churn butter and make whipped cream in a French Press as well. Never tried it though.
I use a kitchen towel to wipe out the remaining coffee grounds. It is wet so it is easy to use kitchen towels for cleaning.
Regarding the ESPRO, I'm surprised it's not actually dishwasher safe.
I never read the manual, since it's a French press, and how hard can they be?
I had one a while ago (it disappeared in a move...).
That thing had been through the dishwasher over and over again without a single hiccup.
Carafe itself goes on the bottom rack, rest of it goes to the top rack.
Am I just lucky or is ESPRO just selling themselves short?
love your videos, the highlight of my day ❤️
I like using a metal french press with insulated walls because the coffee doesn't drop much in temperature as it brews.
Ive got the brazilian, but the tiny one. It makes One cup of coffee and its served me for many years
No Thermos (née Nissan) insulated stainless steel French press? I ended up buying one after the second or third Bodum was broken by someone else...on my second one because of Life Events. Like everything else here save for the cast iron, it gets thrown in the dishwasher. I remember that my original 1990s one ended up with some water getting trapped in the bottom so I fixed that by drilling a couple of drain holes in the plastic. (Take out of dishwasher, turn upright over the sink, let drain, return to station.)
French press - immersion brewing, just like an inverted Aeropress, but with the added benefit of chewiness and hard work cleaning.
Hey there🙂 do you have a video that you reviewed/ explained reusing coffee pods? Or is that sacrilege 😳 I'm a truck driver and do not drink truck stop coffee.. I have a nespresso (love it). But the pods are very expensive. So I refill the pods. Thank you for considering. Greg
i believe there are refillable pods on the market.
I scoop the grounds into my compost bin with either a spoon or just my hand. Pop the carafe in the dishwasher,wash my hands, done.
I wish you had the Weber French press.
The big problem I have with most French presses is that they're either 1L (that's a LOT of coffee; I can't grind that much in my hand grinder, and wouldn't want to!) or they're 300ml full capacity, which means you *might* get 240ml of brew out of it if you're lucky. I spent the last 25 years in Seattle; while I don't go for the Mondo, my favourite mug is just shy of 500ml, and I've got a few others that are bigger. Enter the Bodum Columbia 500ml. Double-walled, stainless body, dishwasher safe (though I don't), _and_ the silicone-rimmed microscreen plunger gives a pretty clean cuppa for an FP. I usually go for about 420ml of water in the brew, which nets me 350ml in the cup and enough room for whatever adulterants... and it's squat form factor means I can stuff it in my carry-on and haul it all the way out here to the Continent without having to leave other stuff behind. If you want a little more but not a full litre, there are various 20oz stainless presses with traditional mesh filters, and Espro make two - one glass, one stainless - at 18oz (~550ml)...
Interestingly the Bodum Columbia 500ml will run you anywhere from €65-90 on this side of the pond, but if you get it from the American webstore they've got it on special for $38, even less than what I paid for mine (which was right around $50). They might be phasing the little guy out, so...
But yeah. One of the anti-geeky reasons I like an FP so much is that if I screw up the brew, it's still usually a decent cup. No faffing about with WDTs, tamping just so, preheat the brew group, none of that. Just measure, grind, pour, time, and press; while I like a _little_ fuss, my brother just eyeballs his the whole way and still gets a decent cuppa out of his. (I do use an RDT bottle; stainless burrs == static!!)
You can absolutely half-fill that 1L unit if you want.
I usually just put my whole espresso machine in the dishwasher, makes cleanup a breeze! :D
Where would you classify the Bird?
I bought an espro but have switched to using my old cheap bodum with K 185 filters. Cleanup of the espro's double layer is too annoying and a paper filter is clearer anyway.
It''s funny, to me how nobody's figured out a way of having a press with a removable bottom. Just have the bottom be a thing which screws apart, have a sieve on the ready to put the grounds in and dump out. Then, clean the bottom, the sides are not obstructed (since it's just a bottom-less cylinder) and rinse stuff off before reassembly.
Greg of _How To Drink_ fame have a bunch of bottles from Crew Supply which have bottoms that can be unfastened for cleaning. If they can do it, why nobody else?
After repeatedly breaking the glass containers I recently got myself a stainless steel one for less than about 35 €. Plunger is just as simple as one would expect for this price point.
if i want my french press right away (Because thats mostly all i drink unless i want a hot drink then i use my Keurig its a blue mini one) i put a 5 minute timer on it if i dont want a cold brew is that to long? thats what the instructions say (granted its quite old) so much so its falling apart on the top (im just to broke to get a new one hints the Keurig) and i love my french....I dont understand what the ¨chewy¨ means because im used to it so i dont quite tell a difference.... i mean i can tell a difference between drip and french but im a nerd so
Love my OXO.. I make cold brew in it every day!