Did you know that french press was a tomato juice separator at first? Only later its creator Ugo Paolini developed the idea of making a coffee pot with a press action and a filter.
When trying to find the best French presses, we looked at a lot of different features and factors, including the capacity. Most of the manufacturers will simply list the amount of cups, but it’s a good idea to look for the ounces as the size of a cup can be interpreted differently. We also considered how easy each French press was to keep clean, as it’s rarely fun to get all the grinds out. If you can get a dishwasher-safe French press, this is a great advantage. We considered 42 different models before deciding on the 9 best French presses listed below with the Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press winning our Editor’s Choice nomination.
Extra features: features patented dual screen; 2-stage filter system with pre-filter and fine mesh eliminates any sediment; 5-year warranty
Moving on, we have the Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press. Made in the USA, this top quality French press is available in a wide range of sizes, including 8, 17, 23, and 36 oz. So if you’re looking for the best small French press, you can try out the 8 oz variant at a great price, but if you’re searching for something a little bigger, you can buy one of the other options. They’re all made from stainless steel and offer the same great features.
The Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press is dishwasher safe and features double wall insulation to keep your coffee nice and hot for longer. It comes with a highly efficient and effective 2-stage filter system too which helps to reduce the risk of any sediment making its way through to your cups and mugs, and it’s a very stylish French press to look at, even if the design might be described as a little on the bulkier side.
The only other downside to this French press is that, due to the stainless steel carafe, you can’t quite see how much coffee you have left inside. That’s only a minor flaw, however, and it pales in comparison to the long list of plus points the Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press has to offer. It’s sleek, modern, effective, easy to clean, and even comes with a super long warranty to provide total peace of mind to the buyer as well.
Extra features: 3-part stainless steel mesh; available in a wide range of design options
Next up, we come to the Bodum Chambord French Press Coffee Maker. Bodum is another highly respected brand in the coffee-making world, and the manufacturer’s high standards of quality and design are clear to see in this traditional glass French press, available in four different capacity options ranging from just 12 oz all the way up to 51 oz, which is one of the biggest French presses on our list.
This French press is safe to clean in your dishwasher, which is a nice advantage, but, as a glass model, it doesn’t offer dual wall insulation. This means it isn’t the most portable French press out there and it won’t keep your coffee long for hours and hours. It’s a classic, simple French press that offers terrific value for money and it’s available in a lot of nice color options and stylish finishes too.
This means you can find a model of the Bodum Chambord French Press Coffee Maker to suit the style and theme of your home, and it’s a visually appealing French press that is perfect to share with friends and family when they stop by for a visit. On the downside, some users have reported one particular problem with this model; the plunger can be a little unstable and wobbly when you push it, so you need to hold onto the handle firmly to avoid any accidents or spillages.
Extra features: available in 6 color options; comes with travel container for coffee beans or grounds
A very unique French press, quite different to the classic glass designs you might see being used in coffee shops or homes around the world, the Coffee Gator French Press Coffee Maker is available in just a 34 oz model and is a very strong and sturdy French press. This is the sort of model that can last for many years, with its solid construction ensuring that it won’t break or shatter if you accidentally drop it on the floor.
The Coffee Gator French Press Coffee Maker is available in a range of color options, which is a nice bonus, although it would be fair to say that this isn’t the most stylish or attractive French press in the world. This model is made with functionality, rather than flair, in mind. It comes with super thick and effective insulation, able to keep coffee hot for up to an hour, which can be a great advantage for busy people.
This French press also comes with its own little coffee bean holder, offering super value for money, and the handle and body are cool to the touch, even when the French press is filled up with piping hot coffee, so you can carry it around the home easily without putting yourself at any kind of risk. It’s one of the easiest French presses to clean as well, so there are a lot of advantages with the Coffee Gator French Press Coffee Maker.
Extra features: also available in red; features a fine mesh filter and patented safety lid
We’re back with Bodum for another high quality glass French press you might like to try. The Bodum 1548-01US Brazil French Press Coffee and Tea Maker is available in three different capacities: 12 oz, 34 oz, and 51 oz. It’s made primarily from glass, with BPA-free plastic on the base and handle, and it’s quite a compact model that can easily fit in kitchen cabinets or elsewhere around the home.
The Bodum 1548-01US Brazil French Press Coffee and Tea Maker is perfectly safe to clean in the dishwasher, which is a great plus point, although it’s worth noting that this is a bit of a budget model. It does feel a little cheap and plastic compared to some of the classier entries on our list with their glass and steel designs, but if you’re looking for value for money, this French press is a real winner.
It’s available in red too if you prefer a brighter color to liven up the rather simple aesthetic, and it does a decent job of filtering out any sediment and producing great tasting coffee. It does lack measurements on the side to help you gauge how much coffee you’re making, but this is true of many other models and it’s something that owners quickly get used to. Overall, a very impressive French press.
Extra features: features a spill-resistant lid, built-in plunger and non-slip silicone band; available in other color options
Back with Bodum again for the Bodum Travel Press. This French press immediately stands out from all the others for its unique construction and design. If you’re looking for the best travel French press or the best French press for just one person, look no further. The Bodum Travel Press effectively acts as both a French press and a travel mug all in one, letting you prepare up to 15 oz of coffee and then set off to enjoy it on the go.
There aren’t many travel mugs that also other French press functionality, so there’s definitely a lot to love about the Bodum Travel Press. It comes with double wall insulation to protect your hands and keep your coffee hot, and it’s dishwasher friendly too. It’s also available in a great range of color options to suit all tastes and styles.
On the downside, the small size of the Bodum Travel Press makes it unsuitable for families or households in need of lots of coffee from their French press, and it can be a bit difficult to clean due to its slender and narrow form. On the plus side, it features a spill resistant lid and is one of the best travel French presses money can buy.
Extra features: lifetime warranty; handle folds flat for easier storage
The best French press for camping, the Stanley Adventure All-In-One Boil + Brew French Press is a product built with durability and action in mind. From a single glance, it’s easy to see how tough and resistant this French press is, with Stanley doing a terrific job of ensuring that their camping and travel-oriented French press can handle knocks and drops without suffering any serious damage.
The Stanley Adventure All-In-One Boil + Brew French Press has a maximum capacity of 32 oz, but it sadly doesn’t feature double wall insulation. It’s still got very strong insulation, but it won’t keep your coffee hot for as long as some of the other models on our list. It’s also a bit of a difficult French press to disassemble and clean, and it definitely lacks the elegance and sophisticated style of some glass models.
On the plus side, however, the heavy duty design of the Stanley Adventure All-In-One Boil + Brew French Press gives it a lot of advantages. It’s resilient and hardy, able to accompany you on all kinds of trips for years to come. The manufacturer provides a lifetime warranty too, and this French press comes with a useful folding handle to save space when it’s not in use.
Extra features: 4-level filtration system; BPA-free; lifetime replacement guarantee
Last but not least, we come to the Cafe Du Chateau French Press Coffee Maker. This is our Budget Pick for this list of the best French press coffee maker models, meaning it’s available at a great price and is a good option for those looking for the best cheap French press that won’t do too much damage to their bank account. To look at the Cafe Du Chateau French Press Coffee Maker, however, you wouldn’t think it was cheap at all.
This French press is really stylish, and it looks like the sort of French press one would truly expect to find being used in fancy French cafés on the streets of Paris. It features a distinctive glass and metal design, blending these two materials together elegantly and bringing a lot of class to your kitchen, living room, or wherever you want to use it. It can hold up to 34 ounces of coffee in total and doesn’t feature double wall insulation, but can be cleaned in the dishwasher.
As a cheap model, the Cafe Du Chateau French Press Coffee Maker does have a few drawbacks. It features a four-tier filtration system but some sediment can seep through into your cups of coffee, especially when pouring out the last little bit of coffee from the carafe. It’s also not the easiest French press to clean. Aside from those issues, however, it’s a quality French press, made with BPA free materials and coming with a lifetime guarantee too.
Extra features: comes with a bamboo paddle and coffee scoop; available in brushed finish
Our Editor’s Pick as the very best rated French press is the Espro Press P7. Espro is one of the leading manufacturers of French presses, so we’ll see this brand several times in our list, and they’re well-known for producing top quality coffee-making equipment, with the P7 standing out as a fine example of what Espro has to offer. It comes in 18 oz and 32 oz options, is dishwasher friendly, features double wall insulation, and comes with a bunch of accessories too.
The Espro Press P7 ships with its own bamboo paddle and coffee scoop, making the preparation of coffee even easier than normal, and it features a very stylish stainless steel design. The advantage of this steel coffee press is that it’s highly durable and can retain heat for longer, so it’ll keep your coffee nice and warm for a while, which is a nice bonus if you like to make a pot of coffee last longer.
The insulation in this Espro Press P7 is excellent, and its filtration is even better. It features a super strong filter system with lots of microfilters to guarantee the very best flavors of coffee without any trace of grinds or sediment. It’s a dishwasher friendly model too, so it’s very easy to clean, and the only downside we could find is its high price.
Extra features: 40% thicker carafe glass walls; features patented double microfilters; comes with bamboo paddle and coffee scoop
We’re continuing with another Espro model here. The Espro P3 Glass French Press Coffee Maker is another excellent French press with a lot to offer, and it has a few things in common with the P7 in terms of design and construction, but a few key differences too. Only available in a 32 oz variant, this French press also ships with some useful accessories to help you out while preparing your cups of coffee day. Unlike the P7, however, it features a glass carafe, rather than a stainless steel one.
The Espro P3 Glass French Press Coffee Maker is one of the best glass French presses money can buy today. It’s very stylish and attractive and can be a classy addition to your home. It features super thick glass walls too in order to keep the coffee hot for a relatively long time, but it doesn’t boast the same dual wall insulation of the P7, so it won’t perform quite as well in that aspect.
Like the P7, the Espro P3 Glass French Press Coffee Maker has very strong filtration with lots of microfilters to ensure that not a single trace of sediment should be found in any of your cups of coffee. The filtration also ensures that the coffee produced by this French press is very flavorful, with lots of notes and layers and a more satisfying drink when compared to something like a drip machine. It’s dishwasher friendly too.
Now that we’ve seen some of the best French press models you can buy, it’s time to take a closer look at which individual features and factors you need to think about when shopping for your next French press. The best French coffee press for you will depend on your own personal tastes and preferences, so let’s learn more about the key features to look out for to find your next French press.
There are many different advantages of a French press coffee maker:
There are several different features to think about when shopping for your next French press, and the importance of these features will vary depending on your coffee-drinking habits and lifestyle. Some people will really value a portable French press, for example, while others will be looking for a French press with a high capacity and strong insulation.
This feature tells us how many ounces of coffee the French press is able to prepare. Some French press manufacturers will simply list how many cups of coffee their products are capable of making, but it’s a good idea to look at the measurement in ounces to get an accurate reading as the size of a mug can be interpreted differently by different brands. If you’re just looking for a French press to use at home and live alone or as a couple, you won’t need such a big French press, but if you often have to make lots of cups of coffee for many people, a bigger model will be needed. Some French presses, like the Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press, are available in many sizes.
The insulation of a French press like the is effective for determining how long it can keep your coffee hot. This is a key factor if you have a busy lifestyle and like to make a pot of coffee in the morning and then come back to it while doing other things. Single-wall French press models aren’t going to offer too much insulation, but models that boast of vacuum sealed double walls like the Espro Press P7 can keep your coffee hot a lot longer.
The carafe is the body of the French press. This is where the coffee sits and percolates while the French press is working its magic. The carafe is typically made of either glass or stainless steel. Glass is a popular material for its beauty and the fact that it lets you easily see how much coffee you’ve got left inside. It’s the classic, traditional material for a French press, as seen in the Espro P3 Glass French Press Coffee Maker, but it does risk breaking and isn’t quite as good as retaining heat as stainless steel. Stainless steel French presses keep coffee hot for longer, making them better suited for travel purposes, and they’re super durable and tough too.
Cleaning a French press is rarely a fun activity as you have to get all the grinds out and this can often be a messy job. Plus, some French presses are designed in ways that are difficult to clean with your hands or brushes. It’s wise to choose a French press that is easy to clean to make your coffee-making experiences more enjoyable overall, and if you can get a dishwasher-safe French press like the Bodum Chambord French Press Coffee Maker, this is a great advantage.
French presses can come in all shapes and sizes. They all tend to follow the same basic design pattern, but there can be some big differences from one model to the next. If you’re a frequent camper or traveler, you might like to choose a design that is suitable for travel like the Bodum Travel Press. A compact and lightweight French press is a great option for travelers, but those who just plan on using their French press at home won’t need to worry too much about this aspect. You may, however, wish to find a French press with a design you find visually appealing. Some French presses like the Cafe Du Chateau French Press Coffee Maker are particularly attractive and can add elegance to any kitchen or living room.
To get the best quality coffee out of your French press, you want to find a model with a strong and effective filter. It needs to be as fine as possible to guarantee the most satisfying flavors and prevent any sediment or coffee grinds appearing in your cup. Choose a French press with lots of microfilters like the Coffee Gator French Press Coffee Maker for the very best results.
To make the most of your French press, add one heaped tablespoon of coffee to the carafe for each 200ml (6.7oz) of water you plan to add. Add hot, but not boiling, water into the pot and then gently stir for a few moments before inserting the plunger and placing it just above the water level. Leave the coffee to percolate and infuse for up to 5 minutes before plunging.
Overall, our favorite French press was the Frieling USA Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press. With its striking design, effective filtration, and strong double wall insulation, it offers everything you need from a top-of-the-range French press and can last a lifetime too.
Next on our best French press list was the Bodum Chambord French Press Coffee Maker. It is a great-looking French press, available in multiple design options and sizes from 12 – 51 ounces
Finally, our third best French press is the Coffee Gator French Press Coffee Maker. This French press features heavy-duty double wall insulation, keeping your coffee hot for longer; comes with a travel container for coffee beans/grounds.
