Best Rugged French Presses (2021): Bodum, Stanley, Espro - WIRED

I pulled my French press from the dishwasher and caught the lip of the glass carafe on the edge of the counter, and years of faithful service abruptly ended as a tiny shards of glass scattered across the floor.

I looked around for replacements and found a carafe often costs about two-thirds as much as a whole French press.

When it arrived, along with being able to make my regular cup of coffee again, it looked so good that I felt like I'd classed up the joint.

One of the first to arrive was the Stanley Stay Hot French Press ($65).

The company’s limited-edition press, in powdery “polar” white, was surprisingly good looking and promised to make 48 ounces (or 1.4 liters) of “caffeinated gold.".

(Coffee snobs may wince at this, saying dishwashing can leave residue that imparts bitterness to your coffee, to which I say you can give it a quick rinse in the sink.)  I was curious to see how all of these insulated containers would do at keeping things warm, but leaving brewed coffee in contact with the grounds after depressing a French press’ plunger is frowned upon, as it means that you'll overextract your coffee and cause the brew to take on an unwelcome bitterness.

Slow sippers of large quantities like me will be much happier with a dedicated thermos to hold your coffee.

Finally, of course, the coffee they made needed to be good.

What little of the fines that get through don’t improve the coffee’s taste, but they add a mouthfeel and richness that people like me find pleasant and even preferable to what you can get out of a “regular” coffee maker.

It's like coffee-maker coffee for people somehow forced to make only French press, or for campers too far from an outlet to plug in Mr.

This “clean cup” isn't a bad thing, but it's certainly different and perhaps not exactly what French press fans, myself included, want from a press pot.

I did find its claim to fame to be an interesting idea: the flap on a metal disc above the filter turns it into something of a one-way valve; once the plunger is depressed, the brewed coffee can't circulate into the grounds and become bitter, theoretically allowing you to keep the coffee in there longer without it becoming a bitter mess.

If you're not going to put your coffee in a thermos after you brew it, and the hottest coffee for the longest time is your highest priority, this might be your best bet.

After all of my in-home testing, I was most happy to discover that while there were a few nits to pick and stylistic variations here and there, all the machines seemed to make a pretty good cup of coffee.

There, while all double masked, we brewed five batches fairly simultaneously using all five French presses.

While all the brewers made coffee that each of us enjoyed, we did select some favorites.

Sam enjoyed the Stanley, noting its nice pour and easy cleanup.

Reyna was taken with the Espro's coffee, noting "it's so clear!" comparing it to the others when she first poured it.

She also then enjoyed that cup most, realizing that it was closest of the five to the Breville coffee maker she has at home.

We tried each of the coffees about 40 minutes later and, while our preference for transferring just-brewed coffee to a thermos remained unchanged, we learned two things.

And considering the coffee samples had sat around for a bit, they weren't that bad.