All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
So you're finally ready to ditch the drip coffee maker, hence your search for the best French press. Here's the thing: It's genuinely hard to find a bad French press. When you brew with a French press, you're making coffee through immersion brewing, which means you let coffee grounds and water mingle together for a certain amount of time before separating the grounds from that sweet, sweet coffee. The result of immersion brewing, and therefore French press-brewed coffee, is that you get a fuller-bodied coffee than one you'd make with a drip coffee maker or a pour-over coffee dripper. And besides hot coffee, French presses are great if you want to make cold brew.
What is a French press, exactly?
A French press comprises of a carafe, a filter, and a plunger. Really, that's it. While a French press can come in various shapes and sizes, the design is practically the same throughout. Fun fact: French presses are in fact French in that they were first used in the 1800s by the French, but the first patent for the design was filed by the Italians in 1929.
How do you use a French press?
Brewing with a French press is just about as easy as using a regular old coffee maker, though with a different set of steps. You mix coarsely ground coffee with hot water in the carafe, stir the mixture, steep the grounds and water for a few minutes, then push down the plunger to separate the grounds from the coffee. For stronger coffee, adjust the amount of coffee grounds or adjust your coffee grinder to produce finer grounds. Ideally you'll want to decant the coffee by pouring it into a separate vessel so the grounds don't continue to leech flavor into the brewed coffee, resulting in a bitter brew.
Coffee made in a French press requires a little more work than using a machine—and is certainly more environmentally friendly than a pod brewer like the Keurig machine—but those who are looking for a better-tasting coffee will appreciate that the work (which really is just pushing down the plunger and then digging the grounds out of the carafe for cleanup) yields a cup of joe that's really worth taking the extra time. So, if you're ready to upgrade from your $20 Mr. Coffee, here are seven of the best French press coffee makers we've tested that are worthy of your precious coffee beans.
The Best Overall French Press: Espro P3
The Espro P3 offers some of the cleanest brews out of any other French press on the market. The brand specializes in French presses, specifically, and like its other models, the P3 utilizes a pair of fine-mesh filters to ensure a cleaner, less murky coffee by ensuring even the smallest sediments don't make it into your cup. Also, the uniquely designed plunger does a good job at keeping the coffee grounds away from the brewed coffee to avoid over-extraction even once you've stopped brewing. The filters and plunger are dishwasher-safe, but the brand recommends hand-washing the carafe to keep it in tip-top shape for longer. Espro touts its 40-percent thicker glass, which the brand says improves safety and durability, but that does little to improve on its insulation, so don't expect your hot cup of coffee to stay hot for very long. Best of all, the P3 is a reasonable price for an above-average French press, and when you’re ready for something even nicer, the Espro P7 is there waiting for you.
The Best Budget French Press: Bodum Chambord
Bodum has become synonymous with French presses, namely because it makes so many varieties of them (as well as other coffee gear). We won't say Bodum perfected the French press (some of its parts feel a little cheap) but the brand still churns out some good brewers and is consistently a top pick when it comes to coffee-brewing apparatuses. The Chambord is what one would picture if they had to imagine a classic French press, with its stainless steel frame and borosilicate glass carafe. The plunger doesn't offer the same vacuum-like seal as the Espro P3, which also means that the Chambord's triple-filter system has the tendency to leech sediments back into the brewed coffee. There's also a stainless steel filter to fully separate the plunged grounds from the coffee, but it's not exactly a perfect solution for keeping the solids and the liquid apart. For the price, however, it's hard to beat this French press.
For an even cheaper option, check out the Bodum Brazil. It feels pretty cheap and it’s even worse at keeping coffee hot, but it’s a great beginner pick for those just testing the waters.
The Best-Looking French Press: Fellow Clara
If you're familiar with Fellow, you'll know this thing is a Fellow product just on looks alone. With its matte black exterior and thoughtful design, it's as Fellow as it gets. The French press prioritizes heat retention from its stainless steel interior to the heat-lock double wall vacuum. The mesh filter does a good job at separating coffee grounds, and an innovative 360-degree pour spout means you don't have to line up the lid in a precise manner to start pouring out your brewed coffee. Fellow claims the interior is equipped with a non-stick coating for easy cleanup, but we found that it's not as non-stick as Fellow would like to believe, with grounds still taking some effort to come out cleanly. The Clara took home one of the Specialty Coffee Association's prizes for Best New Products award, but it costs $100 for this thing and it doesn't brew a notably better cup of coffee than cheaper French presses on this list. It definitely feels like a high-quality product, though, and looks like the sleek kind of brewing apparatus you'd want to leave out on the counter.
The Best French Press for Travel: GSI Outdoors Personal Java Press
Travelers and off-the-grid trekkers shouldn't have to sacrifice flavor when it comes to sipping coffee away from home. The right on-the-go brewing gear, like the Aeropress, can make brewing quality coffee outdoors a cinch, as well as a number of durable pour-over drippers. For French press coffee, GSI Outdoors makes the Java Press, which is light and durable, and the double-walled carafe is wrapped in ballistic nylon for great heat retention. It doesn't have the greatest filter on the planet, but it's still more than decent for a solid morning cup that doesn't taste like dirt.
The Best Stainless Steel French Press: Frieling French Press
Frieling's striking design isn't just for looks—its double-wall stainless steel construction makes it incredibly durable while being an excellent material choice to help with heat retention. Its mesh filter isn't that great, but it does do a good job at removing a decent amount of grounds and sediment. It's also on the pricier end, but the French press is backed by a five-year manufacturer's warranty and it’ll look really good on your countertop.
The Best Ceramic French Press: Le Creuset Cafe French Press
Le Creuset is famous for its enameled Dutch oven, and much of what makes a Dutch oven great—like its heat retention, durability, and overall look—applies to why the Cafe French press is a great coffee brewer. The colorful ceramic style might not be everyone's cup of tea, er, coffee, but the material is dishwasher-safe, and comes polished off with a chip-resistant enamel finish that lasts and lasts for years of upstanding coffee. Plus, these guys make great gifts for people who are suckers for heritage brands.
The Best French Press for Easy Cleanup: Oxo 8-Cup French Press
We love Oxo's 8-cup coffee maker, and its 8-cup French press is another standout product from the kitchen brand if you're making coffee for a group of people at brunchtime. While other French presses require you to manually dig out the spent grounds, Oxo's French press features a GroundsLifter. As its name suggests, the GroundsLifter lifts out the grounds when you remove the plunger. Its tight fit ensures it scrapes the sides of the carafe so that all of the debris comes out with a satisfying plop. It's a worthwhile purchase if you just hate having to deal with scraping out wet coffee grounds after you've blissed out on a delicious cup of coffee.
