Bodum34 oz Columbia Thermal French Press Coffee Maker, Insulated Double Wall Stainless Steel, Chrome

This bodum is the perfect pot to brew and serve tea. I own a couple of them and one has lasted me about 20 years.

I cut back on my coffee consumption, to where the 1.5l seemed nearly empty, plus the rubber seal on the screen is looking a bit tired after 15 years of near-daily coffee production. So I got the smaller sibling, and it is everything I expected it to be. One simply can't go wrong with this french press.

I drink French press coffee every morning and wanted something insulated so it would stay hot longer. This is the absolute best! The plunger and screen has silicone around the edges, which successfully filters out 97% the coffee crumbs. I must say this is one of my favorite features. Besides, it’s stylish and keeps the coffee hotter than the Stanley French press that I bought… which was offered for a higher price. I thought maybe because the name was Stanley and a bit smaller, it would be more portable and better for our summer place, but the Bodum company knows what they’re doing. This Bodum press far surpasses Stanley’s. This review is unsolicited, and I’ve had this French press since 2015, 10 years. I’ve taken good care of it because it’s so crucial to my day. Couldn’t be happier.

This was my first venture into French press coffee after being totally dissatisfied with the inconsistent batches from the drip machines and I am quite impressed! This is definitely the size to get for 2 or more drinkers, I couldn't imagine having a smaller size. I've actually noticed a SLIGHT oil slick on top of my coffee affirming that I'm getting ALL that the coffee bean had to offer! Grinding the beans right before brewing also helps of course.As for the amount of coffee to use, the instructions work out to be twice the amount you would use in a drip machine ie: 1T per 4oz. cup is replaced with 2T for same amount - thus creating a more robust, richer tasting coffee. Yes it takes alot of ground coffee to make French pressed coffee, but it's worth it for the taste I think. For this pot I find 12 oz. ground, measured in cup measure, gives a rich enough flavor - but experimentation is the key here.As for the whole process, it gets quite effortless once you get the steps down and the timing correct. Here is a quick run down that I use: put the kettle on, grind the coffee, when the kettle whistles pour 2" into pot to prewarm it, put lid on in closed position, measure coffee while keeping the tea kettle OFF the heat, water should be just OFF the boil before adding to the coffee, remove pot lid, add ground coffee to the existing hot water and stir with metal teaspoon to thoroughly wet it and mix into a slurry, add hot water up to 1" below inside edge of pour spout, stir it well again, replace lid with plunger in UP position and lid turned close, set timer for 4 mins., when time is up, slooowly press down plunger while gently holding the HOT lid, lifting up the plunger abit if it jams and press down again till you get to the bottom and it won't go any further, turn lid to the open position (keeping plunger down), pour and ENJOY!I have never had any grinds migrate past the filter though you may notice a slight sludgy residue at the bottom of your cup and more so as you get down to the last of the pot, but it is not undesirable by any means. I definitely set the pot on a heavy duty hot mat while steeping and serving as well as keeping the pot wrapped in a heavy dish towel, keeps it hot for quite awhile. Just remember to turn the lid shut each time you pour some out, effortless, and it will retain the heat longer.As for cleaning the pot, also very simple. Pull out the lid/plunger assembly and gently (not scratching inside of pot) scoop out the packed down grounds with same teaspoon used earlier in the process, rinse out the remaining grinds and hand wash and dry the pot to eliminate water spots on the shiny exterior finish. The filter disk DOES screw off the plunger rod for cleaning but not needed each time I'd think. Let the wire mesh filter air dry a few hours before enclosing in back into the pot for storage and that's it - no muss, no fuss.Though I don't use the pot everyday, IF I have any coffee left over I refrigerate it in a sealed glass jar to reheat the rest of the week. I've done that with drip brewed coffee as well for YEARS with no real taste deterioration noted. How easy can that get in the rushed morning than to pour a cup from the jar, nuke it and you're off - works for me everyday ;)

Keeps coffee hotter, longer than my glass Bodums do/did. But doesn't come with an extra filter screen, as my glass ones do/did. At this price, I think it should, so I'm taking a star off. Easy to use. I like the arrow spout-pointer. I'm not crazy about all of the fingerprints on the stainless exterior.

Excellent quality and good price and swift delivery. The bodum keeps the coffee nice and ho. I also appreciate the fact that it pours without dripping and the coffee poured is filtered so there no grounds in my cuppa !!

While the Bodum Columbia Insulated French Press Coffee Maker Pot is very nice, it is also a bit of a disappointment. I have been using glass French presses for well over a decade and Bodum is my preferred brand. I wanted to switch from the glass container to the stainless steel one for two reasons. The first was to keep coffee warmer on cold days when the glass one tended to cool down too quickly even with the Bodum insulated cover. The second was to move away from the plastic in the glass container. While the Bodum Columbia Insulated French Press Coffee Maker Pot excels at the first, it fails at the second. It also doesnt make good coffee.The top of the Bodum Columbia Insulated French Press Coffee Maker Pot is plastic, not steel. While the plunger mechanism used in the glass version is metal and only has a plastic fastener, almost all of the plunger mechanism for the steel version is plastic.The silicone ring around the plunger traps coffee grinds in the plunger better than the steel version used in the glass container. However, what often happens is that liquid is also trapped behind the plunger. I normally use 1 2/3 cups of water for in the glass version and this results in a little more than one coffee cup of coffee. When the same amount of water was used in the steel version, it yielded less than one cup of coffee. And that one cup of coffe was weak. If I raised and lowered the plunger, I could get more coffee out. So this steel press is wasteful since you need to use more water and ground coffee to yield the same amount of coffee as the glass version. So less coffee and it is weaker than the glass version. Not a good outcome.Overall, this French press does look nice and it does keep coffee warm. But, it has a lot of plastic parts in contact with the hot water and it requires more coffee than the glass version to make a cup of coffee at the equivalent strength. Overall, it is a disappointment and I have gone back to using my glass Bodum French press.