French press coffee has become incredibly popular recently and a 12 cup french press may be the most popular coffee maker option. Today I’m going to talk about them in fairly specific detail and help you narrow down the exact one that’s right for you. I’m also going to spend a minute or two talking about French press coffee in general in case it’s new to you.
There are a ton of different French press coffee makers on the market today from a ton of different companies and it can be confusing to narrow down the best one.
I’ll be completely upfront with you, it really doesn’t matter which one you buy because these are such simple machines that there’s not much to them. Basically you need a carafe, which is just a glass beaker to hold the water, and you need a plunger that filters the coffee grounds from the water. That’s it!
Of course, depending on the material of the plunger and the filter, there can be a little differentiation between different brands, but here’s what you should look for…
There are two main types of presses out there. The first is a stainless steel coffee maker and the second is rubber. Now your rubber presses are going to be more stylish and funky looking. They’re going to be made out of bright colors with a lot of different color options. They’ll have stylish handles and funky tops. You need to realize right away though that these are not as good as the stainless steel options because you’re working with near boiling water and boiling water and rubber don’t go together all that well.
I suggest you focus on a standard stainless steel looking French press which is sturdy and will last forever. The clear industry leader is Bodum. In fact, their 12 Cup Chambord French Coffee Press is one of the most popular French presses in the world. It has 575 customer reviews at Amazon.com and that’s huge! And to top it all off, 365 of them are five out of 5 star reviews, and 118 are 4 out of 5 star reviews. That’s quite an endorsement for any product!
The Bodum Chambord French Coffee Press cost $45 and will brew 51 ounces of coffee. It’s made out of a chrome plated brass frame that is very sturdy and very easy to keep clean.
Further, if your carafe ever breaks, a replacement beaker costs only $15 and is very easy to order online, unlike some other companies I won’t mention. You can also pick up a replacement filter for around eight or nine dollars if you ever need it, though you probably won’t.
Choosing the 12 Cup French Press that’s right for you doesn’t have to be that hard. If you want a traditional French press that will never go out of style and will last forever then go with the Bodum model I talked about above. If you’re not as serious about your coffee and are mostly interested in how the French press looks, then take any other brand on the market. Either way, you’ll probably enjoy your French press coffee for years to come.
