French press

The French press—also called a cafetière, press pot, coffee press, or coffee plunger—is a device for brewing coffee, though it can be put to other uses as well. Its earliest known ancestor was a drip-press coffee maker invented by Benjamin Thompson in 1812. Later, in 1852, Jacques-Victor Delforge and Henri-Otto Mayer secured a French patent for a similar device.

As for its name, in North America it is commonly called a French press or coffee press. In Britain and Ireland, it is known as a cafetière (the French word for “coffee maker”). In New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, it is called a coffee plunger, and the coffee brewed in it is referred to as plunger coffee. In French, it is called a *cafetière à piston* or simply *cafetière* (also used in Dutch), though some speakers use brand names like Melior or Bodum generically. In Italian, it is *caffettiera a stantuffo*; in German, it goes by *Kaffeepresse*, *Stempelkanne*, *Pressstempelkanne*, or *Kaffeedrücker*.

The design has changed over time. The earliest version was rudimentary: a metal or cheesecloth screen attached to a rod that users pushed into a pot of hot water and coffee grounds, possibly made in France. In 1852, Paris metalsmith Henri-Otto Mayer and merchant Jacques-Victor Delforge patented a forerunner that lacked a seal around the filter. A later patent was filed by Frenchman Marcel-Pierre Paquet dit Jolbert, published on 5 August 1924. In 1928, Milanese designers Giulio Moneta and Attilio Calimani created a press with a spring to seal the filter, patenting it in the United States in 1929. Further modifications came from Faliero Bondanini, who patented his own version in 1958 and had it manufactured in a French clarinet factory, Martin SA, under the brand Melior. Its popularity may have been boosted in 1965 by its appearance in the Michael Caine film *The Ipcress File*. The device was litigated and spread across Europe by Melior-Martin (French), Household Articles Ltd. (British, under the name La Cafetiere), and Bodum (Danish, with the Chambord model). Today’s French press is a narrow cylindrical beaker, usually glass or clear plastic, with a tight-fitting metal or plastic lid and plunger that holds a fine stainless steel or nylon mesh filter.

To brew coffee, coarsely ground beans are placed in the empty beaker, then hot water is added—roughly one part coffee to fifteen parts water, adjustable to taste. After steeping, the plunger is pressed down to trap the grounds while the coffee is poured. Coarser grounds, about the consistency of cooking salt, work best; finer grounds reduce permeability, requiring more force to plunge and often seeping through the filter, leading to over-extraction and bitterness. Some recommend a brewing time of about four minutes, though cold brewing takes several hours. Plunging slowly helps avoid scalding and is thought to maximize extraction of oils and flavonoids. The mesh piston usually does not compress the grounds, as most designs leave a gap below it at its lowest point. If the brewed coffee sits with the used grounds, it can become astringent and bitter, though some drinkers prefer that effect.

French presses are more portable and self-contained than many coffee makers. Travel versions use tough plastic instead of glass and have a sealed lid with a closable drinking hole, marketed to hikers and backpackers who want to avoid heavy percolators or drip filters. Stainless steel, insulated versions keep coffee hot like a thermos. In South Indian households, a stainless steel version (without insulation) is common; the decoction is mixed with milk and sugar to make kaapi. A variation called the “French pull” or “reverse French press” uses a pull-design: grounds sit in a mesh basket that is pulled into the lid after brewing, trapping them away from the coffee. Others use shutters that close via the top to seal off the grounds. French presses are also used for cold brew. Another version, the “American press,” fills hot water first, then slowly pushes a basket of grounds down (and sometimes back up) through the water. An all-in-one model includes a heating element that runs on a 12-volt power source.

Beyond coffee, a French press can serve as a tea infuser for loose tea. However, tea will continue to steep even after the plunger is depressed, potentially turning bitter, so it may be best to decant the tea into another container.