Fellow Clara French Press Coffee Maker - Portable Stainless Steel Coffee Press, Insulated Manual Brewer, Matte Black, 24 oz Carafe

Product Information

Coffee preparation is personal. For many coffee lovers, selecting how to enjoy coffee depends upon which preparation method they're in the mood for. From using a French press to a coffee percolator to a pour-over coffee maker, the options are endless. For those who prefer a lot of flavor extraction, French press preparation is a great choice. The best French presses bring out the bold flavors of coffee, intensely filter the grounds to leave behind a smooth and silky body, and offer a strong cup of coffee. First, you'll want to measure and grind your coffee beans, preferably with a burr grinder, using about 2 tablespoons of beans per cup of water. Then boil your water (this is where an electric kettle will come in handy) and pour it into the carafe over the grounds. Then steep for 4 minutes while stirring, and when the time is up add the lid and push down the press to filter out the grounds. Even if your press is made to keep your coffee warm, you'll want to serve your coffee as soon as you can to prevent over-extraction. No scale? No problem. Load grounds up to the coffee line and hot water up to the water line. French press ratio aids take the guesswork out of groggy mornings for the perfect 24 oz/ 700ml batch every time. Bada bing, bada brew. The carafe is made from two layers of stainless steel—advertised as "double-walled"—so the coffee stays warm longer than in glass presses. We measured coffee temperature 10 minutes and 30 minutes after brewing for our insulation test, and the Frieling French Press ranked in the top half of all the models. So the insulation is better than average but not outstanding, which is a slight letdown considering its hefty price tag.

Mueller French Press: The Mueller French press is double-walled and brewed great coffee. It’s just a teeny bit heavy and the mesh filters were a little clumsy. After Lab testing over 20 French presses, our all-around favorite is the Espro Everyday P3. Its price is on par with the typical 32-ounce French press (that's the only size the P3 comes in), yet we found the coffee it brews to be tastier and to contain less sediment than nearly every competitor. This is partially due to Espro's patented double filter system; instead of a single filter to plunge coffee grounds, the P3 uses two extra-fine mesh filters to ensure a smoother cup of coffee. It just looks good in the same way most Fellow products do. It is the sort of French Press that you will be proud to leave out on the bench and will very naturally be a topic of conversation. The brewing methods themselves have different advantages too. French presses take up less room, can be more aesthetically pleasing, and are often more affordable than drip machines. That said, drip coffee makers require less effort, have a lower chance of user error, and generally brew larger batches of coffee. So, it's not about figuring out which method is best, just which method is best for you.In terms of taste, it is very nice depending on your brewing technique and of course the beans and grind consistency. The two advantages that the Fellow Clara French Press has in terms of taste are heat retention and filter quality. The double-walled body does mean better heat retention for better extraction, and the filter is very good and so leads to less silt and cleaner brews. Many coffee fans appreciate the full-bodied taste a French press can create. “I’d say French press coffee is absolutely worth it,” Woodburn-Simmonds says. “For so little money, you can have really high quality coffee, especially if you grind your beans fresh.” French presses also look nice sitting out in your kitchen, he adds. And finally, as mentioned, these devices are also far more affordable than full-size coffee makers (for the most part). Another nice touch on the Clara is the ratio-aid lines on the interior wall. So, if you don’t have a scale or the inclination to weigh out your coffee, there is a marking towards the base of the interior indicating your coffee level, and then a marking for the water.

Still, do those features make it worth the extra money compared to other devices? Not really. If you like the sleek and sophisticated design, it’s probably worth it, but if the aesthetic is not that important for you, we suggest opting for a less expensive French press. Yes, the Fellow Clara produces full-bodied coffee that’s above average, but it’s not three times as delicious as coffee made by other French presses. Our Verdict There's a phrase in the coffee industry called "The Golden Ratio," which is a general recommendation for the amount of coffee grounds and water to use when brewing. The Golden Ratio is typically 1 gram of coffee for every 18 grams of water (1:18). While this is an excellent rule of thumb overall, some brewing devices produce better results with a slightly different ratio. When using a French press, Timothy Johnson, the Head of Education and Training at Vibe Coffee Group, recommends a ratio of 1 gram of coffee for every 15 grams of water (1:15). "We like to use a little bit more coffee per water to punch through and get that body from the French press,” he says. Fellow thought of (almost) everything. For example, in most French presses, you need to line up the lid in a certain way to pour out the coffee. Clara French press has an all-directional pour lid with holes all around, so you don’t need to align a small opening with the spout. Our tester appreciated the combination of the stainless steel and the folding handle design, saying it made this French press a great option for traveling and outdoor adventures, especially in compact spaces like a camper van. Plus, its double use as a cooking vessel makes it that much more valuable and worth the space, according to our tester.Add the cold water, insert the plunger, and depress it just enough to keep the grounds submerged under the water (so not all the way!). Put the French press in the fridge for 12 hours to brew. After that, you can depress the plunger and pour the cold brew concentrate into a separate container for storage. French press-style coffee is consistently more flavorful than other brews. The Bodum, however, produces an unrivaled rich and silky cup. The instructions specify the user uses coarsely ground beans, and perhaps that is the difference. Finely ground beans produce less flavor, and oftentimes make their way through the filter. A high-performing press that comes with spare filters and double-wall insulation to keep the reservoir warm One of the best things about the Fellow Clara is its appeal for beginners and simplicity of use, thanks in part to a couple of thoughtful design elements. Let’s examine those. All-Directional Pour Lid When you brew in a French press, you're doing something called immersion brewing. Essentially, water and coffee grounds get to sit together for a few minutes before the grounds get filtered out and you're left with that sweet, sweet coffee.

If you’re using a super light-roasted coffee, you may need to go a little hotter with the water and a little longer steeping. With darker-roasted coffees, you maybe want to go a little cooler with your water and a little shorter steeping. Think of it as: the lighter your coffee, the more flavor components that are still in there. So you’re going to need to basically “cook it” for a little longer and a little hotter." — Timothy Johnson, Head of Education and Training at Vibe Coffee Group Capacity Stanley French Press: While the insulation on this Stanley French press held up to the competition, it flunked the taste test. The lid and plunger were consistently loose, allowing grounds to bypass the filter, leaving all the cups murky and bitter. Easto is a fan of cold brew, and her recipe requires patience for the best results. "For cold brew in a French press, I recommend a medium-coarse grind and about a 1:6 ratio of coffee to water. This will make a cold brew concentrate that you can dilute to taste (try 1:1 to start) with fresh cold water. In the book, I suggest using 96 grams of coffee (about 1 cup) and 600 grams of cold water (about 20.3 fl oz). Grind the beans and put them in the chamber of a French press, gentle shaking to level them out. That being said, there’s one aspect that could be better: the ratio aid lines. Fellow added lines on the interior to show how much grounds and water to add. The thought behind this is great, and the lines can be helpful, especially for a newbie. However, the lines are difficult to see, especially the coffee line down at the brew chamber. Also, those two ratio lines are all you get. If you don’t want 700 ml of brewed coffee, you have to get a scale or guess the measurements. Filter Type – 5/5If you add water to the Fellow Clara at a temperature of 205F and leave it to brew for four minutes, it can keep the coffee hot during the brewing process. You can expect the coffee in the cup to be around 180F. An elegant design and quality manufacturing sets this press apart from the competition and produce an amazing cup ml is enough for about four decent-sized cups, which is enough for one or two people but isn’t enough for group use or a large family of coffee drinkers. Value for Money – 4/5 This teak-adorned press makes a good clean cup of coffee and the mottled finish is easy to maintain

We were pleasantly surprised by this behemoth of brewing. The Stanley Classic Stay Hot looks like a treasure you'd find in your (grand)parent's old camper that's been sitting in the lot since the 70s. The classic look has been draped over a press that's big enough to brew a morning cup for the entire camp. The simple yet effective single mesh filter design produced a clean cup with complex flavor no matter which bean we brewed. In fact, it was one of the top three selections in our public taste test. True to its name, the Stanley will keep your coffee warm for hours as you focus on the tasks at hand; it also beat out all other contenders in the insulation test. The Frieling French Press is the ideal blend of style and function. Its highly polished stainless steel exterior creates a pretty presentation in the kitchen, while the full-length handle is easy to lift and pour. Plus, it brews bold coffee. It was one of the best batches we tried from more than 20 French presses. There was a moderate amount of sediment, but it's on par with most French presses. The Fellow Clara is a costly French press coffee maker. Nevertheless, it has some seriously thoughtful details, like the enhanced mesh filtration, all-directional lid, the double-walled vacuum-insulated chamber to keep the coffee hotter for longer, and the interior water and coffee measuring lines. As noted, the body of the French Press is vacuum insulated with stainless steel. Basically, it is double-walled with the air removed between the two walls to minimize heat loss. This has two advantages; 1) it means that the water stays hot during brewing for better extraction, and 2) it means that if you choose to leave some of the coffee in the French Press it will stay warm for longer (although we tend to recommend actually pouring excess coffee into a carafe for better flavor).The material is a great place to start narrowing down your options. French presses can be made from glass, stainless steel, or stoneware. Each one has its own pros and cons and will bring a unique aesthetic to your kitchen. Glass is by far the most common material, as well as the most affordable, but it's the easiest to break and leads to poor heat retention. Stoneware and stainless steel, on the other hand, are pricier but make up for it with better durability and heat retention. We put a lot of thought into how we testthe best coffee makers, especially specialty makers like French Presses. Our team has had hands-on experience with each Most French presses have a glass carafe, but they don’t retain heat that well, making this a significant advantage of the Clara, particularly because you typically need to allow around four minutes of brewing time for the French press. Don’t let the intricate design fool you, this French press is actually quite simple to use. Comprised of a glass carafe that sits snug in a stainless steel frame, it is less likely to break than most glass counterparts. Sleek and thoughtfully designed, I think the Bodum Chambord is worthy of permanent counter space!