Everyone remembers their first french press. For most of us, it was something we stumbled upon, a refreshing alternative to our drip coffee. The process was so much more hands on, so much more raw; no on/off switch, no need to bring electricity into the equation (remember, this was prior to the pourover craze, back when it was largely mechanized drip). And the coffee, oh the coffee, how it was so different with its oily mouth feel and heavy body.
But alas, the honeymoon only lasted a spell and the downsides began to rear their hydra heads. Sadly, the typical french press required a bit of disassembling and detailed cleaning to keep it working well. And there's the problem with sediment: grind too fine and you'll be sifting silt through your teeth (that is if you hadn't broken your press in pushing down the filter), whereas if you grind too course you end up with a weak cup. But even if you ground the coffee within microns of perfection, sediment was just a constant you had to deal with (i.e. never drink the last half ounce).
And then along came
Espro Press, a Canadian-made, stainless steel french press with a sleek look and a promise of simple cleaning and greatly decreased sediment. I had the luxury of
trying out their 8 ounce model back in 2011, to which I was greatly impressed. One of the only critical things I remember thinking was "...if only it was a bit bigger."
Fortunately they read minds in Vancouver, and they rolled out their 18 ounce model this year, which I recently had the pleasure of trying out. Like the earlier models, the Espro Press has microfilters which do a pretty great job of holding back the sediment. The coffee that comes out is cleaner then a typical french press, with only minor debris materializing on the bottom of the cup. The only downside to the microfilters is that they seem to hold back about 2 ounces of coffee in the initial pour, which can be released by a series of back-and-forth pouring motions.
Aside from the stellar filtering, the Esro Press is pretty easy to clean. I find that there was little need for more then a good rinsing with some soap to keep it fresh. My only warning would be to never accidentally leave the filter submerged in old coffee grounds for two months in the midst of moving and then try to clean out the many microbial entourages; you shall not get far (this was the fate of my 8 ounce press...).
And if all that wasn't cool enough, it also looks pretty spiffy and for those of you not liking skin burns, the press exterior remains fairly cool to the touch when filled with boiling water.
Thus, I continue my applause of the Espro Press, as it is one of the few means of pressing coffee that I find alluring. You can
preorder yours here if you would like to get a crack at the first mass launch.
note: product was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback