Best Cafetieres in 2022

Coffee has come a long way, but the basics are still hanging around and for good reason. A quality cafeteria is your Sunday morning companion, the bringer of sweet, velvety-smooth coffee. We took the steps to ensure our list is on-point, and explain everything from the internal components, right on down to proper cleaning, care, and a bit more information on how to get that perfect brew.

How we Chose Our Selection of Cafetieres

We put our best to the test and did away with the rest. Coffee isn’t just a morning beverage: it’s a way of life. It may be a cheesy line, but it’s true. If you’re the type that turns into a good cup of java when the going gets rough, we feel you. We put that mindset into action and used the following criteria to compile our list.

• Quality of the build
• Overall cost
• Brand and reputation
• Warranty information
• User reviews
• Materials used
• Personal testing

If it’s killer, it’s on this list. Your days of waiting on standard coffee machines are over: let’s get into everything else you need to know before clicking checkout.

Features To Look For In Cafetieres

Material - Plastic, stainless steel, acrylic: they’re all something you can expect to see in the primary make-up of your cafetiere. The materials really matter when it comes to the spire of the plunger. Inspect how thick and durable certain parts are, and what they’re made of, so you can get a good feel of how long this is going to last you, and how well it’s going to work.

Design - This is all about function, my friend. Ease of use, ease of cleaning, and just getting a good cup of coffee are all dependent on a good design.

Size - Brewing for one, or are you getting a cup for your mate? Don’t be greedy, friend. Get a cafetiere that can fit between two and four cups of coffee, and you’ll be able to impress your friends and family with the best cup of coffee they’re ever had. Single serve or small batch cafetieres usually run a touch cheaper as a heads-up.

Ease of use - They appear easy to use, right? This refers to how easy it is to depress the plunger and clean, how much resistance it’s going to give you, and how quickly it’s going to separate your grinds from your delicious coffee.

Durability - These don’t have to be absurdly expensive, but even if you go for a higher-end model, they all have a lifespan. If you hand wash your cafetiere and use it properly, you’ll have this for a decade or longer. They’re just about as simple as it gets; less moving parts, less that can go wrong.

Features - Additional features are something to look for, but mostly because they’re going to impact the price. You’re mainly after one thing here: a killer cup of grind-free coffee. As long as it does that, the rest are just added bonuses.

Filtration system - In our guide, we usually refer to it as metal mesh netting. This is the real hero of the cafetiere: it separates grinds and water, extracting every drop of deliciousness from each grind, and keeping your cup smooth and free of debris. For the most part, encountering issues with these are usually at-fault of the user, by pressing down too quickly.

How To Use A Cafetiere

If you’re new to the luxurious world of cafetiere coffee, here’s a basic introductory guide to making an excellent cup in five minutes. Bookmark this page just in case you forget how to brew that perfect cup of cafetiere coffee.

1. Rinse the basin with hot water.
2. Measure your coffee by scoop; there’s a science to this. If you used your grinder and made too much coffee, save the rest for later. If you’re a first-time cafetiere user, you aren’t sure what you preferred coffee intensity is yet, so you’ll want to leave room to experiment here.
3. Boil water with a smart kettle, ideally. You can also boil it with a simple saucepan if you prefer. Get it rolling, and get ready to pour.
4. Pour it into the basin and leave it for up to five minutes.
5. Stir to incorporate fiber and coffee oil together. Coffee is notoriously greasy/oily, so you’ll want to stir it with a long-stemmed spoon to ensure it all melds back together.
6. Slowly depress the plunger. Go too fast, and you’re going to create immediate and immense pressure. Coffee grinds and water will get in between the outer ring seal of the plunger, and will basically render what you’re doing completely useless.
7. Give it a few seconds, and pour it into your cup. Boom: you’re spoiled rotten with the best cup of coffee you’ve made in years.

How To Wash A Cafetiere

It can take a little bit of practice to get this done without spending too much time, but basically, here’s what you do.

1. Remove the plunger and remove all of the grinds/tea leaves from the metal mesh netting. Inspect it to ensure that there’s nothing sitting around the edges.
2. Follow the same with the basin, checking for grinds and debris. Once all cleared out, put on the side of the sink.
3. Fill one side of the sink with hot water and soap. It’s not recommended to throw these in the dishwasher, as a heads-up.
4. Submerge the plunger and basin separately, and allow them to soak for three or four minutes. Coffee bean/grind grease is very stubborn and difficult to get out of materials such as plastic and stainless steel.
5. Use an abrasive plastic bristle brush. You’re going to scratch up your basin’s interior along the walls, which will not impede the function in the slightest. You want to get all traces of grease out, and it takes a forceful hand to do so.
6. Remove both components after they’ve been scrubbed. Use the sprayhead of your kitchen faucet to thoroughly rinse them, ensuring that no more soap bubbles or residue are visible. Be certain to inspect the unit; nobody wants soapy coffee.
7. Air dry. This cannot be stressed enough, you have to air dry, not simply pat dry with a towel or face cloth. Air drying helps to preserve sanitation. You’re ready to rock again.

Cafetiere FAQ

Q: Can my Cafetiere go in the dishwasher?

A: It’s not recommended. There’s not going to be a heat problem or warping issue, but it’s just not going to clean it properly. The biggest issue is that using the dishwasher and then leaving it overnight can cause rusting on your metal mesh net, which renders it useless and wastes your money. Not to mention, coffee grease is stubborn as can be and requires some elbow grease in order to actually remove from your cafetiere properly.

Q: Can I put my Cafetiere in the microwave?

A: You would think yes, since it’s holding boiling water and isn’t inputting chemicals into your food, but the answer is no. Microwaves are far different than boiling water. Microwaves will extract plastics from your cafetiere basin, blend them into your food, and the effects of BPA and other chemicals in your body is not good. It’s not worth the convenience. If you want to reheat your coffee, throw it into a porcelain cup and nuke it for a bit, but don’t put the entire cafetiere in. If your head is saying, “I want to save on dishes,” you’d be throwing it into a cup anyway, so there’s no additional cleanup. One last thing to add: check for stainless steel components, like the upper ring on our #1 pick. Not microwave-safe, you know?

Q: What is a Cafetiere?

A: A cafetiere is also known as a French press. This method of brewing coffee has been around for centuries prior to drip coffee makers, giving an old-world feel and flavor to every glass. If this is your first time perusing the market for a quality cafetiere, you’ve yet to experience the palette-smacking boldness of pressed coffee.

If you go anywhere else other than your kitchen for a cup of coffee, 99% of the time, you’re going to get a hastily-made cup from pressure makers, and drip makers, and often wonder why your cup tastes watery. French presses, or cafetieres, change the game. We should warn you, these are going to spoil you rotten.

They use a method called full immersion. Mix the grinds with the hot water. You let them rudiment for a while, and within about five minutes, you use the plunger to extract coffee from the hot grinds. Pressing downward, you pull loads of dietary fiber and nearly every drop of that rich coffee flavor from those grinds. It’s literally thicker, denser coffee, and that’s a good thing. They don’t call it full-bodied for anything.

Q: Which coffee is best for a Cafetiere?

A: Okay, so you know that most of the coffee in supermarkets and restaurants are arabica beans. It’s the global coffee type of choice, but for cafetiere users, there are a few other viable options that will give you a wide range of flavors and bodies.

There are different attributes to arabica coffee depending on where it’s grown. Check out micro-roasted brands, or simply look at our coffee bean buying guide to get a good feel of what’s out there. Many cafetiere users love using Colombian beans for a bolder flavor while reducing acidity. This allows you to enjoy more coffee every day, if you’re not going to get the jitters from caffeine, that is. Lower acidity means less amino acid disruption in your gut.

It should be noted that espresso beans or ground espresso are not good to use in a cafetiere. Due to the brewing process, you’re going to get grinds throughout your cup, and nobody wants that. If you’re a full-on coffee lover, you can check out our guide on varied coffee-related gifts for men, and find a few gadgets along the way that make the whole process more enjoyable and rewarding for you.

Q: What is Cafetiere grind?

A: It’s not what you find in pre-ground coffee canisters, that’s for sure. Because you don’t want little shreds of coffee grinds finding their way into your actual cup of coffee, you have to go for a more coarse grind than usual.

Most grinders come with dial settings for one through ten. This controls the gap in the blades and motors, allowing you to change the size of the grounds. For a cafetiere grind, you simply make them more coarse than, say, instant coffee or the like. You’ll have to leave your coffee for a few moments to get all that goodness out of the grinds, but it’s totally worth it.

Q: What is the difference between Cafetiere coffee and filtered coffee?

A: It’s primarily how they’re made. Cafetiere coffee, or coffee made in a French press, is “full immersion” coffee, meaning you’re throwing the grounds right into the water. They marry, meld, blend, and other words that mean combine. You let it sit for a few minutes (usually around three to five), and then you begin separating the two. By pressing the plunger or whatever system you have, you’ll extract the coffee from the grinds, separate the two, and you have coffee.

Filtered coffee is as you would expect: it’s filtered. If you’re like most of us, you either started or continue to use a standard coffee maker, and use filters for it. This removes a lot of the fiber from coffee. While you’re still going to get approximately two grams per serving (which can be about 10% of your minimum daily fiber intake requirements), you’re actually leaving a lot of it in the grinds. Nobody ever thinks about it, but most of that fiber is getting reabsorbed into the grinds.

Cafetiere coffee is full-bodied because you’re squeezing everything you possibly can out of those grinds. Thanks to the metal mesh screen, you’re able to transmit fiber through those little slats, without bringing coffee grounds into your otherwise smooth cup. Cafetiere coffee is fuller, has a richer or more potent flavor, and eliminates the associated risks of using bleached coffee filters.

Q: Can you make tea in a Cafetiere?

A: It’s not all about the coffee connoisseurs: if you’re all about making custom craft teas and getting the best flavor and brew out of them, then we’re right with you. You can absolutely make tea in a cafetiere; replace the grinds with raw tea leaves, and use the press in the same fashion, and you’ll be good to go. If you’re using standard or larger tea bags, this will be an even easier process.

As a word of the wise, your tea leaves may get stuck in the filtration system due to their random size. Coffee grinds have a uniform size to them (mostly), but tea leaves introduce a new set of variables. Keep this in mind when it comes to cleaning, and take the time to ensure they’re all out before you shelve it, and use it for a different beverage in the future.

The main issue you’re going to run into is flavor drifting. Different materials hold onto coffee and tea extract in varying degrees, which is why you really need to focus on properly cleaning out your cafetiere. If you switch between tea and coffee, especially if you go for a variety of blends, you’re going to run into transplanted tastes. Nobody wants to taste coffee when they thought it was green tea, and so on.

Sources:

1. How to Make Tea With a Cafetiere, Coffee Tasting Club
2. Filter Coffee FAQ, Everything You Need to Know, Coffee Blog UK Official Website
3. How You Should Be Grinding Coffee (AKA Why Supermarkets Simply Don’t Cut it), Pact Coffee Official Blog
4. How to Make the Perfect Cafetiere, York Coffee Emporium