Frieling Double-Walled Stainless-Steel French Press Coffee Maker, Brushed, 8 Ounces

I discovered the French press more than 25 years ago and have used them ever since for my morning coffee. Over the years I have mostly owned and used Bodum presses and I still own several. The Chambord press is well made and nice to look at and I will continue to use mine But..... the glass beakers do break from time to time. Usually, I go several years before I get clumsy and break one. After breaking two in a row I needed another replacement and found the glass beakers to be in short supply and very expensive. That led me to look for alternatives. An all-metal press, with no glass, is obviously less prone to breakage and when I discovered there were double-wall models to insulate the coffee I was intrigued. I chose the Frieling over others mostly because it appeared to be very well made and it's attractive. At nearly $100, more than double the price of a Bodum Chambord, it was rather a leap of faith but morning coffee is not something to be taken lightly! After using this press for a short while here are some observations: 1) This press keeps the coffee hot significantly longer than any single-wall glass press I have used. I usually take about 45 minutes to drink my coffee and until the Frieling, the last cup was always cold. The Frieling allows me to enjoy all the coffee without resorting to re-heating. This alone is reason enough to use this press. I have not bothered to pre-heat the press with hot water because I don't like scalding hot coffee. 2) Breaking this press would be nearly impossible! It is built like a tank. 3) Functionally, it is no different from any other press. I own five other presses, including a lexan one I use for travel and the only functional differences I notice arise from the press mechanism. Presses with a rubber ring where the plunger meets the glass, plastic or metal are sometimes difficult to use. My lexan press has this type of plunger and once in a while it jams. The Frieling has a plunger very similar to the Bodum Chambord - no rubber ring. It works exactly as it should. 4) Cleaning the Frieling is simple with no worry about glass breakage. Hot coffee for longer and no breakage are the reasons to buy this press.

[UPDATED REVIEW-3/23/12] We're new to French Press coffee preparation, but we finally gave in earlier this year and popped for this Frieling stainless steel press. This wasn't cheap, but it has proved to be well worth it in the 6 weeks or so we've been using it. It is very easy to use and to clean and its double wall keeps coffee hot for quite a while. [UPDATE: Don't let your coffee sit in this pot, however.] On the counter it is a thing of beauty and it works very well. After all, the real test of any coffee pot is whether it makes a good cup of coffee. Right? The directions that came with it are good and provides the basic details you'll need, although we have used some tips we found online to modify them a bit. I use one level scoop of course-ground coffee per 4-ounce cup, instead of the heaping scoops they recommend, and I stir the coffee for the first minute of the four-minute steep to make it a bit richer. The actual sequence we use looks like this: I fill the pot with very hot tap water to preheat it and then measure the coffee I plan to use into a paper filter. Meanwhile, I bring the filtered water heating on the stove to just boiling (in contradiction to what most places tell you to do). I then take the water pan off the heat and let it cool while I prep the Frieling pot. I first pour the pot's preheat hot water into our coffee mugs to warm them. I then empty the contents of the paper filter into the pot and put the filter away for reuse. By now, around 20 or so seconds [TIME UPDATED] have elapsed since the just-boiling water was taken off the burner. I add the now slight-cooler water to the Frieling pot and begin the 4-minute steep with my 1-minute stir. Then I put the pot's top in place and push the press plunger down slightly to help insulate/seal the pot. Three minutes later, you press the filter plunger gently and slowly down the rest of the way and you have a great cup of coffee. The plunger goes down very smoothly. {UPDATED ADDITION FOLLOWS] I now know not to leave the coffee in the pot. Instead I pour it immediately into a thermal carafe. That way it does not get bitter. We got the 33 ouncer and I can report that you really can't make more than about 28-30 ounces unless you plan to clean up grounds that will get on the spout during your initial stir. Forewarned is forearmed, so if you want to make a full pot, be prepared to towel the lip just before your put the pot top and plunger in place after stirring. Great pot and a joy to use. [UPDATED ADDITION FOLLOWS] Thanks to comments by Carl May (thanks so much, Carl!), I now know more about what to do, hence my updates. But, after reading a *lot* of things here and elsewhere online, I also now realize that there is a near-religious fervor attached to making coffee with a French Press. One can buy specialized burr grinders whose purchase price exceed the gross GDP of many small countries, special water kettles for heating one's water (also not cheap), digital thermometers to make sure your water is within the magic temperature range, digital scales to weigh the coffee, super accurate liquid and dry measures for water and coffee, books on coffee, and the list goes on. Fortunately, I can report that one can make a pretty doggone good cup of java without all these specialized devices and using the somewhat less precise units and times I suggest in my review above. So don't be deterred! One can resist the draw of the French Press cult, although, in all honesty, I need to confess that my special water kettle is on order and I am beginning to dream of owning a burr grinder. My last caution, watch out for Carl; he knows so much it is frightening. Carl employs a refreshingly scientific approach to figuring out how to make the *very best* cup of coffee and his product reviews are detailed and informative. He is generous and willing to share what he has learned and his enthusiasm is *highly* infectious. Given this fact, it is possible that he may actually end up being your French Press pusher, helping you to move from a one-device habit to a full-blown French Press habit. I am not worried about myself, however, I can stop buying devices *anytime* I want.

It's been 2yrs 5months years since we purchased this and it's held up beautifully. We use it a minimum of 3x/day. My husband and I both have a bit of a coffee drinking compulsion and I have the added tea love issue so it gets tons and tons of use. I bought it, according to amazon, Dec 2013, and only now has the screen gone out. Hubby says it's because he hits the side of it up against the side of the sink when he makes his second round of coffee in the AM, instead of simply rinsing it. Even if he treated is perfectly, I feel like it's outlived my expectations. I had to really talk hubby into buying this. He was worried his coffee would be cold. We had a large espresso/ coffee maker that just drove me crazy (I like simple, elegant, small footprint items). So it took some persuasion but he LOVES it now. He says he can't imagine being attached to the complicated massive contraption we used to have. I would say this, it's hot but not piping hot on the second round. Be aware of that. Still, heaps warmer than the glass ones I used in the past. We have really big mugs and get 3 cups out of the 36oz Frieling. I'm fine with that because it takes 60 seconds to boil up more water in our electric kettle. No big deal. I'm not sure if I'd get the 44oz next time or not. It's very well made. We take it apart and really scrub it every few months. We haven't had any issues with it. No issues with the threads that hold the plunger assembly together (they are well defined but notably fine and I was worried I'd make a mess of them when I put it back together, damaging them over time, but they've been hearty and I just make sure I pay attention when I start screwing it back together - so no issues). It's very nicely designed, the fact that the threads are fine means it doesn't unscrew on you when you're using it. Also, I worried over rust because, quite frankly, we like low to no maintenance items and have a full life so we're not going to carefully dry it every day - or ever. But even with our total lack of care to this, NO rust - none. The coffee/ tea residue needs to be scrubbed out with something abrasive - this is common and totally normal - otherwise it looks like a stain - but I was concerned that our metal scrubbies would damage the interior finish (again, I like simplicity and I like it to look good). We've had no trouble with that at all. Please note***I do NOT use the metal scrubbies on the exterior brushed finish, nor would I recommend it, nor do you ever need to**. My single complaint is that the replacement screen, while available from Frieling and a few kitchen/ espresso supply stores, are expensive to ship. cheap to purchase but I'm going to end up paying $15 for a screen. The whole plunger apparatus is available for $30 from amazon but I don't want the extra parts hanging out so maybe that's on me, but the Frieling brand replacement screens should be more readily available. And yes, the whole thing is metal. I'm super happy with this purchase.

I bought the mirror finish 44 oz. unit. I was told by a customer service rep at Frieling there will be a brushed finish available in Spring of 2013. I thought it might help with possible surface spotting, but I was not willing to wait. First, this is a beautiful unit. The mirror finish is great, can be wiped clean with ease and is better than expected appearance wise on all counts. It has the feel of a quality tool with no area that suggests that short cuts were taken in the manufacturing process. It is shockingly simple with just the pot cylinder and the lid/plunger/screen assembly. The 44 oz. quantity is the amount that reaches the very bottom of the V on the pour spout - possibly an unusable amount. I judge that approximately 42 oz. (about ½" below the bottom of the V) is close to the actual safe usable quantity if the bloom and screen depth, etc. are taken into account. The Frieling customer service rep told me that pouring water just off boil into the pot at room temperature would yield 205 degree water in the pot. I later verified this with my thermometer. He suggested that the ground coffee could be added to the 205 water and briefly stirred to saturate it before putting the lid in place for brewing. I did this and verified a temp drop to 199 degrees during the four minute brewing time. I used this method for awhile then switched to putting the coffee in first and stirring after adding the water. Either method seems to produce a comparable result. There is no requirement of preheating the pot or trying to measure or estimate the temperature of the water to see if it is in the 195-205 degree brewing range. While I have only been using the Frieling for a few days, it has produced an exceptionally good cup of coffee for me. I am experimenting with the coffee to water ratio to find the best result for my taste. I expect to use this unit for many years. To address some of the cons that I have seen in other reviews: 1. French Presses are expected to have some amount of sediment come through the screen/filter. This unit has less than any other I have used. I was surprised by this. I am using a Baratza Encore burr grinder with medium coarse grind setting. I suggest that those who have remarked on having "grinds" in their cup not use pre-ground coffee, not use a blade grinder, move to a courser grind, pour the coffee only until the pot is almost horizontal, and if none of that works, contact Frieling customer service to see if a replacement screen is needed. 2. The lid can slip forward/downward slightly with a metallic clunk as the pot cylinder approaches horizontal while pouring even if you have your finger on the knob of the plunger rod. You can put your finger on the lid and prevent this, but the lid or escaping steam could warm your finger past the comfortable point. There is a permanent solution for this issue. I call it the 25 Cent Solution. I went to Ace Hardware and bought a little bag containing two 1/4L Beveled Bib Washers for 25 cents (item number 02-1076P). Any hardware store should have these. Initially I cut the washer and slipped it onto the plunger rod, however after a couple weeks it became loose fitting, so I unscrewed the screen assembly from the bottom of the plunger and slid the other washer (flat side down) onto the plunger rod (it fits tightly) and replaced the screen assembly. The washer can now be moved up or down the rod (it gets easier with a little break-in period) into position to hold the lid during a pour. I don't even have to touch the plunger or lid during a pour as long as the washer is positioned against the lid. The washer does not detract from the general appearance of the pot, in fact I think it kind of adds, and can be easily removed if needed. Perhaps Frieling should consider a factory installed custom washer. 3. The lid does not have a closure system at the pour spout of the cylinder. It has been suggested that this will cause heat loss that is bad for the brewing process. Please see this YouTube video: [...] for a comparison of the Frieling and other steel units that have spout closure. There was no significant difference in heat loss even after two hours. Keep in mind that this pot should not be used as a carafe to store your brewed coffee for any prolonged time until it is served after brewing or it can become bitter. The coffee should be served after brewing is complete or poured into a heated or thermal carafe until it is served. 4. It has been noted that this is an expensive coffee pot. I think about it differently. The purchase price is higher than some coffee makers. However the cost of a 40 oz. pot of coffee made with this unit is about 65 cents using (Yes I know, non-gourmet) Costco Columbian beans ($236 annually for 1 pot/day), The result is comparable to Starbuck's Pike Place Roast and is a joy to drink. A 6 oz. cup of Kuereg coffee (made in a machine of comparable price) runs 50 to 60 cents ($438 annually for two cups/day) and to me tastes poor by comparison. A grande Starbucks Pike Place Roast runs $2.11 with tax ($1,540 annually for two cups/day) and it has a very good flavor. While I could choose a $40 Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker recommended by CR, the taste would without doubt not be as good, the machine would have a limited life expectancy and cost about the same $219 annually. So, to me, the pleasure I get in the morning from the coffee produced by me and this inanimate object is worth the difference in the cost of the starter kit. I also enjoy the morning ritual. I say 5 Stars.

I have been a loyal Starbucks customer for many many years and have long tried to replicate the "barista" experience in my home. I grew tired of waiting in line for 15+ mins for a black cup of dark brewed coffee that other retailers failed to deliver and began my quest to perfect my home brew. I tried many methods including drip, press, chemex, aeropress etc. and consider myself a coffee connoisseur. I have to say that I find it disturbing when the manufactures of some of these coffee makers spam customer review sites such as these and don't take criticism well. I appreciate the manufacturer responding to a review but don't like the reactions to any negative criticism. No product is perfect for everybody... and this has to be accepted. I read the many reviews on amazon for this Frieling press and want you to be sure that I'm not affiliated with this company other than my purchase. Here goes: Design: Hands down the nicest looking press I've owned. Better than my Bodums.... a definite "attention getter". You can put this press on the table at the most formal dinner and it wouldn't be out of place. Feels solid... well manufactured. The way the mesh is designed on the plunger is phenomenal. Not sure why other manufactures leave the extra mesh to flap over plunger which eventually wears out and lets grind through. Kudos to Frieling to perfecting this as this is my favorite part of the product. The insulated double wall construction designed to keep in heat is really a useless feature for me as like most already know.. with a press you want to brew and pour or decant. Not good to let coffee keep brewing (unless you like a more bitter brew of course). Kind of like leaving a tea bag at the bottom of a cup of tea too long. That being said... this insulation feature doesn't interfere with the function of the press so it's not a plus or minus for me. The Brew: Due to the mesh design I talked about and the mesh itself being finer , I'm able to use a finer coarse grind setting than used on other presses. This finer grind brings out the beans flavor noticeably in the Frieling. I have experimented with a few different grind sizes. I use the Breville BCG800XL and use the #2 grind setting (my favorite). I use four 7G scoops of coffee with 16oz of 200F water. I set timer for 4 mins and at the 3:30 mark I give a stir to break up the crust on top. Then cover with lid and after timer rings slowly plunge. I have a stainless steel mug that handles the 16OZ and I'm smiling as I'm drinking a BETTER cup of coffee than experienced at any barista or with any other method at home :) (obviously your strength along with water quantity will be a trial and error for each of you as we all have are own tastes and preferences - I just included mine as a reference) The Clean: The cleanup with Frieling press is a cinch. All I do after a press is rinse bottom of plunger off; rinse press to remove grinds, fill press with a few drops of dish soap... fill to top with hot water to make suds.... put plunger back on... rapidly plunge five or six times and pressing all the way down on the last plunge.... rinse and let dry. Total time about 3 mins max. Extremely easy. Conclusion: Love this press. Find it my everyday coffee maker and has left my chemex dusty in the cabinet. Hope this helps you make your decision easier.

First I should say I've only had this French press about a week, but I don't think it takes much time to evaluate something that has so few parts to break. I was looking to replace my old, faithful Black and Decker thermal coffee maker that I bought in 1982. It has worked perfectly without fail all those years until recently a small part broke off the filter holder. I would have replaced it with an identical model had they been available. But, of course, they are not, so the search began. I looked a dozens of coffee makers and read many of the reviews from different sources. And I went around and around in circles trying to decide. Somehow, I got off the topic of regular coffee makers and began to investigate other methods of making coffee. I had always known that people raved about the French press method, but thought, perhaps, it might be too labor intensive or time consuming in the mornings when I'm not quite awake and somewhat dingy. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Using this press actually takes a little less time (by a minute or so) and is no more work than putting grounds or water in my old coffee maker and less work than cleaning the same. Now, since it takes me about 3 or 4 hours to drink one 12 oz mug of coffee before moving on to the second, I'm led to my only, very slight, disappointment, which is this...the coffee only stays moderately warm in the press for about 2 hours, give or take. This includes pre-heating the press with hot water. But to make up for this minor inconvenience, I easily re-heat that second cup in the microwave. It still tastes as good; no detectable bitterness from having sat for that long and certainly better than cooking it for hours on end (although the B&D didn't have a warming plate to worry about. It's carafe did a much better job of retaining heat, too). An important criteria in my hunt, was a machine that I did't have to worry about shutting off. With the press, I nuke the water, so no burners left on by mistake, no teakettles to rust and nothing to de-mineralize. A pyrex measuring cup does the trick with the added plus of the timer to let me know when it's just the right temp. Since my old coffee maker was permanently stained white plastic, and difficult to really get clean inside, the press has a great advantage of being extremely simple to maintain, and I'm sure, more hygienic. Add to that the fact that it's easily stored in a cupboard; whereas, the old machine sadly sat in it's dismal condition on my counter due to it's great size. I like my counters free of contraptions, as much as possible, but the Frieling can happily sit out without embarrassment when that unexpected visitor arrives. In fact, it's a work of art to display! Oh, did I mention that this thing makes a great cup of coffee! I'm still experimenting with blends (and will happily accept any suggestions), but have the grind down perfectly, I think. No fines in my cup (not that it matters to me, since I relish eating that bean from the top of my tiramisu). This really deserves a 5 star rating, but since I'm an indolent coffee drinker, I had to knock it down one. I suppose I shouldn't since it's not the fault of the press really. I just need to learn to guzzle more heartily.

It was a long search to find the best French Press coffee maker for me. I spent at least 5 hours (may be more) reading and researching. And I ended up buying this why. You might be struggling to decide on which one is the best for you, so here is my review and reasons why I bought this one. I hope it will help you. Selection process: I had several wishes: 1) Made in USA or Europe 2) Quality of materials and product 3) Usability (easy to use and to clean) 4) Price After a quick search I realized that there was no ideal French Press coffee maker. However, I realized that I have several favorites and Frieling was the number 1 for me. Why? 1) Frieling is a solid professional brand 2) Product had good reviews 3) Product looked solidly built. Concerns that I had: 1) Made in China (I have nothing against China but I prefer products that are built in here or in Europe for, I assume, obvious reason) - Nothing can be done about that. But again, Frieling is a solid brand and their French Presses looked not cheap. 2) Quality of Steel (Everyone should be concerned about it since you will eat/drink food that was made there and we consumed enough toxins as it is) - I contacted Frieling about it and they answered me very quickly. Thank you, Frieling! Other companies are not that professional. For example, Cousinox ignored all my emails. However, the answer from Frieling was not what I wanted to hear. They told me they use either Chinese or Korean stainless steel from a big Korean manufacturer but they assured me that their 18/10 stainless steel was of high quality. I hoped for German, Russian or American 18/10 stainless steel but at least it was not a noname brand one from G*d knows where. I thought hard about those two minuses, plus the product was not cheap. But at the end, I felt it was the best French Press I could find and I decided to buy Frieling Brushed 18/10 Stainless Steel French Press, 23-Ounce. I paid $79 for it, I see that now it is $59. So, it has been two years and I love it and gave it 5 stars. 1) The coffee maker looks like new and is beautiful. I have used it at least 100 times, most likely more. I am glad I decided to get a brushed one. They always look like new for a long time since micro scratches are not noticeable and no finger prints. 2) It is made well. You can see it is not a $20 one. 3) It is very easy to clean. I have owned at least 4 different french presses before and always had issues. With this one, I just put a plunger under running water and that is it. Plus, all the parts are dishwasher safe. I usually hand wash it ones every two weeks. Put it in dishwasher at least 10 times too and had no issues whatsoever. 4) Makes good coffee - only remember about a 4 minute rule. 5) I purchased some parts (screens, plunger stick) but it looks like the original parts will last for years to come. I am going to add some pictures too. Good luck in your search for a perfect French Press maker and I hope it was useful for you!

My rating is 3 stars but that's because: 5 stars for everything about the product except 2 stars for the product's big flaw. I wanted a non-glass French press coffee maker that wasn't American Slurpee sized. This is for making one single reasonably sized cup of coffee for myself. At 8 ounces, the size of this product was perfect. I also like the stainless steel and it certainly keeps the coffee warm. The materials and construction feel like they'll last. Here is the big flaw: The lid has only an "open" position. When you start pressing down the plunger, the coffee almost always spurts out or dribbles out the pour spout. The first few times this happened, I was surprised (and ruined some papers on my desk). Even when I carefully depressed the plunger very slowly, the coffee will sometimes still dribble out. This is because the lid has no "closed" position; it's always ready to pour. (A lot of other French press makers have an "open" and a "closed" position. You rotate the lid to set that.) This problem can be overcome by filling less water in the maker so that there's headroom between the top of the water line and the pouring spout. But then your 8-oz. coffee maker is really a 6-oz. coffee maker. To avoid wasted coffee but still fill up the container, I stir the grounds after I fill up the container to try to reduce the air bubbles and froth, and then I depress the plunger VERY SLOWLY. This results in only a small dribble of coffee running out of the spout when I first depress the plunger. So, buyer beware. Either you only fill the unit up to 6 ounces or you do what I do and still get the occasional unwanted dribble from the spout. Other than that, the product is great.