weird question about Bodum...

[magnolia]

I've been a French press (cafetière) girl ever since I started making my own coffee. I've always had the "three cup" model (which really serves one) and never minded about the brand. I've only needed two of these in the last 12+ years (and I'm pretty hard on my coffee maker) - the only thing I've ever changed are mesh filter, and of course the carafe when it breaks. But the 'stem' bit has lasted.

I should mention that I also have a large Bodum brand model, given to me as a gift - with the chrome 'exoskeleton' which I use when I have a larger crowd. It looks and works exactly the same as the small, no-name brand.

Recently, the carafe broke on the little one, and I went to buy a replacement: I looked and looked, and all I could find were Bodum brand carafes for their own three cup model, which are taller and thinner (for the same volume) such that the stem & filter ensemble that I have will not fit. After four days of looking, I broke down and bought a brand new Bodum 'Chambord' three cup model (same volume).

I brought it home, and next morning made coffee - noticing that the stem-and-filter bit do not reach down to the bottom of the carafe when fully pressed, in fact they only go about 5/6 of the way, leaving a large liquid-and-grounds-filled gap. It may be my imagination that it yielded a weaker coffee..but it was still odd.

I figured my model might be defective, and went back to the shop - took a look at the others, and in fact they're all like this.

The stem-and-filter on my old one definitely went all the way to the bottom, totally crushing the grounds and maximising the coffee-ness of the coffee. I feel as if this one is going to make a weaker coffee, meaning I'll have to put more grounds in order to get the same strength of coffee.

Why are Bodums different from all other French presses?

So I broke down

[sanrensho]

When I made French press, I never pushed down the filter with force into the grounds. (I'm currently using an Ikea press and it goes down most of the way). I just stopped when I felt the resistance of the grounds. Using this method, it wouldn't make any difference to the coffee where the filter stops.

If you personally prefer to crush your grinds, then you'll just have to find another brand of French press.

FWIW, Bodum recommends using "minimal pressure." Makes sense, since most of your brewing and extracting happens before you plunge.

http://www.bodum.com/upload/pdf/french_press_INS.pdf

[jayt90]

Recently, the carafe broke on the little one, and I went to buy a replacement: I looked and looked, and all I could find were Bodum brand carafes for their own three cup model, which are taller and thinner (for the same volume) such that the stem & filter ensemble that I have will not fit. After four days of looking, I broke down and bought a brand new Bodum 'Chambord' three cup model (same volume).

Why are Bodums different from all other French presses?

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I have broken a Bodum carafe, and a no name, and I always was able to find a cheap replacement at the big box store.

But both of these carafes looked like 1 litre beakers, and I thought I would try a chem supply, or a teacher (!) if it happened again.

[PS]

I've never had a cafetiere/french press where the filter mesh goes all the way down to the bottom of the flask - they've always stopped one or two cm from the bottom, so there's always a liquid and grounds mix at the bottom. I don't think they've all been Bodums either.

[Bubbalicious]

I also use the Ikea french press and the screen sits about 2 cm above the bottom of the carafe. They are extremely cheap and work well. In a dishwashing mishap the carafe was broken and I replaced it with a Bodum carafe. No problem there. In case of emergency I keep a replacement carafe in a box in a cupboard above the fridge. You never know...

I did find that the mesh on the screen of the Ikea was not fine enough and took the screen off my old Bodum.

I don't believe that you are going to end up with weaker coffee, but the swirling around of water and coffee grounds in five or six cm of carafe wouldn't be

too appetizing. I don't get to crush the grounds with the Ikea, but the grounds do take up most of the remaining space when I've plunged as far as I can plunge.

I found the best advice ever on making Bodum coffee here.

edited to add:

I recently bought two french presses -- am about to return the first because it is too small -- and noticed an enormous difference between the two that has me somewhat confused.  The first press is a "Bonjour" brand 12oz french press that I picked up at Peet's.  On that model the plunger descends almost to the bottom of the pot, which results in the coffee grounds being tamped down quite a bit at the end of the brewing process, letting me extract virtually all the water from below the screen.  I purchased a 32oz Bodum press pot today that functions quite differently.  On this one the plunger doesn't go down nearly as far -- at full descent, there is still loads of room at the bottom, so the grounds never get tamped down, and most importantly, even at full descent, there is still plenty of loose water at the bottom below the screen!  Does this make any sense?  In this way the plunger screen seems to be acting more like a regular old strainer than a press.  Please help, because I'm really confused on this.

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I found that last quote here after a little egullet mining.

So I guess you gotta look for a 'Bonjour' brand. Hope this helps...

Edited November 4, 2005 by Bubbalicious (log)