The Most Beautiful French Press Coffee Makers

And you get a French press and YOU get a French press

By Kate Welsh Updated February 13, 2018

Credit: Photo by Hero Images via Getty Images

There are a whole lot of ways to make coffee: a Chemex for the hoity-toity mad scientists, a Keurig for the efficiency machines, an automatic drip coffee maker for your mom, probably. But there's one method that's generally agreed upon as a-okay. A solid choice. Respectable! You don't just push a button, but you don't sit there for half-an-hour willing perfection either. The method I'm referring to, pals, is the French press. You’ve probably used one before because you have one at home, or you’ve been handed one when you ask for a coffee at a cool restaurant with exposed brick walls. It’s not a “cool” way to make coffee, per se, but it’s also entirely inoffensive.

A coffee press is a pretty simple machine, all things considered: there’s a beaker, usually with some sort of handle, and a plunger, attached to the lid. To use it, you dump your coffee into the beaker, cover it with near-boiling water, and give it a stir. Then put the lid on, and keep the plunger above the water while the coffee steeps for a few excruciating, caffeine-deprived minutes. Then you push down the plunger to get the grounds out of the way, and pour yourself a cuppa. Easy enough.

The design wizards among us have taken on the humble coffee press and made it, well, beautiful. So if you were just looking at your few-years-old French press, thinking, “I like you, buddy, but I want you to look more interesting,” I have a few suggestions.