Product: Bodum Chambord French Press
Price Range: Low
Size: 1 liter (8 cups)
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10
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Bodum Chambord Product Overview
For years, when I heard people talk about making more luxury or quality coffee at home, or sometimes even in a cafe, the two words became associated in my mind were “French press”.
And for good reason.
When it comes to French press, the Bodum Chambord is the classic image that many of us have.
French press is a great way to get a lot out of your coffee beans.
This is because it steeps the coffee for 4 minutes, much longer than almost any other coffee brewing method.
In my opinion, it makes a well-balanced cup of coffee that is hard to beat and it’s a nice go-to method for making coffee, if you’re not in any hurry.
If you make it at home and compare it to automatic drip coffee machines, it’s a difference you can surely taste.
This device is simple enough for anyone to use, from seasoned pros to those just starting. Many if not most coffee shops have the option to brew French press if you request it.
The Bodum Chambord French press has become a staple for not only a very fine tasting cup of coffee, but an all-around high quality experience.
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Pros & Cons
Here are the pros and cons of the Bodum French press, the way I see it…
Pros:
- Delicious coffee
- Easy to use
- Nice design/look
Cons:
- Difficult clean up
- Grinds in the cup
- Can have subdued flavor
Let’s briefly elaborate on these.
The pros about the French press are, for one thing, it makes a nice cup of coffee that hardly gets old!
It’s a rich and robust cup of coffee, that gives a lot of bang for your buck with whatever beans you use.
It will really extract the essence of your coffee because, as I mentioned before, it steeps for 4 minutes.
If you’re in the mood for a heavy coffee with striking boldness, French press will do it.
It’s easy to use, it doesn’t require much special skill or strength, and the measurements are quite convenient because they are on the metal pieces of the French press. There are no numbers written on the side or anything.
When it comes to the design, let’s just say it how it is… the French press is one cute little coffee maker.
It brings the cozy factor in your home up at least a couple notches.
For the cons, the first one that comes to mind is that it’s not easy to clean.
Depending on how much you love cleaning (which I don’t), this is going to be something to consider. To put it bluntly… French press is kind of a pain to clean.
There are some easier ways to clean it than taking apart the pieces of the plunger every time, but still, even just washing out the grounds with water the “lazy” way takes more work than I prefer.
Many other brewing methods require simply throwing away a filter or something similar for their cleaning.
Because of the filter system on the French press, some of the finer coffee grounds can make it through filter and into the cup.
It’s not very bothersome, and it’s only the fine grounds that happen to be in the bottom of the cup. But it is a little pesky to feel like you can’t really finish the coffee sometimes because the bottom little bit is more like coffee porridge.
Lastly, as delicious as the French press flavor is with its full body and rich taste, it can sometimes muddle the flavor of the coffee.
Since French press causes much of the oil in coffee to be retained, it can make certain coffees lose their flavor in the oiliness.
For different coffees, different brew methods may be better. This is true of any coffee maker or brew method, though.
As a side note, I compared the same light roast with berry and slight nutty notes using both pour over and French press.
The French press made much better results with the same light roast.
The way that French press extracts the flavor is great because it has so much time for it, but all different roasts and flavor profiles will take on that robust, full, “dark” flavor.
How To Use
Start by heating the water to proper coffee brewing temperature, which is about 200° F (93° C).
As I mentioned before, one great thing about a Bodum French press is that the measurements are built into the device.
After you have ground your coffee on a very coarse grind setting, pour the coffee into the French press to the bottom of the lower metal piece. Then add hot water up to the bottom of the upper metal ring.
After adding water, you will want to stir the coffee grinds for the fullest flavor extraction.
Use either a wooden or plastic stirrer.
After stirring, set the lid with the plunger on top, making sure the opening for pouring on the plastic part is facing away from the spout at first.
This way, it will retain the warmth while it steeps.
Let it sit like this for four minutes.
After four minutes, gently hold the top of the lid down with one hand, and with the other hand, slowly and gently push the black ball (plunger) down.
Don’t do it very quickly or use much strength, just let the weight of your hand push it down.
After this is done, don’t forget to turn the lid so that the opening for pouring is on the proper side!
I’ve made that mistake at least a few times when I was tired, too eager, or a combination of both.
If you do though, it will be quickly apparent because your coffee won’t pour straight out; instead, it’ll pour everywhere but where you want it to go!
And there you have it, ready to enjoy.
Price, Warranty, Other Perks
For what you are getting, it’s cuteness factor, and the delightful coffee that it makes, the Bodum Chambord is a flat out awesome deal. It’s very inexpensive for what you get.
I find the French press to be quite durable; it’s difficult to break or even scratch it.
The most popular size, 1 liter, is under $40.
This is modestly priced and it’s a steal compared to many other coffee makers.
You can get a smaller size French press for cheaper, and in the past I’ve purchased the 12 oz which makes 3 cups, but I don’t prefer it.
It’s somehow a bit more difficult to use and make an ideal cup of Joe when it’s that small.
In my opinion, if you want to make one to three cups of coffee at a time, a smaller French press or even a smaller automatic coffee maker doesn’t do the job well.
There’s no scientific explanation I can offer, I’ve just tried plenty of times and cannot make it work very well. There is a better way to make one to three cups which I’ve written about in other articles.
Another nice perk to mention about French press is that you don’t need filters!
It’s great because you don’t have to pay any extra for them, and don’t have to worry about running out and not being able to make more coffee because of that.
But on the other hand, it’s because of that system that French press is a pain to clean.
There is a limited 1-year warranty for a Bodum Chambord French press.
In Conclusion
The Bodum Chambord is very reasonably priced, makes high quality coffee in general, is fairly easy to use but takes a bit of time, and is somewhat of a hassle to clean.
But in my opinion, you cannot go wrong with this coffee maker. It’s user-friendly and fun to use. It’s not like you’re spending hundreds of dollars or anything.
It’s a small price on a world-renowned quality brewing method.
If you don’t own a French press… we could practically say that this is a “must have” for your home-brewed coffee experience.
The taste, the aesthetics, the ability to say that “this morning I woke up and made French press” can almost always brighten your day.
Plus, it’s so important to broaden your horizons with coffee, as I’ve said before.
It sure is a good thing you don’t eat spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner every single night, right!?
Likewise, if you haven’t branched out and tried French press, my recommendation is a huge yes!
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If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. And if you also enjoy French press and can think of any pros or cons that I left out, let me know! Thank you so much for reading and I sincerely hope this review helped you. Best wishes in your coffee journey.
P.S. as a side note… French press isn’t “French” per se. It was invented by Italians and patented in 1929. Americans and Canadians are the only nationalities who call it “French press”.
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