Coffee Brewers: French Press/Cafetiere from Bodum, Melior, Chambord, and French Press Parts!

French Press Brewers from Sweet Maria's

The Traditional French Press

Bodum Standard French Presses
Well ..."Standard" meaning the best quality cafe -type press; Bodum calls this line the Chambord. The French Press brewing method is a great way to make a powerful cup of coffee quickly and simply. Sweet Maria's offers a selection of top-of-the-line chromed -stainless steel presses from Bodum. This is the French standard chrome cafe press, well-made, not in some wacko-futuristic-artist signed-limited edition-showpiece. Not that there is anything wrong with that.....

It pays to get yourself a nice, well-made French Press because you will regret it very morning if you don't! Remember that a press allows more sediment from the grind into the final cup (that is what makes french press coffee distinctive). Some degree of sediment is desired; it means more solids dissolved in the brew which imparts a more robust mouth feel to the coffee. You do not want too much sediment though, and to balance this you need a good even grind so a burr mill is the best way to go. Another trick is to install a fine nylon sediment screen to augment the metal filter screen in your press and filter more fine particles. Or just avoid drinking the last swallow or two in your cup.We stock replacement glass for the presses we sell too.

Extra sediment or not, we strongly feel that the advantages of Press brewing are considerable, that it perfectly compliments fresh home roasted coffee (because the water and coffee fully mix for the recomended 2-4 minute brew time), and because no flavorful oils are lost to (or tainted by) a paper filter. Check out our French Press Brewing Tip Sheet. What is a "Tasse?" 1 Tasse = 4 oz = but a 3 Tasse press fills my favorite 11 oz. cup ...go figure. I would count on 1 tasse being more like 3.5 oz. We have more tips on brewing on this page.

Bodum Presses feature this nifty lid liner!

Chambord French Press We carry the Chambord French Press in different sizes and with a choice of glass or unbreakable plastic beaker. The two look identical, except for the material of the beaker (glass or SAN (BPA-free) plastic) and the filter assembly. Because the traditional french press filter assembly will scratch the plastic beaker (I know, I tried it), the plastic beaker presses come with a filter with a rubber gasket. We sell replacements for that too. Do you need an press with an unbreakable beaker? I suppose it depends on how accident prone you tend to be. Tom and I have had presses lay around unused for years because the glass broke and we were not motivated enough to replace it. And we own a business that selss them?! So an unbreakable beaker may avoid that. One drawback to the unbreakable beaker is that with the different filter assembly - you can not add the extra nylon filter like in the glass version. So if you want that extra nylon filter option, you have to stick with the traditional glass Chambord.
	Bodum Chambord 4 Tasse (16 oz) Chrome frame, black bakelite plastic knob and handle, special Bodum-designed insulated lid. Replacement glass and other parts available below. Excellent press size for one person. This is a 3.5 inside diameter press like the 8 Tasse size, so all the filters for the 8 cup also fit this 4 cup. Here is a side-by-side image for size comparison of the 4 Tasse and 8 Tasse.	Bodum Chambord - 4 Tasse $31 (2.1# ship wgt) SAN Unbreakable Bodum Chambord - 4 Tasse $39 (1.5 ship wgt)
	Bodum Chambord 8 Tasse (32 oz) Chrome frame, black Bakelite plastic knob and handle, special Bodum-designed insulated lid. Replacement glass and other parts available below. Great size for 2 - 3 people. Works great for brewing half batches too.	Bodum Chambord - 8 Tasse $36 (2.2 # ship wgt) SAN Unbreakable Bodum Chambord - 8 Tasse $44 (2.5 ship wgt)
	Bodum Chambord - 12 Tasse (48 oz) Chrome feet, black Bakelite plastic knob and handle, special Bodum-designed insulated lid. Replacement glass and other parts available below. Great for 3-4 thirsty people!	Bodum Chambord - 12 Tasse $40 (3.2# ship wgt) Not available with Unbreakable beaker - Sorry
	New! Double Wall Bodum Chambord 8 Tasse (32 oz) This 8 Tasse has a double wall insulated glass beaker. It makes the same coffee as any other french press - but the insulated glass helps to keep it hotter, which is a good thing since heat loss during extraction can be a big problem in a French Press. Double wall glass means that the temperature of the water remains higher during extraction - which is crucial.Like the Columbia insulated french press, you don't really want to store your coffee in the french press, because it continues to brew as long as the water is in contact with the grinds. The inside dimensions are the same as the standard 8 tasse french press, so you can use the same replacement screen parts. Only difference is the frame is larger to accommodate the double wall glass. That, and they are crazy expensive! The glass is thick and ought to survive minor bumps and bruises.	Double Wall Bodum Chambord - 8 Tasse $88 (2.5# ship wgt)
inside view the filterscreen	The Bodum Columbia Stainless Steel French Press 8 Tasse (32 oz) The Columbia is made of unbreakable stainless steel inside and out. The double-walled polished chrome "thermo press" keeps the water hot during brewing, although we really don't recomment that you store your coffee in it after you have pressed the pot. Why? Because to some degree the coffee continues to brew, and after about 15 minutes it will start to have a "over-extracted" flavor. So buy this press because you are as clumsy as I am, and are tired of breaking the glass on other presses. (Now that Bodum makes an unbreakable beaker, you have that option too.) Steep the coffee between 2-4 minutes (as our French Press Tip Sheet recommends) and either serve it or decant it into something else within another 10 minutes, or sooner! Note that the replacement screens we sell for the other french presses will NOT work with the metal walls of the Columbia, so they employ a soft-edged screen. (We do stock these replacement screens now - they are listed below.)	Columbia Stainless Steel French Press - 8 Tasse $59 (3.1# ship wgt)

Neat and Necessary Parts for Our French Presses*

We stock replacement glass carafes for our presses, stainless steel filter replacement screens and some real neat nylon fine-filter inserts that help reduce fine particle sludge in your French press coffee.

Replacement Glass Carafe

The glass part. The one your significant other just broke! d= diameter

4 Tasse: 16 oz: 3.75" d x 4.5" tall, from Bodum: $14.50 (.5 lb. ship wgt.)

8 Tasse: 32 oz:3.75" d x7" tall, from Bodum: $16.50 (.5 lb. ship wgt.)

12 Tasse: 48 oz: 4.5" d x 7" tall, from Bodum: $18.50 (.7 lb. ship wgt.)

Unbreakable
Replacement Beaker

Made of SAN material (BPA-free), these unbreakable beakers fit standard Chambord frames, so you can use this to replace the glass carafe of your Chambord press. Note: You would also need to replace the entire filter assembly with a Poly/Stainless "Replacement Filterscreen" sold below. If you use the standard filter assembly in the unbreakable plastic beaker, it will scratch the inside of the beaker. Not the worst thing, but a bit unsightly and probably makes it harder to clean over time.

SAN Unbreakable Replacement Beaker 4 Tasse: 16 oz: 3.75" d x 4.5" tall,
$20 (.5 lb. ship wgt.)

SAN Unbreakable Replacement Beaker 8 Tasse: 32 oz:3.75" d x7" tall, from Bodum:
$24 (.5 lb. ship wgt.)

Double Wall Replacement Glass

New!

Designed to work with the Double Wall French Press only, you can not use this glass with a standard 8 Tasse french press frame - it is too big. So this is not a way to upgrade your existing french press- sorry. Interior dimensions are the same - so it can take the standard 8 Tasse replacement screens.

Double Wall 8 Tasse Replacement Glass $40 (+1 lb. ship wgt.)

Nylon Fine Sediment Filterscreen

It is an additional filterscreen you insert in your press to remove more fine sediment particles. It is especially useful if your grinder produces powder, like a whirling-blade type grinder. Note: Not for use with swissgold filter disk. Use with stainless steel filter disk. Another image with measurements. Please note: the nylon screen cannot be added to the Replacement Poly/Stainless Filterscreen.

6 or 8 Tasse size ...also fits our Bodum 4 Tasse press (for all 3.5" diameter presses): $2.50 (+.2 lb. ship wgt.)

12 Tasse size (for 4.5" diameter presses): $3.25 (+.3 lb. ship wgt.)

Stainless Steel Replacement Screens

These are replacement stainless steel filterscreens for your French press. These are the main culprit when grounds starts to escape around the side of the plunger. Screens usually last a year or so before they become damaged on the edges and allow grounds to pass. ***Please note: the center hole diameter (where it the stem of the press pot plunger fits) on the 3 tasse is 3/16ths diameter and on the 6-8 tasse and 12 tasse is between 1/4th and 5/16th diameter.

3 Tasse size (for 2.5" diameter presses): $3.90(+.2 lb. ship wgt.)

6 or 8 Tasse size ...also fits our Bodum 4 Tasse press (for 3.5" diameter presses): $4.50 (+.2 lb. ship wgt.)

12 Tasse size (for 4.5" diameter presses): $5.00 (+.2 lb. ship wgt.)

Replacement Filterscreen for Unbreakable Beakers and Stainless Steel Presses

This strange animal is a replacement filterscreen for the SAN Unbreakable Plastic Beakers and Stainless Steel french presses (like the Columbia). This special filter that has a plastic edge - so as not to scratch the interior wall of the SAN Unbreakable beakers or stainless steel press. Fits both 4 tasse and 8 tasse size presses (3.5" diameter).

Replacement Poly/Stainless Filterscreen $10 (+.2 lb. ship wgt.)

Here is an image of the typical French press filter assembly for a press with a nylon filterscreen added. The filterscreen is an add-on, and does not come with bodum or other brands of presses.

*Our presses are standard sizes. Measurements are provided wherever possible on this page but they are approximate; if they seem to agree with your press, than they should fit but we cannot guarantee it. One warning, there are 3" diameter presses, usually in 4 Tasse size, that we don't have any parts for ...

French Press Tips: You want a grind that is as fine as possible without letting sediment past the screen. This usually works out to be a tad coarser than filter-drip grind. They key is really how even the grind is. Whirling-blade type grinders aren't great companions for the French Press: too uneven. The more fine and even your grind, the less brewing time you need: 3 minutes for a coarser grind, or I use 90 seconds for my fine-yet-even grind. Decant the coffee from the press once it has brewed! The coffee will otherwise continue to extract and become more bitter and unpleasant. For this reason, I find the Thermal Stainless Steel French Presses not functional: brew in a glass one, then decant into a Vacuum Bottle/ Thermos if you need to keep it hot for a while... but ideally, just brew enough for one sitting! French Press method compliments ultra-fresh home roasts because it forces the coffee and water mixture to infuse for the required 2-4 minutes. Super-fresh coffee emits CO-2 gas after roasting that can prevent the hot water from fully penetrating the grind ... but the French Press method overcomes the resistence! Check out our French Press Brewing Tip Sheet