Description
What This French Press Is
This is a French press with a stoneware body rather than the usual glass beaker, listed at 34 ounces in Le Creuset’s Caribbean glaze under model number 70706200170171. The mechanism is the same as any press: coarsely ground coffee steeps in hot water, and a mesh sieve on a plunger rod pushes the grounds to the bottom when the steep is finished. Le Creuset’s contribution is the vessel, not the brewing method.
The case for stoneware is heat retention and durability against the two things that end most French presses: thermal shock and impact. Glass beakers crack when hot water hits cold glass and shatter when knocked off a counter. Stoneware does neither. The case against is weight, since a full stoneware press is heavy to lift and pour one handed. Buyers who want a lighter press with a different construction should compare the Espro P7 stainless steel press, and the alternatives are grouped in the french presses category.
Glaze, Cleaning and Everyday Handling
Le Creuset’s feature list describes the glaze as nonporous and non-reactive, resistant to chips, scratches and stains, and virtually nonstick. Those properties matter more for coffee than they sound. Coffee stains porous surfaces and coffee oils build up on anything they touch, and a nonporous glaze rinses clean rather than accumulating a brown film. The special feature field confirms dishwasher safe, so the body can go in a machine.
The colored exterior is the reason most buyers choose Le Creuset, and the Caribbean glaze is a mid blue. It is worth noting what colored stoneware means in practice: it is a kitchen object that stays on the counter rather than in a cupboard, and it will not match a stainless kitchen the way a steel press does. That is a preference rather than a fault.
The plunger and mesh are the parts that need attention. Any French press sieve traps grounds and oils in the mesh layers, and it should be unscrewed and washed periodically rather than only rinsed. The included components field lists a filter, which confirms the sieve assembly ships with the press.
Brewing in a Press
Le Creuset’s description sets out the method plainly: coarsely ground coffee or loose tea steeps in boiling water and is then filtered by plunging the sieve. Two details make the difference between a good press cup and a muddy one. The first is grind size, which needs to be coarse, because fine grounds pass through the mesh and continue extracting in the cup. The second is not pressing the plunger down hard, since forcing it stirs sediment back into the coffee.
A press also keeps brewing until it is decanted. Coffee left sitting on the grounds after plunging continues to extract and turns bitter, so a press is best emptied into cups or another vessel promptly. That is the main practical difference between a press and a machine such as the Bella programmable drip coffee maker, which separates the brewed coffee from the grounds automatically.
Heat Retention and the Limits of Stoneware
Stoneware holds heat better than glass, but it is not insulation. A stoneware press preheated with hot water will keep coffee warm for longer than a glass beaker, and it will still be losing heat steadily through the wall. Anyone who wants coffee hot forty minutes after brewing needs a vacuum insulated vessel, not a ceramic one, which is why an insulated press or a thermal carafe machine such as the Zojirushi EC-YTC100XB serves that need better.
Preheating is worth doing regardless. Filling the empty press with hot water for a minute before brewing, then tipping it out, keeps the first minute of the steep from being cooled by the vessel. It costs nothing and it makes a noticeable difference in a heavy ceramic body that starts at room temperature. The same principle applies to a ceramic pour over cone such as the one in the Hario V60 ceramic starter set.
Highlights
- Stoneware body rather than glass, so no thermal shock cracking and better resistance to knocks.
- Listed at 34 ounces in the product title, a size suited to two to three mugs.
- Nonporous glaze that resists staining from coffee oils.
- Dishwasher safe according to the special feature field.
- Reusable metal sieve, so there are no filters to buy.
- Takes loose tea as well as ground coffee.
- Rated 4.5 out of 5 across 669 ratings at the time the listing data was captured.
Things To Consider
The feature list attached to this listing states that the item is safe for freezer, oven, microwave, broiler, dishwasher and metal utensils. That is Le Creuset’s standard stoneware boilerplate and it does not fit this product. A French press carries a metal plunger rod and a metal mesh assembly, and metal must not go in a microwave. Nothing in the listing distinguishes the stoneware body from the plunger assembly, so buyers should treat the oven, broiler and microwave claims as applying to bare stoneware at most, and should not put the assembled press into any of them. If in doubt, ask Le Creuset directly.
The listed dimensions of 6.5 by 5.25 by 9.6 inches and the 3 pound weight most likely describe the packaged carton, since a 34 ounce press is not usually 9.6 inches tall with the plunger seated. The UPC field also contains two separate codes run together, which normally indicates merged listings, so it is worth checking that the color and size shown match what is ordered.
Weight is the daily reality of stoneware. Three pounds empty becomes considerably more with a liter of water in it, and pouring from a heavy vessel is harder for anyone with limited grip strength.
Who Should Buy It and Who Should Skip It
This suits a household that already brews with a press and is tired of replacing broken glass beakers, or one that wants a piece of kitchen equipment that looks like part of the room. Two to three mugs per brew fits a couple, and the dishwasher safe glaze makes it easy to live with.
Skip it if weight or grip is a concern, if you want to see the brew level through the vessel, or if you want coffee without any technique at all. Households in that last position should look at an automatic machine in the coffee machines category, and anyone who wants a press that keeps coffee hot for longer should consider an insulated stainless model instead of stoneware.
