10 Best No Plastic French Press Coffee Makers for 2026 – Expert Reviews

Customer Review: “The french press is a staple in any coffee lover’s setup of makers or brewers. This timeless piece of engineering creates a great, full-bodied cup without all the hassle of perfecting pouring techniques or needing a large budget or space with more elaborate setups. All that’s needed is the french press, a decent scale, beans along with the grinder (to control your grind size), and a way to heat water. This is usually a coffee lover’s gateway into brewing cups other than instant coffee at the supermarket. It’s not too difficult to use, and the cups are usually consistent and end up being less frustrating in the long run compared to pour-overs. It would be advisable to stick with darker or medium roasts with a french press since you’re aiming for full-bodied cups which contain more oils and fines. A super expensive grinder is not necessary, which makes an entry-level grinder such as a Hario with ceramic burrs, or a pentagonal stainless steel burr hand grinder (i.e. Timemore C2, Hario Smart G Pro) decent options. This plays into the affordability factor, though a more expensive burr hand grinder is always welcome. After all the frustration as well as fulfillment that goes along with pour-over coffee equipment, as well as brewers, it’s great to go back to more simple methods. Paper filters are also not necessary, which makes one less thing to worry about. The cups are great to drink with its high temperature and full-bodied flavor. Clean up isn’t too bad with this french press either. It also makes a great cup of tea if you’re using loose-leaf. Aside from the functionality, it looks amazing on your kitchen counter.”

Customer Review: “I was always very curious about the french press method of brewing coffee, but never really got into it. Being away from my espresso machine, I really wanted to try something that was simply better than drip. I thought about getting the aeropress, but decided instead for the french press. Boy am I happy. So why is the french press method than drip you ask? Quite simple…*No paper filter! Coffee has a lot of natural oils in it that carry a lot of flavor. Using a paper filter traps those oils, so they never get expressed in the cup. The french press method produces a coffee that is much richer and fuller in body than any drip coffee I have ever had. I feel like I’m drinking coffee instead of cream and sugar.* Complete control over the brewing process. You control the grind, you control the temperature of the water and you control how long the water is contact with the grinds.* Steeping vs. Drip. Using a drip, the water goes through the grinds and out. Very little prolonged contact with the water. Also, it’s very common to see channels develop in the basket which leads to underextraction. With the press, all the grounds are completely submerged within the water for however long you decide. Better extraction, just don’t let them sit in there too long. Sometimes you hear of people complaining that there are too many grinds left in the cup using a press. Here is some good advice: ‘Don’t skimp on the grinder’. Toss your whirly-blade away (or relegate it to spices) and get yourself a burr grinder. I use a rocky with my french press, but you don’t have to buy a $300 grinder for french press. You’ll probably want to spend no less than 60. I’ve heard good things about the antiqua from bodum, the infinity from capresso and pretty much anything in the baratza line-up. Why such an expensive grinder you ask? Well you need to grind your own for any method of coffee brewing you use (throw the folgers out the door), but you need a fairly consistent grind. Whirly-blades will give you a lot of dust and coffee boulders; neither are very good for coffee brewing. Also, if you think that there is any possibility you might one day venture out into the world of espresso, go for no less than the gaggia mdf, or better yet a rocky. Nothing below those two will give you a grind for espresso. (End grinder tirade) Using a good grinder, the amount of grinds in the cup will be exceptionally minimal. You do get a little bit of coffee dust into the cup, but it’s hardly noticeable and usually settles out into the very bottom of the cup. The filter on the press does a very nice job of keeping the grounds out. I read somewhere in one of the amazon reviews that the press doesn’t go down far enough to really press the coffee. I’m not sure how much coffee this person was using, but I use slightly less than the recommended amount and I am able to press the grounds quite firmly. This particular 3-cup model will make about 8-10 oz of brewed coffee. You can’t quite get all 12oz of water in with the grounds, and some of the water gets soaked up in to the grounds. This is the perfect amount for me, since I only drink one cup-a-day, but if you drink more, go for a bigger model. Make sure not to leave the brewed coffee sitting in the press. Pour out any you don’t drink immediately into some kind of thermal carafe to keep it warm. The unit itself solid enough. Obviously the glass is breakable, so don’t go bouncing it off the floor. Cleanup is pretty easy. I rinse out the press, put some soap in the bottom, fill with water, and plunge up and down a few times and let it set while I drink my coffee. Make sure you keep the press clean, previously brewed coffee grounds are very good at ruining your coffee. As far as how to brew french press, check out the guide over at coffeegeek, but also look at the Illy method of preparation as they detail on their site. Decide which one you like better. The only improvement I would like to see would be some sort of thermal insulation to keep the coffee warm while it brews. The coffee is still hot when I’m ready to pour into the cup, but it would still be nice. Make sure to preheat your press with some how tap water. Bodum does make thermal french presses, but they come at a higher price point. Overall, great little brewer that comes at a very affordable price-point. Pair this with a good grinder as some freshly roasted beans (you’re not still using folgers are you?), and you’ve got a recipe for excellent coffee.”

Customer Review: “For the price this is a hard value to beat! I live off grid and this has transformed my coffee drinking experience! I can keep it extra warm on the woodstove in winter, and summer is warm enough to maintain heat. It is no thermal comparison as a good thermos. Its not thin metal, has some insulation properties, but don’t expect it to be extremely thermal capable. In a colder (50f degree) air temp, it cools off pretty quick. Filter quality is superb! Usability is superb! Easy to use and clean! For the price its hard to beat!”

Customer Review: “Very sturdy. Beautiful. It has 3 filters and makes a great pot of coffee. Easy to clean. The price is unbeatable for the quality.”

Customer Review: “For the price this is a hard value to beat! I live off grid and this has transformed my coffee drinking experience! I can keep it extra warm on the woodstove in winter, and summer is warm enough to maintain heat. It is no thermal comparison as a good thermos. Its not thin metal, has some insulation properties, but don’t expect it to be extremely thermal capable. In a colder (50f degree) air temp, it cools off pretty quick. Filter quality is superb! Usability is superb! Easy to use and clean! For the price its hard to beat!”

Customer Review: “Very sturdy. Beautiful. It has 3 filters and makes a great pot of coffee. Easy to clean. The price is unbeatable for the quality.”

Customer Review: “I’ve had several French presses. All glass except the one for camping. This thing blows all the others out of the water, its bulky like very sturdy, I’ve used it one time. The coffee is clean. As in no grounds in it like some of the other French presses do. I put boiling water in it and boom 10 mins later the bottom warm to the touch. I have no worries of it burning the kitchen counters or the wood table. I can honestly say the old 20 year old camping French press is probably retired after this. Oh yeah the best part. It looks so cool and stylish..”

Customer Review: “Well made, decent price, just the right size for four large cups. This makes good coffee. Easy to clean, and it lasts. I have one that is seven years old, still going strong. I bought one for the farm. I had a pour over there, but that coffee is too weak for me now. I have a grinder for whole beans. You can buy ground coffee, but fine grounds will leak past the filter. Grinding beans extra coarse solves that problem, if you think it is a problem (I don’t taste any difference).”

Customer Review: “For the price this is a hard value to beat! I live off grid and this has transformed my coffee drinking experience! I can keep it extra warm on the woodstove in winter, and summer is warm enough to maintain heat. It is no thermal comparison as a good thermos. Its not thin metal, has some insulation properties, but don’t expect it to be extremely thermal capable. In a colder (50f degree) air temp, it cools off pretty quick. Filter quality is superb! Usability is superb! Easy to use and clean! For the price its hard to beat!”

Customer Review: “Very sturdy. Beautiful. It has 3 filters and makes a great pot of coffee. Easy to clean. The price is unbeatable for the quality.”

Customer Review: “The size is perfect for one cup. Quality pretty good for price point. I appreciate the all stainless steel plunger. The lid is plastic as shown in the photos, so I removed it from the plunger. For a one cup size, the lid doesn’t make that much of a difference for the brew.”

Customer Review: “This works great & I especially appreciate that there is no plastic to touch the liquid. All glass & stainless steel. The top part will rust in the dishwasher, so needs to be hand washed but the glass part is fine in the dishwasher.”

Customer Review: “UPDATE:. Oh, I’m loving this French press! I bought a metal mesh sieve (set of 3, actually), which makes the cleanup so much easier. You can buy them here on Amazon, but I don’t think they appreciate adding links to purchases. Actually, THEY really should add mesh sieves to the bottom of the screen as ‘bought together’…or maybe the seller can add a metal mesh sieve to the set! [*wink-wink*]. So, I simply allow the glass to cool a bit before putting warm water in the grounds, swishing the water around to catch all the grounds, and pouring them into the sieve. It really helps if you have a ‘shower’ type of spray nozzle on your spigot. This prevents the water from splashing all over the sink. So I rinse as many times as I can to remove the grinds; usually not more than three times. NEVER add cold water to hot glass. This can cause the fragile glass to crack. I empty the strained grinds into the trash. Then I use the spray nozzle to spray the few loose grinds off the sieve and plunger. I fill the carafe 3/4 full with clean warm water, then add a bit of detergent to the water in the carafe, then pump the plunger up and down in the water to clean the glass and plunger at the same time. To empty the carafe, I pour the detergent water over the sieve to clean that, and use the spray spigot to rinse the soapy dishes. I rinse everything with hot water, again using the spray nozzle, then set everything in the empty dishwasher to drain. I have a top rack for small dishes, but you may need to drain the small items on a towel on your counter. I also discovered that the glass does slide out of the metal holder. I was pulling up on the plunger one day when I discovered the glass pulling away from the metal. I don’t know if it was originally glued in, but this certainly makes it much easier to clean. I was noticing coffee grinds between the glass and metal, which was very annoying. I’m so glad it can be removed to clean. But I do have to make sure it doesn’t slide out of the metal casing when I pour or pull out the plunger. Since everything is much easier to clean now, I make all my coffee in the FP. I also noticed a difference in the taste, and it is not my imagination. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to drip! There are a few negative reviews, mainly about cracking. But as long as you DO NOT ADD COLD WATER TO THE HEATED GLASS, you shouldn’t have cracks. I’m considering buying a second FP just in case this one breaks. This is well worth the purchase.”

Customer Review: “This is my first French press, and I’ve always wanted one. That being said, this review is more on the reflection of the French press process than it is on this specific device, since I have nothing else to compare it to…except my drip coffee makers. Before receiving the shipment, I viewed instructions of YouTube videos, so I would be prepared to use it immediately. CONS: 1. The French press does not use a paper coffee filter as the drip makers use. This is the biggest con, but it’s also the biggest pro, which I’ll explain shortly. I’m accustomed to pulling out the filter and dumping the grounds in the trash. I have experienced the downfall of washing the grinds down the drain. It can cause major plumbing issues, which can be expensive if not dealt with in time. So my first and only experience to date of disposing of the grinds was a messy one. I had to use a long spoon to get the grinds to the top of the carafe and dump them in the trash. The grounds got all over my hands, the floor, the trash can…and then I still had to rinse them out into the sink. In this case, there were only a few grounds remaining, so I turned on my garbage disposal before rinsing it out. In hindsight, I should’ve just poured them over an empty coffee filter and proceeded as I do with drip coffee. I’ll figure it out. People have been doing this for years, so I know there’s a better way. 2. This particular model has metal molded around a glass carafe. I’m assuming this is designed to keep the coffee hot. But in washing the carafe, water gets trapped between the metal and glass. My OCD won’t allow me to dismiss this issue. I don’t know if mold will become trapped between the glass and metal, or if the metal will rust. But I do know I can’t put this away in the cupboard until it dries thoroughly. I turned it upside down, and am patiently waiting for it to drain thoroughly. 3. It isn’t electric, so the coffee doesn’t remain hot. I can pour the coffee into my drip carafe and keep it on the warming plate. But it would be better to just make another cup of coffee. 4. It’s not an automatic process, like I’m used to experiencing with a drip coffee maker. I just set the drip maker up and turn it on. Eleven minutes later, it’s ready to pour. Not so with the press. For a good cup, the press needs to be preheated, coffee beans need to be weighed, ground, soaked, and then pressed. There is no time to sit down and wait for it to brew. But, it doesn’t take much time to make French press coffee, either. 5. It’s a bit difficult to clean. It’s not impossible to clean, but compared to the drip coffee brewer, which needs to be rinsed out and occasionally cleaned with vinegar, there is a bit more complicated cleaning process. The press has a few parts that need to be cleaned after each use. PROS: 1. This does not use a paper coffee filter. This is a plus, because you don’t have to worry about running out of coffee filters, and it produces less trash for the landfills. 2. It’s perfect for those times when you just want one cup of coffee. 3. Though cleanup can be a bit of a hassle, it’s not difficult to clean, if you tackle it immediately after pouring the coffee. 4. It’s compact, easy to store. 5. This model has a lifetime guarantee, of which I will take advantage, should anything go wrong. I inspected the item thoroughly; and aside from the water becoming trapped between the glass and metal, it’s in perfect condition. Don’t forget to register it asap. 6. It’s simple to use. Even though it’s not automatic like the drip coffee maker, it’s not really that difficult to use. I would suggest to anyone buying this, that an electric kettle would come in very handy. You can boil water on your stovetop, but personally, I prefer the electric kettle. HERE IS MY SYSTEM: 1. Boil water in kettle and pour into FP carafe and put plunger and elements into the water and cover. This process will heat up the carafe and elements, so they are unlikely to cool off the boiled water, lowering the coffee temperature. 2. While the parts to the FP is heating, I boil more water. After water boils, I dump out the water in the carafe, dry carafe, and add premeasured grinds into carafe. I personally use the same amount of grounds:water ratio that I used in the drip maker. 3. Pour boiled water over grinds; just enough water to cover grinds. I stir with a long handled spoon so all grinds get wet; then carefully pour a tiny bit of boiled water over spoon to get the remaining grinds off spoon. (OCD…remember?) I cover the carafe and allow the grinds to soak for a few minutes, while I boil more water. 4. I add the remaining boiled water to the grinds to complete the coffee, allow coffee to set a couple minutes, then carefully place lid with plunger and slowly push down the plunger evenly, so no grounds will get into the coffee. 5. I pour coffee in cup(s) and add cream/sugar as usual. 6. I wait for remaining water in carafe to cool a bit before clearing out the grounds. In the future, I might add warm tap water (NOT cold! That could crack the glass, if it’s hot), swish water around a bit; and, using a small rubber spatula, pour them over a filter, allowing it to drip in the drip carafe. In fact, I might even consider cleaning out some used coffee filters from the drip maker and save them for this purpose. I don’t know. I’ll figure it out. What do I think about this particular model? I do like it, but I cannot claim that the coffee tastes any better or worse than the drip. The difference between the two are that the drip maker pours hot water over the grinds, which drips into carafe. Whereas, the process of the press is to pour water into the grounds, soak them and push all the water out of the grounds at the bottom of the water with the plunger. I assumed the press would require fewer grounds, since they soak in the water, but I didn’t see a difference. The perculator, on the other hand, seems to split the difference. It uses the drip method by sucking up heated water from the pot and spitting it out over the grinds, which drips back into the water. It repeats this process, soaking the grinds like the French Press soaks it’s grinds, until the coffee becomes strong. I don’t think I’ll use this French Press every day. But it will come in handy when I run out of filters, when I just need a single cup of coffee, or if/when the drip coffee maker breaks down.”

Customer Review: “I had a perfectly good French press, but I could not leave well enough alone. My perfectly good French press is made of BPA free plastic and goes into the microwave. I tend to put the coffee into the French press, put water over it and stick it in the microwave for 3 minutes, then let it steep. I drink a cup and put the remainder in the refrigerator for the next day. I wanted to upgrade to a larger container, and I also wanted to ditch the plastic, no matter how safe it professes to be. I hate to admit that I spent hours when I should have been working looking through the Amazon selection of French presses, reading reviews, etc. I settled on this one because it is about twice as large, is made of double-walled borosilicate glass (double layer acts as insulation), has a eco-friendly bamboo lid and has a fairly sturdy borosilocate handle. Handles that break off seemed to be a rather common complaint among reviewers. It also has a removable rubber base that the press slides into, I guess to keep the heat off your surfaces. Anyway, I am quite pleased with my new French press. I will be keeping my old one to use when I have company and some want decaf and some want the real deal.”

Customer Review: “This is great and works easily. I use it for more than two people. It makes up to 4 cups of coffee. No grounds get into the coffee. It cleans up fairly easy but I hate dealing with coffee grounds so I only use this if I have a crowd. It’s nicely designed and seams stronger than I thought”

Customer Review: “Perfect Coffee Every Morning! This French press is absolutely fantastic! It’s sturdy, elegant, and brews a rich, smooth cup of coffee every time. The glass and metal parts feel high quality, and it’s super easy to clean. I love the sleek design — it looks beautiful on my kitchen counter. The plunger works smoothly with no grounds slipping through, and it even came with extra filters, which is a nice bonus. Whether you’re a coffee lover or just want a simple way to make great coffee at home, this French press is a winner!”

Customer Review: “So much better than my old one! Looks beautiful, the glass isn’t thin ( like my old one) the plunger glides so smoothly and it is so much easier to keep clean! It’s like the glass is stain resistant or something. I just rinsed it out and the glass was just as clean and shiny as before I used it! Love that it comes with an extra filter for the plunger, and that cute little sponge cleaner is perfect not just for this but any bottle or jar. Size can make one large mug full – like 24 oz or two smaller mugs. And I swear my coffee tasted even better in this one than my old one! And it even looks pretty sitting out on my counter. The only thing to watch for- turn the plunger so that the opening slot in it meets the spout or you’ll spill coffee everywhere like I did!”

Customer Review: “I recently purchased the Mixpresso Stainless Steel French Press Coffee and I’m extremely satisfied with my purchase. The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to use. The design is simple and straightforward – you just add your coffee grounds, pour in hot water, and let it brew for a few minutes. Then, press down on the plunger and voila! Perfectly brewed coffee. Another great feature of this French press is how easy it is to maintain. The stainless steel parts can be easily washed. I haven’t experienced any rusting or discoloration with the steel parts, which is a huge plus. One thing that sets this French press apart from others I’ve used is how well it keeps the temperature of the coffee while it’s brewing. I’ve noticed that with other presses, the coffee can cool down quickly, but with this one, it stays hot for a while. I have to mention the price – this French press is definitely worth the investment. It’s affordable, but still feels like a high-quality product. I would absolutely recommend this French press to anyone in the market for one. It’s easy to use, easy to maintain, keeps the temperature while brewing, and is a great value for the price.”

Customer Review: “Very sturdy and well made. Easy to use and clean. Makes a perfect big cup of coffee. i use 5 tbl to 2 cups of boiling water. Keeps coffee nice and warm.”