Sep 01 2010
French Press Beaker
Bonjour Coffee & Tea 8-Cup Clear Replacement Glass Beakers
Coffee buffs who know their history know that the first French press was made using a beaker. The French press beaker would become a carafe that would go through many design iterations over time but the simple premise behind the French press would remain the same – superb coffee made quickly with nothing more than water and coffee grounds.
There are many variations on the invention of the French press. Most say that the idea originated by a Frenchman and was perfected by an Italian who also received the first patent on the device. Regardless of who came up with the idea it was a brilliant one. There were other ways to brew coffee some of which involved straining the coffee filters through various materials and others that simply boiled whole coffee beans in water until a suitable beverage was made.
According to history the Frenchman who came up with the basic idea behind the French press did so accidentally. He was camping and forgot to put the ground up coffee in the water he had boiled. He didn’t want to waste the firewood and fire that it would take to boil more water so he poured the water on top of the coffee grounds. The story goes that he then made a sort of filter out of some type of mesh and pushed to the bottom of the jar of water and in doing so trapped the coffee beneath the mesh. This rough version of a press pot is the premise behind the actual press pot used today.
Around 1929 an Italian designed by the name of Attilio Calimani made design changes to the French version of the press pot. Later, Bondanini, another Italian designer, would make further changes to the design and would go on to become a common name among French press designers. The Bondanini name remains popular today in the world of press pots.
Many companies would make design changes to the French press in an effort to try and improve its coffee. The simple fact is that they couldn’t improve the taste of the coffee and the only changes they could make would be aesthetic or durability changes. The process of making the coffee couldn’t be modified to be any better. Pure coffee flavor mixing with water with no barriers to proven the flavors from being released is all what makes French press the excellent brewer it is.
One of the amazing things about the French press is that if it were to be stripped of all its aesthetic beauty and the modifications that were made to it in looks it would still brew coffee that is as good as the coffee brewed in that first French press beaker. Many of the modifications have simply been enhancements that were made for decorative purposes. The coffee remains the same, only the looks have changed.
-Sharon Chapman