Bodum coffee makers. Just saying that and people have a great idea of what I’m talking about. In fact they know the French press coffee makers by no other name than the Bodum coffee maker. I’d go so far as to suggest that Bodum has become synonymous with French press coffee makers just like Hoover became synonymous with vacuum cleaners.
So today we’re going to talk about Bodum coffee makers specifically but we’ll also talk about French press coffee makers generally. The French press coffee maker is known by other names like press pot, coffee press, coffee plunger and of course the cafetiere a piston. Which just sounds so cool doesn’t it?
A brief history of Bodum coffee makers
The French press and hence the Bodum coffee makers that follow it, was likely invented in France as the name would suggest, but no one knows for certain. It was first patented by an Italian (of course) by the name of Attilio Calimani in 1929 with further improvements coming from another Italian, Faliero Bondanini.
The French press coffee maker is a very simple piece of equipment comprised of a glass or plastic cylinder into which both the coffee grounds and the hot water are put. It has a lid containing a plunger which is made up of a finely meshed filter of either metal or nylon which fits tightly inside the glass cylinder and is plunged down when the coffee is ready to drink, separating the coffee grounds from the coffee liquid.
The French press method of enjoying coffee is considered the purest and arguably best way to enjoy the full flavor profile and substance of the coffee bean. Partly because none of the oils have been trapped by any means such as by paper filters and remain within the coffee. These oils are responsible for the various subtleties and nuances in the coffee flavor profile.
Your options amongst Bodum coffee makers
Okay, with that coffee service over, your next coffee time should be enjoyed with one of the many Bodum coffee makers out there. Bodum manufacturers a variety of coffee makers, the filter coffee makers that we’re talking about as well as thermal coffee makers in the French press style and vacuum coffee makers as well. Let’s quickly take a look at each kind.
One of the most popular Bodum coffee makers is the Chambord design. This is the elegantly simple stainless steel design that most folks are probably familiar with. It is 12 ounces in size and is perfect for one or two servings for you and a friend. Another popular Bodum coffee maker is the Eileen, named in honor of the designer Eileen Gray, this 12 ounce French press features a modern, eye catching designed stainless steel holder that cradles the glass carafe snugly and protects it from easy breakage. This is perhaps best for those of us who are a little more clumsy.
The Bodum coffee makers come in a variety of sizes, from the small 8 ounces Bodums to the large 34 ounce or 1 liters Bodum Bistro thermal coffee press. Now I have a stainless steel French press like this, and I don’t drink that much coffee. Also, I don’t frankly see the point of a thermal coffee press maker unless you want exceptionally hot coffee. The reason I say this is because brewing in a French press only takes 4 minutes. At that time you should be pouring the beverage to enjoy. Leaving it longer than around 10 minutes and you’ll start extracting the more bitter tastes from your coffee beans.
So the way I use my thermal coffee press is for herbal teas that I buy loose and I don’t mind them steeping for longer than say 10 minutes. However, you can play with these Bodum coffee makers yourself and determine the optimum amount of time you’d be happy allowing your French press coffee to steep.
As far as vacuum coffee makers are concerned, I think the Bodum Santos vacuum coffee maker (check it out here) is a hard one to beat. The elegant design and quality of coffee that it brews make it one of the leaders in the vacuum coffee maker line up. It will brew 32 ounces (around 1 liter) of delicious coffee. Coffee from a vacuum coffee maker is very similar to coffee from a French press but seems to me at least to have just an extra layer of smoothness that I can never quite match from my press pot coffee.
So there you have some of the Bodum coffee makers available on the market. They also make the French press mug in several varieties for those on the go, like this one. However, you won’t find Bodum coffee makers that are electric in any way. So you can’t use coffee pods and you won’t find a Bodum cappuccino machine or semi automatic espresso machines.
But you can buy a stove top Bodum espresso maker (seen here)and a Bodum milk frother (here) so you can manually make your own cappuccinos. This is likely to be the most reliable way to make lattes and other espresso based beverages, because there are hardly any moving parts in the Bodum Chambord stove top espresso maker, and the Bodum Chambord stainless steel milk frother. And I’ll be honest with you, the cappuccinos made this way are delicious!
Now Bodum isn’t the only manufacturer of the French press coffee maker but it is one of the most well known. So if you’re looking for your first or third French press, there is bound to be something for your amongst the many Bodum coffee makers.