The 4 Best French Presses of 2025
Top pick
The Espro P3’s innovative filter consistently brews bright, grit-free coffee.
If you want the brightest coffee you can make with a plunger, the Espro P3 French Press (32 ounces) is a great choice and easy to use. For the price, it produces the most balanced, clean, and smooth coffee of all the French presses we tested.
It traps stray grounds. The P3’s two bucket-shaped micro-filters make every other plunger’s filters look rudimentary. The filters lock into each other, so they stay together while plunging, but you can easily detach them when cleaning the press. The lock is an extra step that takes a few tries to get comfortable with, but we found it easy to master.
The P3’s rubber-rimmed plunger also ensures a tight seal, though this can make it tougher to press than Bodum’s plunger
During testing, the filters kept out even the most slippery of runaway grounds. According to Espro, the gauze-like mesh is nine to 12 times finer than that of typical French press filters.
It prevents over-extraction. Once plunged, the Espro P3’s double filter locks the grounds and a small amount of coffee at the bottom of the press; Espro said this helps stop the brewing process (what pros call extraction). This portion of grounds and coffee continues extracting as long as it sits in the beaker, but it’s ostensibly too thick and sludgy to pass through the filter.
Meanwhile, your coffee sits above the filters, relatively separate from the grounds. So if you leave your coffee in the beaker for more than four minutes, it won’t become as bitter and over-extracted as it would in other presses.
To test Espro’s extraction-stopping claim, which is unique among the presses we tested, we brewed coffee in the P3 and poured half of it into a mug; we then let the other half stand in the press for two hours, tasting it at regular intervals.
After 10, 20, and 40 minutes, the flavor of the coffee we left in the Espro matched that of the first pour. After the first hour, however, we noticed a slight increase in bitterness.
Since it’s not unusual to drink a fresh-brewed pot within an hour, and because the difference after the first hour was ever so slight, we think Espro’s claim holds up pretty well.
The carafe is sturdier than most. The P3’s glass beaker is considerably thicker and more insulating than those of every other glass press we tested, and it will keep your coffee warmer than the Bodum models. The P3’s beaker might also be a little less fragile than standard beakers. Espro typically sells a variety of replacement parts if your beaker or filters break.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
It’s not that attractive. Overall, the P3 is visually less appealing than Espro’s more expensive models (or even than most Bodum models, with their clean lines). But if you prioritize bright pours and a grit-free mug over aesthetics, the P3 is a better choice than a Bodum.
The spent grounds can be messy. We’ve seen comments from readers about the watery sludge that lingers at the bottom of the P3 after pressing. We think this leftover liquid is part of what ensures that your coffee is silt-free, and Wirecutter staffers who have been long-term testing the Espro agree. (By design, the Espro mimics some aspects of the French press technique that barista and YouTube coffee connoisseur James Hoffmann has popularized, which also tends to leave extra liquid at the bottom of the carafe.)
But we get that the liquid can seem like wasted coffee or be messier to clean. Some P3 reviewers have come up with their own solution for squeezing out more liquid from the bottom of the carafe; one Reddit user suggests holding the lid down and giving the grounds an extra half-pump after you’ve completed your initial press.
This tip might be worth a try if you want to maximize the amount of coffee you’re making—though we have yet to try it, so we can’t vouch that your coffee will taste the same—or if you simply want to clear out more liquid before emptying the grounds into your trash or compost bin.
The beaker replacement is pricey. But that cost (about $25 at this writing) is not unusual among the glass presses we looked at. If you’re worried about having to replace the beaker, consider our upgrade pick, the stainless steel Espro P6, instead.
You pay more up front, but the cost may even out in the long run depending on how prone you are to breaking things.
You can’t brew small batches. Due to the Espro’s double filter, you cannot make less than 24 ounces of coffee in its 32-ounce press. If you want the option of brewing smaller amounts, you might consider one of our Bodum picks.
If you have your heart set on an Espro press but want to brew smaller quantities, the P7 model—which performs just like our upgrade pick but has an all-metal exterior, more color options, and a higher price—is the only one that comes in an 18-ounce size. This smaller press can make as little as 12 ounces of coffee.
