Cafetière – Does Price Make A Difference?

When brewing coffee at home, there are endless choices on what brewing device to use.

Do you go for cafetière or an AeroPress, a V60 drip filter, or do you invest in an espresso machine?

In short, it depends on how you enjoy your coffee and how much you’re willing to pay.

For instance, a V60 will give you a superb, clean cup, whereas a cafetiere has loads more body.

An espresso machine may be a good investment if you’re passionate about espresso, but you’ll need to spend a few hundred £’s to get a good quality one.  You will also need to purchase a grinder; and a cheap one won’t necessarily allow you to get the best from your coffee.

We only source and roast speciality coffee beans here at Two Chimps, and our ethos is always ‘fresh is best.’ We want you to always get the very best from your coffee too. We love AeroPress, V60 filter and handpresso for delicious coffee just for one person, but the most versatile and easy to use device is the humble cafetière or French press as it is otherwise known.

Grind

This is really important as it will affect the taste. Ground coffee for an espresso is much finer than ground coffee for a cafetière. This is because, in a cafetière, the coffee grounds spend more time in contact with the water, several minutes in fact, to allow enough time for the flavours to extract, whereas, in espresso, it only takes around 20-25 seconds to extract. Don’t worry, however; we grind coffee to suit all different brew devices.

How much should I pay for a cafetière?

So, you have decided that a cafetière is the right device for you, you’ve then got to choose which one! As soon as you search online, 100’s of choices will appear. There are some below £5 for a single cup cafetière and several choices costing almost £300, but are they any better? Well, let’s find out!

For our test, we’ve chosen two affordable eight-cup cafetières, with a price difference of £28. Does the more expensive one live up to its price? Let’s see, shall we?

Let’s go.

Firstly, we have our cheaper cafetiere, coming in at £10.

It looks like a traditional cafetière would, and a design that you would probably recognise. These are widely available too.

Our 2^nd model is The Barista & Co Core French press; slightly more expensive at around £38 (which includes FREE shipping). As you can see, this French press has a modern feel with a brushed stainless-steel finish and glass handle. This also makes this cafetiere plastic-free.

To test, we need to choose a fave Two Chimps Coffee, ground for cafetière. Here’s some I prepared earlier…

All of our coffee labels are packed with information about your coffee. Where it was grown in the world, on what farm, how it was processed and, inside, we’ve even created handy brewing guides for making coffee for different devices that we think celebrates the coffee the best. I’m a natural is our current Brazilian coffee and is delicious made with a cafetière – you can really smell the chocolatey notes!

We always weigh the coffee and water to make sure we’re getting the correct coffee brewing ratio.

Pop the cafetière onto the scales, tare, and add the amount of coffee required. I’ve added 25g.

Once you’ve boiled your kettle, leave the water for about 30 seconds. Tare the scales again and pour your water over the coffee. I’ve used 500ml/500g, which gives us a ratio of 1:20 coffee to water.

If you don’t have scales that are suitable to hold the cafetière, (or, just don’t want the faff!) the Barista and Co Cafetiere has an integrated measure and mug markings etched into the glass so you can see where to fill your water too.

Next, we followed the brew guide instructions for stirring, plunging and resting. Both cafetieres were made in the same way at the same time for a fair test.

Design

At this stage, the real differences between the two started to show. For starters, the 1st cafetière is heavier than the Barista and Co one, and the lid wobbled when plunged. More notably, the coffee is ‘cleaner looking’ in the 2nd cafetière.

Time to pour.

As you can see, the  1^st cafetière didn’t pour very well and was very splashy; whereas the 2^nd cafetière poured beautifully.

Looking at the coffee in more detail, the Barista and Co cafetiere cup appears slightly clearer than the cheaper alternative. The cheaper also leaves more coffee residue around the inside of the cup.

Now for the best bit, tasting.

There is a notable difference in the tasting. The Barista and Co cafetiere coffee tastes cleaner compared to the cheaper. Plus, more flavour is coming through from the coffee as well.  The 1^st coffee seems duller and slightly grainer in taste compared to the 2^nd too.

The 2^nd cafetière has notably filtered the coffee much better than its cheaper counterpart. It is this which is giving it both a cleaner taste and appearance.

In conclusion

The differences are worth the extra £28. You’re getting a device that feels sturdy when you plunge; it pours well, it has a measuring guide on the side and the coffee filters better through the superfine stainless steel filter, giving you a much cleaner coffee.

If all of this brewing coffee has made you thirsty, then head to our shop and purchase a cafetiere, along with some freshly roasted coffee today.

Need some assistance? See how to get the best from your cafetière with our online brew guide.

Also, check out our coffee subscriptions to make sure you never run out!

Let's Shop