A presspot gives you the richest and easiest quality cup of coffee.
Positive Product Points
This is the easiest way to make quality coffee as long as you have a quality grinder. It's also the least expensive because of the low initial cost (can be <$20; see below), and there are no filters to throw away. A presspot makes fewer cups almost as easily as it makes its eight-tasse capacity.
Negative Product Points
Don't drink it to the last drop. The last third of a cup starts to taste cloudy. The end of the cup is bitter sludge.
Detailed Commentary
Because of the ease in which presspot coffee is made, this is the type of coffee I drink most often. A vac pot is better, but it may not make smaller amounts as well as it does full capacity and doesn't clean up as quickly and easily as a presspot if you have the recommended one-piece Swiss gold filter (see below). A presspot makes less than full capacity without much dropoff in quality whatsoever. However, there are some necessities to take care of.
First, use a good burr grinder. Whirlyblades don't create an even enough grind and you'll end up with an inordinate amount of coffee powder to go along with your coffee grinds (some is inevitable anyway). The powder is extracted too quickly, then overextracted bitterly when the courser grinds extract normally. Therefore, I don't recommend, even in a burr grinder, using too course a setting. It's better to grind closer to drip consistency and extract for a shorter amount of time.
Second, I strongly recommend buying the one-piece Swiss gold filter to replace the three-piece filter set that comes with the presspot (or four-piece set with the optiional nylon filter). I ordered mine from www.sweetmarias.com. Not only does it do a slightly better job of filtering than the three or four-piece setups, but it's FAR easier to clean.
When I make coffee, I set a tea kettle to boil the right amount of water. While it's heating up, I grind my beans and put it in the presspot. When the water boils, I pour it into a thermal carafe. This heats the carafe while slightly cooling the water down to the proper 200 degree F temperature for optimal coffee brewing. I start timing as I pour the water in, give the coffee a stir to wet and sink all the grinds, and slowly press after about 90 seconds. It's important to pour all the coffee out of the presspot into your cups or thermal carafe. If you let it sit in the presspot, it will keep brewing even after pressing. That's why I can't recommend thermal presspots that keep the coffee hot after pressing.
My Bodum is similar to the one pictured above, and is also sold by Starbucks with their name on one of the metal spines. The handle is attached to the metal frame which holds the glass brewing jar. The Bodum jar is said to be reinforced glass that holds in heat better than others. I have none others to compare it to, but I do find it is a quality product.
Buying Experience
The Bodum Bistro Nouveau sells for $10 less than the Chambord for the same size presspot at Linens 'n Things, but doesn't look quite as nice and wouldn't be as easy to clean up because the handle attaches to the glass rather than a metal frame. Instead of sitting in a metal frame, the cheaper model has its jar sitting on a coaster made of molded cork. Sweetmarias.com filled my order of the one-piece swiss gold filter with their usual excellent service.
Three Month Followup
I don't find that a less than capacity pot is as good as a full capacity pot, but it is still OK down to about half capacity. Below that, you should get a smaller pot. I have since added a 3-tasse pot. This is a little less trouble than a vac pot, but a little more than a Chemex drip. The "9" usability rating is with the optional Swissgold one piece filter. Otherwise, this drop to an "8" for the added cleanup time.
