As a french press, the pot works great. Nothing earth shattering, it works and it’s easy to clean. In other words, it works no better and no worse than a $20 french press.

The problem is the vacuum thermos feature, which is the reason this thing is so expensive. It does not keep the coffee hot very long at all. Yes, yes, I always preheat it with nice, hot 190 degree water. I add the coffee, turn the lid so that the little plastic cover is over the pour spout to prevent heat loss, and then….it’s cold in about 45 minutes. Now granted, this pot does retain heat a LITTLE longer than a regular glass french press, but its insulation qualities are nowhere near as good as my vacuum thermos or my travel mug, which is also vacuum thermos-y.

I think the biggest source of heat loss is in the lid. The lid has no insulation properties at all. It’s just a thin piece of metal over a think piece of plastic. So it basically defeats the purpose of the rest of the pot. The laws of thermodynamics dictate (here’s the only time in the past 10 years that I get to use my engineering degree) that heat energy will seek to equalize with its environment as easily as possible. In this case, the heat finds a get out of jail free card in the lid.

So, in conclusion, if you are hoping that this french press will keep your coffee warm for a couple of hours, you will be greatly disappointed. My suggestion, buy a $20 french press and knit yourself a nice sweater to go around it. Something tasteful and not too itchy.