Press down and smell the coffee (La Cafetiere Chrome Coffee Maker, 8 Cup)

Member Name: deehuff

Product:	La Cafetiere Chrome Coffee Maker, 8 Cup
Date:	02/05/08 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Makes great coffee, easy to clean, easy to use, long lasting

Disadvantages: No measure lines on the glass jug.

I've had my Cafetiere since 1982, and I still use it regularly. Within the first year a friend who was staying at our house broke the glass jug insert, but I managed to replace it, and have been using it since with absolutely no problems. It's had one new mesh filter in all that time.

It's very easy to use. You measure out the amount of coffee you need for the number of cups you're going to make, and then pour boiling water into the jug.

The lid has a plunger going through it with a three-part filter, the middle layer being a fine wire mesh which is held rigid by the two rigid outer filters. The filters screw on and off the plunger making them easy to take apart and clean.

When your coffee/boiling water mix has had a few minutes to blend, you place the lid over the top of the jug, and press down on the plunger. This pushes the filter down through the coffee, allowing the liquid to pass through the fine mesh, but pushing the grains down to the bottom of the jug and isolating them. Hence the description French-press coffee maker.

It's so easy to clean. Everything comes apart. I usually separate the three layers of the filter and put them in the cutlery compartment of my dishwasher. The same with the lid. The glass jug goes on the bottom shelf of my dishwasher, and even though I know you can wash the stainless steel jug holder in the dishwasher, I prefer to give it a quick wash by hand. This is because it has a wooden handle, and I'm afraid that the wood may deteriorate if I put it in the dishwasher.

The only drawback I can think of is that there are no measures on the side of the jug, so if you want to make less than 8 cups you have to guesstimate.

I love my cafetiere. It makes the best coffee, it's easy to use, and it's easy to clean.

An 8 cup Chrome Caffetiere like mine costs £35 at John Lewis. If you think about how long I've had mine (with no maintenance costs), it's excellent value for money.

Summary: This is definitely my favourite coffee maker.

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