The short answer
Choose the Chemex for the clearest, cleanest cup and a brewer that serves a table. Choose a French press for a heavy, textured cup with no pouring technique and no filters to buy. They sit at opposite ends of the clarity-and-body scale.
Side by side
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Quick picks
The answer first. Tap any row to jump to the full reasoning for that pick.
1. Choose this for clarity
Chemex Classic 6-Cup
Manual tier · A single-piece borosilicate brewer that uses very thick bonded filters.
The cleanest cup of any common brewer, served from the vessel it brews in.
The Chemex 6-Cup is a single piece of borosilicate glass with a wood collar and leather tie, holding 30 oz at 8.5 inches tall and 5.125 inches in diameter.
Its Chemex Bonded filters are much thicker than ordinary cone papers and strip out oils and fines. The result is a very clean, tea-like cup.
The thick filter also slows the flow, so it wants a coarser grind than a V60 at the same dose, and a controlled pour.
It brews and serves in one vessel, which suits a table of people. The glass is fragile, and the filters are a running cost.
Specification
- Capacity
- 30 oz
- Size
- 8.5 in H x 5.125 in diameter
- Material
- Borosilicate glass, wood collar and leather tie
- Filters
- Chemex Bonded (FP-1, FC-100, FS-100, FSU-100)
What it does well
- The thick bonded filter produces the cleanest cup of any common brewer
- Brews and serves in one vessel, which matters when guests are involved
- It looks like an object, not an appliance
Where it gives ground
- The proprietary filters are a permanent running cost
- Slow, and unforgiving if you grind too fine
- Glass, with a wood collar that should not be soaked
Skip it if
Skip it if you love body and texture. The bonded filter removes exactly the oils that produce them - see the Chemex review.
2. Choose this for body
Bodum Chambord French Press
Budget tier · The classic 34 oz French press: borosilicate carafe in a chrome-plated steel frame.
A heavy, textured cup that no paper filter can produce.
The Chambord is a 34 oz borosilicate carafe in a chrome-plated steel frame, made in Portugal, with a stainless mesh screen.
A mesh screen lets oils and fine particles through, which is the defining character of French press coffee: heavy, rich and textured.
It is immersion, so you steep, plunge and pour - no pouring technique to learn, and no filters to buy.
The trade is sediment in the cup, and coffee that keeps extracting if it sits on the grounds. Decant it once it is brewed.
Specification
- Capacity
- 34 oz, 3-4 cups
- Carafe
- Borosilicate glass
- Filter
- Stainless steel mesh plunger
- Frame
- Chrome-plated steel, made in Portugal
What it does well
- No paper, no capsules, no consumables at all
- Full-bodied cup that no paper filter can produce
- Every part is replaceable and cheap
Where it gives ground
- Metal mesh lets fines and oils through - that is the trade, not a defect
- Punishes an inconsistent grinder harder than any other brewer
- Glass carafe in a household with a tile floor
Skip it if
Skip it if you want a clean, bright cup. That is the Chemex's territory - see French presses.
The filter decides the cup
A thick paper filter traps oils and fines, so the Chemex tastes bright and clean. A metal mesh lets them through, so a French press tastes rounder and heavier. Neither is better; they are different drinks.
If you are unsure which you prefer, the filter is the question to answer - not the vessel.