Description
ESPRO P7 French Press 32oz: what it is
The P7 is ESPRO’s stainless steel French press in the 32 ounce size. The listing records a double walled polished stainless steel body, a permanent reusable filter, manual operation, dimensions of 6.37 inches deep by 4.68 inches wide by 10.4 inches high, a weight of 2.7 pounds, and stated uses covering French press coffee, tea and infusions. It has been listed since February 2017 and carries 1,668 customer ratings averaging 4.4 stars.
Thirty two ounces is roughly four mugs or eight small cups. That makes it a two person press, or a one person press for someone who drinks a lot, and it is a common size that suits most households better than the enormous eight cup presses that go cold before they are finished.
The double filter, which is what separates ESPRO from an ordinary press
The standard French press has one wire mesh screen on the end of the plunger. That screen has to be loose enough to move through the coffee, which means it never seals perfectly against the wall of the carafe, and fine particles slip past the edges. The result is the sediment layer at the bottom of the cup that people either accept or resent.
ESPRO’s design uses a two stage filter that seals against the wall as it is pressed, filtering the coffee twice on the way down. That removes far more of the fine material, and it produces a noticeably cleaner cup than a conventional press while keeping the body that immersion brewing gives. That is the main point of difference from the ordinary designs in the French presses category.
The second consequence is more important and less discussed. Because the filter seals, the coffee inside the filter is separated from the coffee in the carafe once it is plunged. In an ordinary press, the grounds stay in the brew and keep extracting, which is why the third cup from a press always tastes harsher than the first. Here, plunging effectively ends the extraction. That is the single strongest argument for the design.
Double walled steel and heat retention
A glass press loses heat quickly, which is why a conventional press has a short useful window before the coffee cools. Double walled stainless steel is a vacuum style construction that holds temperature far longer, and it is what makes a 32 ounce brew practical for one person over an unhurried morning.
It also removes the glass. A glass press is a fragile object full of near boiling water, and broken carafes are the most common way a French press ends its life. Steel is unbreakable in ordinary use, and it makes this a sensible choice for a camping trip, an office or a household with children. A stoneware body like the one on the Le Creuset French press answers the same problem differently, at the cost of weight.
The trade is that you cannot see the brew. The coffee is invisible until it is poured, so timing has to be done by clock rather than by eye. That is not a real problem, since immersion brewing is timed anyway, but it does change the ritual.
How to actually use it
The immersion method is the simplest of all brewing techniques and the one most often done badly. Coarse grind, because fine grind slips through any filter and over extracts. Water just off the boil rather than at a rolling boil. Roughly a four minute steep. Press slowly and steadily, because forcing the plunger churns the bed and pushes fines through.
Because the ESPRO filter ends extraction on plunging, coffee can be left in this press after brewing without turning bitter, which is not true of a conventional press. That is the practical benefit of the design in daily use.
Highlights
- Two stage filter that seals against the carafe wall, producing a markedly cleaner cup than a single screen press.
- The seal separates the grounds from the brew when plunged, so extraction stops and later cups do not turn bitter.
- Double walled stainless steel construction for long heat retention.
- Unbreakable in normal use, unlike a glass press.
- 32 ounce capacity, roughly four mugs.
- Reusable filter, so there is nothing to buy and nothing to run out of.
- Also usable for loose leaf tea and infusions.
- 1,668 customer ratings averaging 4.4 stars.
Things To Consider
The manufacturer description field on this listing is entirely empty. Everything above about the filter design comes from the product’s construction and the category rather than from ESPRO’s own text, which is not present in the record. No filter micron rating, no material grade for the steel and no lid or seal specification is published.
Immersion brewing is manual. There is no timer, no temperature control, no automation and no walking away. Water has to be heated separately, which means a kettle is part of the setup. A variable temperature kettle such as the OXO Brew adjustable temperature kettle pairs naturally with it, as does the Fellow Corvo EKG Pro.
Grind matters more here than on almost any other method. A blade grinder or pre ground coffee will produce fines that muddy the cup even with a double filter. A burr grinder set coarse is what this brewer wants.
Cleaning a press is the part everyone dislikes. Wet grounds have to be scooped or rinsed out of the carafe, and a two stage filter has more parts to disassemble than a single screen. The listing does not state whether the components are dishwasher safe.
Finally, 2.7 pounds is heavy for a coffee vessel when full, and stainless steel gets hot on the outside near the top. Pour with care.
Who should buy it, and who should not
This suits someone who likes the body of immersion brewed coffee but not the sediment, who often leaves coffee sitting for twenty minutes and wants it still hot and still drinkable, or who wants a press that will survive a household rather than a glass one that will not. It is also a good travel and office brewer for exactly those reasons.
Skip it if the ritual of watching the brew matters, since a steel body hides it. Skip it if a clean, bright, paper filtered cup is the preference, where a pour over such as the Hario V60 with Drip-Assist or a drip machine like the Technivorm Moccamaster is the right tool. And skip it if a machine that runs on a timer is what is actually wanted, in which case the coffee machines category is the place to look.
