Customer Reviews

Planetary Design Desk Press Stainless Steel French Press

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I wanted to like the Bodum because it was cheap, the size was ideal and it closed tight. But, alas, it's plastic (which is already a negative) so they would break periodically as well. And, they're far too hot to hold once full.

Then I found this little baby from Planetary Design and haven't looked back. My wife and I both love it. It's stainless, solid, has a great handle and I've taken it with me through many countries.

It's actually not as heavy as I feared it might be. The design is solid and I plan to have it for a few more years at least. I see the comments about the coffee staining inside - what's that about? It's a coffee press/mug - of course it gets stains inside. Wash it out. I've haven't found anything that holds coffee that doesn't need the occasional hard scrub.

Only negatives I have to report are minor (I'm buying a second one of these for my wife)

- I wish it fit in a standard cup holder in the car. Oh well, I still do like the large capacity. I just wish it would fit in the cup holder.

- Secondly, like the other reviewer wrote, I wish the press top (there are two - one is for the press and one is just a regular top) fit just a bit tighter - like with snap or something - maybe a screw top instead. Let's just say you don't want to chug that last mouth full too fast.

I highly recommend. I have yet to find anything better and the price is more than fair given the expected life of this product. It's well made so it will be around for a while.

Great for camping! Unbreakable - no glass to worry about. And it produces a most excellent cup of coffee!

French Press Mug - Boot Cut - By Planetary Design Wasabi

This is a great little product! I bought mine two years ago in a little coffee emporium, Rock City Coffee Roasters, in Rockland, Maine. I use it every day, bring it to work, take it on long drives and use it at home as well. The coffee it produces is delicious, better than the fresh stuff from Dunkins and easy to make. The mug has a non skid rubber bottom which helps keep it stable. The mesh insert in the lid keeps the coffee grounds where they belong and the mug does well in the dishwasher. It is ecofreindly, when you consider all the paper products you don't use, and while the intitial price is a lot for a coffee mug, it has paid for itself in the first month of use.

I tried to buy more, as gifts, from the coffeeshop which no longer carries them. They directed me to Amazon where I found the item in lots of colors. The company ships promptly and my family and friends love their product as well. My sons use theirs and now their wives want them as well. Even my fussy brother likes his!

I wish the company offered free shipping!

Received my PD Desk Press (paprika) this morning and went right to work with it. The design is very simple and functional, and I have no doubt the stainless steel construction will prove far superior to the glass carafes other manufacturers prefer. In addition, this is thermally insulated which means your coffee won't be cold within 30 minutes. In fact, mine was quite warm after 2.5 hours.

For the price you really cannot go wrong. It costs about as much as an equivalent-sized Chambord, but the stainless double-walled design puts it over the top. It's very easy to clean, as the plunger assembly is just one piece. Furthermore, because it's not glass you don't need to be overly cautious when washing it.

French press is by far the best way to make coffee, and this press is definitely the best value for your money. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who's looking to buy a press. Bodum might have been the name in presses for a long time, but Planetary Design is the new top dog.

Something to keep in mind - Amazon's shipping is a good bit less than if you order from Liquid Planet's site. However, Liquid Planet throws in some goodies like a sampler pack of their toffees and loose leaf teas, as well as a coupon for 10% off your next purchase. If you aren't interested in any of that, buy from Amazon. If you are, buy from Liquid Planet.

I use this mug every single day and it's been the single purchase of the year that has brought me the most happiness. As an outdoor guide, I brew a cup every morning from a camp stove. I've passed through all different types of systems, including other french press mugs (ahem, Bodum). Not only does this make a dellicious cup, but it does so with zero hassle. Other french presses have given me bitter cups with grinds to chew. I've never had a single grind pass in to my mouth. Bliss...

I feel compelled to respond to A. Garvin's one star review from Oct 4th, 2009 out here in the open instead of in a comment to that review.

Where to start...

I've had this mug for 5 months now and it's been nothing but *great*. The plastic parts are high quality and everything has held up to daily *hand* washes in the sink and still looks new. The plastic is tough and rigid except for the basket that traps the coffee and pushes it the bottom of the mug but that is only because it is slotted around the perimeter so it can bend to conform to the inside shape of the mug and provide a tight fit. This thing reeks quality from the stainless steel body to the enamel exterior finish to, yes, the few plastic parts. And if you'll notice the description, this is a *desk* mug and not a travel mug. Don't expect it not to tip over if you don't have your hand on it in a car.

We took the 48oz big brother of this thing (same construction) on a 16 day raft trip down the Grand Canyon in June '09. That particular mug was owned by the outfitter we rented some boats from and had been down God knows how many trips before. We used it daily to make coffee for 16 people and it banged around loosely in the kitchen box at the bottom of the raft with pots, pans, etc, through some of the biggest, most violent, rapids in North America. 16 days later it looked as good as the first day. Yes, there were a few small scratches here and there but these things are *tough* and will last for many years.

I don't know what Garvin was expecting but for my $30 this thing is a bargain.

No- this product isn't perfect, but nor is anything in life; and it's pretty darn close. It's an awesome bye- well worth it. I bought it because I needed a French press for herbal medicine but didn't want to buy a pot that was either too expensive or not going to last so, I came across this mug which was a decent price and seemed to be of good enough quality to last me a while. Great because you can use it as a regular mug with the normal mug lid or with French press lid for teas and what not.

Don't be fooled by the photo - at 7 inches tall, this press pot is bigger than it appears in the photos.

The plunger design is ingenious, bordering on "cheap." But it works, and better yet, has been amazingly durable! It's a plastic plunger ringed with lots of paper-thin vertical slices, dividing the plunger of dozens of wall-hugging pieces that are forced outward by a very simple ring of sprung steel. Plus there's a screen over opening in the sippy-top. I've have had absolutely no problems with getting stray coffee grounds in my mouth. Contrary to a critical review posted here on Amazon, the Planetary Design website states this press is BPA free (of course, I'm in no position to verify this, though the reviewer I'm referring to probably is in no position to state it "smells like BPA").

To get a look at the plunger, Google "planetary design plastic flange" and click on the "100 cups of coffee" result for close-up, detailed photos.

To keep the grounds contained, you will have to drink with the plunger top on, unless you want to perform a liquid transfer, rinse out the grounds, and pour the liquid back in. In that case, a non-plunger sippy top is included, or you could try drinking out of it like an adult, with no lid.

This is actually my third Planetary Design press pot. The first was their Boot Cut French Press Mug that I've owned and used regularly for about 4 years. It's still going strong.

About a year ago, purchased my second Planetary press, this Desk Press design. It came via a third party -- Niner Bikes, with a Niner logo on it -- but it was otherwise identical to Planetary's off-the-shelf Desk Press. And here's where the long story begins (but I'll make it short):

The handle was loose, and became looser with use. A quick email to Planetary, and they instructed me to remove rubber plug from the bend in the handle and tighten a screw under there. I did, and that solved the problem for a short while. Then the looseness came back, and soon thereafter, the handle snapped off. I emailed pictures to Planetary, and they replied that it was apparent the weld point broke, and they were within months of having redesigned Desk Presses with stronger handle attachment points. That was January of 2011. Complicating matters was I wanted mine with the Niner Bikes logo. Fast forward to July 2011: Niner ordered another batch of Desk Presses, Planetary worked with Niner to sort out whatever financial details needed attending to, and Niner Bikes sent me my replacement Desk Press.

The new handle can be seen on the planetarydesign dot US webpage; at the time of my posting this, the Amazon photo does not reflect the redesign.

My original review stands, and both companies (but especially Planetary Design) were good about working with me to resolve this, but (pros and cons):

+ the new handle is certainly beefier, with two external screws and a chromed "butt" to the handle (where it connects with the mug), though it's not quite as svelte-looking as the original

+ the new handle is ergonomically a little more pleasing to hold, both in shape and in texture (more rubberized)

- there are a few minor cosmetic blemishes on the red exterior

- the "stainless steel" base (that ring of silver that stands out at the bottom of the mug in the website photos) turns out is not actually what it appears -- my new mug has a blemish down there that makes it obvious this is actually an heat-applied applique of some sort; I hope, over time, this doesn't begin to peel away

But at the end of the day, this coffee press makes good coffee and keeps it hot for a hours (literally). So much better than my uninsulated glass Bodum press that I've been using at home, which loses heat almost immediately (and fagiddaboudit when I take it camping).

I did knock the Desk Press one star due to the original broken handle, and the replacement's cosmetic blemishes (I'm leaving my original Boot Cut press at 5-stars because it's been perfect all along). But my problems may have been a simple roll of the dice, and I continue to have no problems recommending this press to my coffee-loving friends, especially those who hate the junk that gets brewed at work.

BTW, the difference between the Boot Cut vs. the Desk Press? Nothing but the exterior shape. The Boot Cut is a bit more bottom-heavy and therefore more stable if you need to set it on the car floor, or some other unstable surface. The Desk Press fits my car's cup holder. Internally, both are identical, use identical press parts, and hold identical amounts of coffee.

I've been using it for a week, and here are my thoughts thus far:

pros:

- body is indestructible

- replacement press parts are cheap and readily available (haven't broken it, but it's a nice reassurance)

- grounds stay out of your mouth

- coffee stays hot while it's steeping

- delicious, delicious coffee

cons:

- lids aren't the tightest seal

- drink lid leaks from spout when it's closed

- the press filter is awkward to fit in the cup and the plastic parts let grounds through, but thankfully the screen on the pouring/drinking spout takes care of that

- falls somewhat short of its goal, which was a press that you can drink your coffee out of. You can, as long as you like bitter coffee or guzzle your brew.

Not that I was expecting it to reach that goal for me - you leave any coffee on its grounds long enough and things go sour. Personally, I just pour my coffee into my regular cup after it's done so I can savor it. The mug works well enough as a regular press and I like that the body isn't glass (I'm kind of a bull in a china shop), so it's a keeper.

I based my purchase on the already-posted positive reviews. I had seen someone at work with this and loved the idea of pressing my own coffee. While coffee is cheap at work already, I like the idea of saving even more money by buying bags of ground coffee and making the amount of coffee I want, whenever I want it. I received the cornflower blue mug for Father's Day 2009 and it's a sturdy mug that will keep coffee hot for what seems to be at least 2 hours if the lid is kept on, and it comes clean very easily.

While the mug holds 20 ounces, I found the following tips to be helpful to me:

1) Since it is hard to stir anything into this once the press is inserted, you would either want to have the coffee brew with the non-press lid on it. Since I like my coffee with just sugar in it, I add the grounds and the sugar in all at once, and then the hot water. I've found that stirring is not necessary therefore.

2) Filling this to the top with hot water leaves little room for steam or heat to escape. This will guarantee tongue-burning coffee for 2 hours. I've learned to fill my mug either two-thirds full or three-quarters full. Leaving the space at the top helps the coffee brew properly but then it allows a way for heat to escape eventually so that you can drink it.

3) After 5+ minutes of brewing, I press the french press down to compact the grinds but I then "pop" the lid up a bit for another 5 minutes to let the coffee cool down enough to be hot but drinkable.

Overall, a great gift idea or plain all-around useful idea that will save you money over the long run, and impress your workmates.