Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIn a hurry? Read my short version. Got time? Read my long one.
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2017
SHORTER VERSION:
Buy the damned thing. You’ll love it.
LONGER VERSION:
It all started when some klutz, namely me, bonked the glass French press against something hard. Not surprisingly, what cracked was the French press and not the something hard. That was what brought to me Amazon in search of a replacement.
Three things jumped out at me:
1. Stainless steel French presses dominate the positive reviews. It seems reasonable to conclude either that metal French presses perform well, I’m not the only klutz in Amazonland, or both.
2. Reviewers of even highly-rated competing French presses complained about eventual rust. Coffee Gator’s product is the only one I saw claiming to be rustPROOF. If that’s true—time will tell—it probably means that they are more generous than competitors with the chromium in their stainless steel-chromium alloy. Pure stainless sooner or later rusts unless you take pains to clean it, thoroughly dry it, and on occasion apply some sort of treatment. If, like me, you prefer to rinse and be done with it, rustproof is the way to go.
3. Complaints were few, but Coffee Gator demonstrated in their handling of them a cheerful commitment to making customers happy. I felt assured there was no risk in trying their product.
The Gator showed up at my door four days ago. It does exactly what it should: Brews great coffee. And it doesn’t crack when I run around the house bonking it on things. Well, I assume it doesn’t. There are still a few things left in my house that I haven’t tried bonking it on. I’ll get to them.
Some reviewers complained that the metal interior unduly cools the coffee. My experience is the opposite. It keeps coffee warm way-the-heck longer than my glass unit did. Of course, physics demands that a smidgeon of heat transfer from the liquid to the unit’s inner wall, but that’s about as far as the heat is going to get: Double-wall insulation holds it right there, next to the coffee, keeping everything inside nicely hot. Unless you keep your empty French press in the fridge between uses, you’ll be fine. (If you DO keep it in the fridge between uses, why on earth?)
One reviewer complained about the sound the plunger makes against the inner wall as you push it down. All I can say is that this reviewer, who I’m sure is very nice, probably shudders at the sound of a gentle breeze moving across a chalkboard.
