Bodum Chambord Coffee Press
by Bodum
Product Summary
Manufacturer: BodumBrand: Bodum
Model: 1928-16US6
Color: Chrome
Product features:
- Coffee is measured in 4 oz. cups, this 8-cup, 34-ounce French Press serves 2-3 people
- Carafe is made of durable, heat-resistant borosilicate glass; Stainless Steel frame and heat resistant handle. Both Dishwasher Safe
- 3-part stainless steel mesh filter helps extract your coffee's aromatic oils and subtle flavors
- Pressed coffee extracts the perfect amount of essentials oils and acids from the bean for the maximum amount of flavor from your coffee. It's the preferred method for brewing for coffee enthusiasts everywhere
- All parts are dishwasher-safe
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Bodum Chambord Coffee Press
Customer Review: Is the the HOLY GRAIL of Coffee Brewing?
Summary: 5 Stars
I have heard tell that this coffee maker is the holy grail, the quintessential, the gold standard of coffee making. Yeah, they said that about Chemex, its grandson the Santos pot (laboratory-spawned glassware that work on the principle of vacuum. The cooling lower chamber draws down the brewed coffee that bubbled up in the upper chamber at a temperature favorable to extraction. I have one. Feh. It clogs and cleaning it requires a fancy brush and reminds me of my lab rat days. Nah.. )
Normally, I use a cone filter coffee maker and when lazy, a Melitta cup filter. But every now and then, I long for the thick, foamy cafe filtre of my misspent youth, part of the time of which was spent in Europe making trouble in lousy parts of Paris as a skinny kid in the 70's. There is just something about that coffee I cannot reproduce. Even lately, when I'd returned to Europe as a middle aged, sedate adult, I still found that cafe filtre to be an elusive and addictive elixir. Would the Bodum make my caffeine-preparation-of-choice? Could I close my eyes and say "Mmmm, PARIS!" and not "Um, DELAWARE"
The pot itself is tempered glass with a steel frame. The top of the plunger has a phenolic plastic knob, the frame a plastic handle. If you should break the glass insert (tempered glass)--save the handle and plunger. Supposedly the inserts are available but like that holy grail, I haven't found them. I did have a Bodum teapot that I liked a lot. After a certain household member insisted, after my suggestion that hitting glass accidently on metal would have disastrous results, on a habit of vigorously shaking the pot over the sink to drain it perilously near the faucet, I gave up trying to find the replacement inserts. Shame, as the teapot made great tea. It also burned your fingers when you took out the metal sieve (how Teutonic, tea AND pain.) They don't make it anymore. But I digress, back to the coffee pot.
The pot holds 1 liter, or about 1 quart or (they say) 8 cups of coffee. This is a baldfaced lie. It holds eight of those 4 oz after dinner dessert coffee cups (also called demitasse which means half cup and that's what it is. A half cup.)
I have yet to meet anyone in this country that drinks a four-oz cup of Java. Ever. This pot makes FOUR (4) of the 6 oz cups. Yes 4 times 6 IS 24, not 32, but you lose some liquid to the grounds. It makes four six-ounce cups. Trust me on this. Enough to wet the whistle of four dainty Americans after dinner or two insufficiently-caffeinated Americans at breakfast or ONE frank caffeine addict anytime.
The French Press method is easy--and difficult. The water has to be under 212 °F or 100 °C. For those of you equipped with a thermometer and altimeter, ideal brewing temperature is would be around 200°F, plus or minus 5°F (at sea level.) The higher temperatures cause coffee to break down quickly, producing a bitter, woody taste. You need to use sufficient coffee (they say 1 TBS, I say 2. Too little coffee extracts the woody components from the grounds and overpowers the sugars and alkaloids that make coffee so tasty.) Need I add, you use filtered water? Our water smells like a swimming pool. We filter anything we cook with or drink.
People have used various methods in history to accomplish that difficult task, removing the undesirable grounds from the delicious coffee liquor. Some methods are quite clever; my favorite is the turn of the century precipitation method after boiling. It involves coagulating the grounds with beaten egg white (the hardening albumin in the white captures the loose grounds and sinks to the bottom of the pot. In theory.) This method does NOT allow you to reuse the grounds, as I caught someone trying on me. Reusing the grounds extracts more of the woody flavors and is a scurrilous idea, down there with artificial crab and soy jerky, in my book. Others have developed methods for removing grounds by filtering through a sock-like cloth filter on a ring stand (this IS how they brew coffee in Brazil. If you go back to your cousin's kitchen in Sao Paolo and look to see how they made that divine cup of "cafezinho", you see a discolored sock on a ringstand. No gorgeous electric machine. A sock. I am telling you truly.)
The Vietnamese use a little top-hat made of aluminum with a sieve in the bottom. They place it over your cup and filter it directly into the mug, with some sticky sweet canned condensed milk in the cup bottom, since canned milk is what keeps in muggy, hot Southeast Asia.
The peoples of the Middle East, Turkey and Greece are the most practical; they pound coffee in a mortar to a fine flour, dump a spoon per teeny cup in a small metal pitcher with a long handle that is held directly over the fire. They throw in plenty of sugar (unless it's time for a funeral, in which case, you drink the coffee black and unsweetened.) The grounds and all go right into your cup and you drink up until you hit the grounds. Then you stop, toss them out, swirl the crud in your cup, upturn it on your saucer and read your fortune. The trails in the grounds mean something. My Greek roommate told me but frankly, it looked like muck and well, maybe that WAS portentious. You repeat this boiling process in the ibrik (little brass pot) most of the afternoon until your head spins and your chest feels like a snare drum.
And then there's the Press Pot aka the Bodum:
You simply put the water (at that precise temperature, right!) into the vessel of tempered glass and grounds. Replace the plunger, wait three minutes, press down firmly but not too hard. Then pour. The coffee comes out slightly foamy (this is the fines of the grounds suspended in the water. The filter is too coarse to remove this and this adds the body characteristic of cafe filtre.)
If the grind was coarse enough, you get great coffee. Too fine, you get muck. Too coarse, you get woody tasting coffee. I am not sure why this is; perhaps the surface area of the cut up bean is insufficient to extract the coffee sugars and oils and is overpowered by the wood extract if the bean is cut too coarsely. All I can say is, play with the grind until you get what you like out of the pot.
For elegance, I have to say, this is very lovely. You can have the pot and grounds to the ready with the electric kettle on your buffet. At the end of dinner, simple get the water and pot and and prepare it at the table for you and the guests. Pass around several kinds of sugars; rock candy lumps, brown or white, Demarara crystals (Sugar in the Raw, etc) and if you can find them, Demarara cubes which are my favorites but not easy to find. And a pitcher of milk for the Philistines.
Description of Bodum Chambord Coffee Press
When Bodum took over a small clarinet factory in Normandy in 1982, it was not because of the fine orchestra clarinets they were producing but because of a relatively unknown coffee maker called the Chambord which they produced as well. The reason the French press coffee maker has become one of the most popular coffeemakers in the world is pure and simple, taste. The materials (glass and stainless steel) are completely taste-free so nothing comes between your ground coffee beans. This is exactly the reason why coffee tasters use this method to determine the quality of coffee beans. No paper filter not only means no waste, but that the coffee bean's essential oils go directly to your cup, delivering the flavor that is-lost on paper filters. Simplicity works best and is the reason why the Chambord's design has not changed a bit from its original drawing. Make taste, not waste.Bodum's French press makes it easy: coffee, water, wait, enjoy. Simply measure out one rounded tablespoon of coarsely ground coffee per 4-ounce cup, pour in the hot water, wait a few minutes for it to brew, and slowly press down the plunger. Next comes the best part, as you get to enjoy a cup of rich and aromatic coffee. Because of its 8-cup capacity and elegant design, this French press is great for dinner parties, where you can now brew your guests' coffee right at the table. Bodum has been in the coffee business for decades, and the company continues to produce stylish, affordable, and reliable products. --Maile Bohlmann
From the Manufacturer
When Bodum took over a small clarinet factory in Normandy in 1982, it was not because of the fine orchestra clarinets they were producing. In addition to musical instruments, the factory also produced the coffee of a relatively unknown brewer called "The Chambord." Bodum combined the skills of these Normandy craftsmen with modern production. The result was a unique culinary tool, affordable to the many who loved the taste of what we now know as French press coffee.
Thanks to Bodum, and thanks to the increasing need for better coffee, the French press coffeemaker has become one of the most popular in the world. Yet the design has not strayed a bit from the original drawings, and Bodum still makes the Chambord with the same painstaking care and knowledge they gained from those Normandy craftspeople years ago. The ease of brewing and the delicious smell and taste of French-roasted dark coffee have remained unchanged.
Awards and Accolades
In 2004 the Bodum Chambord coffee press received the American Culinary Institute's award for best French press coffeemaker.
The American Culinary Institute judges food preparation products such as mixers, waffle makers, and electric teakettles. These products are judged on criteria important to consumers such as ease-of-use, safety, and the quality of the food produced. The institute also judges food preparation products used in restaurants and hotels, including institutional mixers, large-volume coffee machines, and food slicers.
Instructions for Use
1. Place pot on a dry, flat, nonslip surface. Hold handle firmly, then pull the plunger straight up and out of the pot.
2. For each 1.25-deciliter/4-ounce cup, put 1 rounded tablespoon or 1 Bodum scoop of coarse-ground coffee into the pot.
Caution: Use only coarse-ground coffee. Fine grind can clog the filter and create high pressure. Place coffee maker on a heatproof, nonslip surface.
3. Pour hot (not boiling) water into the pot. Leave a minimum of 2.5 centimeters/1 inch of space at the top. Stir the brew with a plastic spoon.
Caution: Metal spoons can scratch or chip the glass beaker and cause breakage.
4. Place the plunger unit on top of the pot. Turn lid to close off the pour spout opening. (Does not apply to the Brazil models.) Do not press down. Let the coffee brew for at least 4 minutes.
5. Hold the pot handle firmly, with the spout turned away from you, then using just the weight of your hand, apply slight pressure on top of the knob to lower the plunger straight down into the pot. Lowering the plunger slowly with minimal pressure produces best results. If the filter clogs or it becomes difficult to push down the plunger you should remove the plunger from the pot, stir the brew, and then slowly plunge again.
WARNING: Using excessive force can cause scalding liquid to shoot out of the pot.
6. Turn the lid to open the pour spout and then pour coffee.
7. Unscrew the filter assembly and clean the plunger unit after each use. All parts are dishwasher-safe.
Safety Instructions
- Not for stovetop use.
- Check glass beaker for scratches, cracks, or chips. Do not use a pot that is scratched, chipped, or cracked. Install a replacement beaker before using the pot again.
- Keep children away while using. Hot water is a hazard to small children!
- Do not allow children to use this coffeemaker.
- Excessive plunging force can cause scalding hot liquid to shoot out of pot.
- Do not plunge with force.
- Turn lid to close spout.
- Use only coarse-ground coffee.
Company History
In 1944 Peter Bodum, the father of today's owner, Joergen Bodum, started Bodum in Copenhagen. Times were difficult at the end of World War II; there was hardly any trade and people were out of work. Peter Bodum managed to wholesale a very small variety of housewares products by Danish manufacturers.
After the war Peter Bodum got an import license for kitchen and tabletop products; he traveled all over Europe and ended up importing kitchen and housewares to Denmark. As in the rest of Europe in those days, a lack of products in Denmark meant a market existed for almost anything to be sold. He specialized in glassware from Eastern Europe.
In the '50s Peter Bodum started developing his own products. He collaborated with the Danish architect Kaas Klaeson for a range of coffeemakers. At the time, industrial-design-type kitchen products were very rare. The first Bodum product to hit the market in 1958 was the Santos coffeemaker--based on a vacuum coffee brewing system. It became an instant sensation not only in Denmark but in all of Europe. Bodum still produces the original Santos design to this very day.
Bodum grew steadily during the '60s, but sadly, in 1967, at the age of only 57, Peter Bodum passed away. His wife managed the company until 1974, when she offered her 26-year-old son Joergen to join her in the management of the company. Joergen quickly brought on board Carsten Joergensen--then a teacher at the Danish School of Art in Copenhagen--and soon put him in charge of overall design for Bodum, including everything from products to corporate design, exhibitions, shops, buildings, catalogs, and advertising. It turned out to be a very long and fruitful collaboration. The two men began to fulfill Bodum's credo--"good design doesn't have to be expensive"--in lots of different ways.
In 1974 the first fruit of Joergen and Carsten's collaboration was introduced: the French coffee press Bistro. It was also the first incorporation of the new Bodum design language--beautiful simplicity and excellent materials for everyday life. Many more variations of coffee presses followed. Since 1974 Bodum has produced over 50 million French presses, taken the leap from "coffee" to "kitchen," and developed and produced a large variety of beautiful household and tabletop designs.
In 1979, when he took over the company, Joergen Bodum decided to move to Switzerland in order to be more centrally located in Europe. He chose the Lucerne area, where Bodum's head office has been located since the early '80s.
In 1980 Bodum Switzerland and its design unit, Pi-Design, were founded. Then, in 1986, the opening of Bodum's first shop in London marked another milestone in the Bodum history. It was designed not only to be the perfect showcase for the large variety of Bodum products but to embody an even stronger presentation of Bodum as an international brand. Many more shops in many more cities all over the world followed: Paris, Copenhagen, Zurich, Lucerne, Tokyo, New York, Dallas, Okinawa, Auckland, and many more. To this day there are 52 Bodum stores worldwide.
With more and more of its own stores in place, Bodum continued broadening its collection of beautifully designed everyday life products--from kitchen to home. Today Bodum offers its customers everything from the latest coffee- and tea-making products to tabletop, kitchen, storage, textiles, bathroom, and home office products. Some stores also have a café where Bodum's own selection of coffees and teas are served.
The Bodum Group is, and always has been, a 100 percent family-owned business. Today the company operates in 14 different countries with over 700 employees worldwide. Bodum has holding companies in Denmark and Switzerland as well as 12 sales companies, 3 production companies, and a design company called Bodum Design Group, located in Switzerland.
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