RVers are obsessed with coffee and so many that I know of are suffering a terrible plight. Thinking that you need electricity to make coffee, they are suffering with mediocre swill that even some truck stops wouldn’t serve. I know a lot of people who feel that Keurig is the way to go, but my own desire not to live among mountains of plastic waste makes me cringe at that methodology.
Plus, I have yet to truly love a cup of what those things produce.
So when my buddy and RV electricity expert Mike Sokol offered to bring a new brewer with him to the FROG rally recently, I was all game to try out this new device.
It’s not a new idea.
Like so many coffee makers that make good coffee, what Mike brought was a Stanley Boil & Brew French Press. Yep. Another French press.
And, like so many of the French presses out there including the ones we’ve shared on these pages, this one operates exactly as you would expect. Heat water. Put in coffee grounds. Wait 4-6 minutes. Press down. Coffee.
What makes The Stanley Boil + Brew different?
What makes this different is that the outer shell is a stainless steel vessel. Into the side is stamped a “fill” line and the word “fill.”
The nifty thing is that this sucker is durable and you can take out the plastic guts and just put it directly on the stovetop to heat the water, so fewer additional pieces are needed. There are also two wire handles on it that are almost like wings.
So I filled up some water, ground up some beans and commenced with hottenizing said H2O.
Once the water was heated to 190° F (I am a nut about coffee), I dumped in the prescribed amount of coarsely ground java and put on the timer on my AppleWatch. Since the options are 4-6 minutes of waiting time, I split that and requested 5 minutes.
Me: Hey, Siri, set timer for five minutes.
Siri: I’m sorry, I don’t know Jive Mimicks.
Me: (more irritated) Set timer for five minutes.
Siri: Who is speaking?
Me: (I can’t write those words here.)
Siri: I don’t know how to respond to that.
Me: Manually setting the timer and cursing Siri back to the days of Steve Jobs. Grrr.
Once the watch let me know my time was up, I got the plastic center insert with a metal mesh filter on the bottom and some silicone seals much like piston rings and put the press to this French press.
The Stanley Boil + Brew results
What I got was no surprise. Good, strong coffee. The filter was such that I didn’t get the fine grounds until I hit the last half-cup of coffee.
This thing makes 32 ounces of coffee and, with the lid in place, should hold the temperature for a while. In theory, this is enough coffee for four people, but if donuts are part of the equation, then all bets are off. Who doesn’t need a second cup of coffee when donuts are in the offing?
And we were in Indiana, so that meant Rise & Roll donuts—which have been described as “Amish crack.” I would expect hate mail but, well, the Amish don’t have computers.
Cleaning
Every French press I’ve ever had has one thing in common—cleaning is no fun. This is no different. You have to extract those compressed grounds and then wash out the container. This is fine at home but, for boondocking, this is more water than I want to use.
You also have to wash out the insert so, again, water. Fine if you’re on the grid, less so if you’re not. And the process can be messy, especially if you make one little mistake.
Disadvantages
In addition to the water usage for cleaning, this also allow some fine grounds to get into the brewed coffee. So the last half-cup or so is the one you save for the guests you wish would just go back to their own campsite.
I liked that you could put the stainless steel main vessel over the fire. But on the Magic Chef stove in our Rockwood Mini Lite, I found that it sort of balanced over the goofily large spaces on the grate over the propane burner. This wouldn’t be an issue on a campfire and this thing is built like you would expect from a Stanley product, so it would take well to things like backpacking and that sort of activity.
Conclusions
Of all the coffee makers I’ve tried, my favorite is still the AeroPress. There are no fine grounds in that, it’s pretty durable, clean up is a breeze and they’re relatively inexpensive.
All told, the AeroPress is still the champion in my book. Now I have to try the new super-sized AeroPress and see what that’s like. Don’t worry, I’ll get to it.
##RVT1119
I’m stickin’ with my Bialetti Brikka!
I do enjoy a good French press! I also resisted buying a Keurig as I think it is shameful to use these plastic pods. Alas I finally bought a Keurig with two stainless steel reusable pods. Now I truly can have a Keurig pod coffee with zero plastic into our ever filling landfills!
I’m with you Tony. The Aeropress is the way to go.
I really like the Aeropress but ya can’t beat the Keurig for speed and convenience. And you can get compostable K-cups now.
I also use a French press, but I use these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z82NVJ7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Makes clean up very easy.
Making one cup of coffee at a time is just not my bag (old hippy lingo there). I use the old fashioned Malita system. I sit it on a Mr. Coffee insulated carafe and make a full pot of coffee because Wifey and I each consume two MUGS of it in the morning (while reading RVTravel, of course).
Try these. They make french press cleaning a breeze and produce a great cup of coffee! https://www.amazon.com/Caffi-Paper-Coffee-Filters-French/dp/B016CAVCS0/ref=pd_bxgy_sccl_1/131-8877761-3240750?pd_rd_w=okeI1&content-id=amzn1.sym.26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&pf_rd_p=26a5c67f-1a30-486b-bb90-b523ad38d5a0&pf_rd_r=10WHSEKF26MYY3H8VG8C&pd_rd_wg=1omnH&pd_rd_r=3a2754e8-7b0b-4547-b1a5-3251e8705d20&pd_rd_i=B016CAVCS0&psc=1
We have a pot of good ol drip coffee daily.