I know some of you won’t have time to read the entire article, so we recommend getting the Stanley Adventure All-In-One French Press, as the best travel French press.

Going away camping for the weekend, having a trip to see your parents, or visiting somewhere with work isn’t an excuse not to have great coffee. Why should you settle for anything less when you don’t at home?

Fortunately, there are some fantastic innovations for ways to brew a cuppa joe while on your travels. We’ve put together a list to find the best travel French press for you, so you can keep enjoying that delicious brew wherever in the world you are.

These are the travel French presses we’ll be looking at:

Why Use A French Press While Travelling?

This isn’t to take away from other brew methods. There are some unique and incredibly delicious ways to brew a coffee. But a French press, apart from being a classic, is just easy.

You get a smooth, full-bodied and flavourful cup when using a French press, so not only is it easily portable, but it also guarantees top quality coffee no matter where you go.

With the lack of a filter, all those oils, flavour compounds and antioxidants fully remain in the brewed coffee. This gives the French press it’s unique flavours. However, there is a drawback to drinking coffee that hasn’t been filtered, but we’ll cover that further down.

There are plenty of stovetop coffee makers that don’t require any electricity. Just a heat source. A French press doesn’t even need a stove, just water heated to a temperature between 195F – 205F (90C-96C). If you have a campfire/camping stove, or a kettle in your hotel room, which most of the time you do, then you’re sorted.

For camping, I must admit, I prefer to use a stovetop espresso maker. However, this is my personal preference, and if we’re considering ease of cleaning, and how easy the brewing process is, I wouldn’t say it’s the easiest. A French press wins on that front.

So, let’s dive into the pros and cons of using a travel French press, then we’ll look at the best travel French press’ on the market.

Benefits Of Using A Travel French Press

Here are some of the benefits to justify the investment of a travel French press.

Portable And Durable

One thing I like about these traditional brewing methods, especially the French press, is the fact there is so little to break. There are no electronics, no fancy features or gadgets.

Although that might be a negative, I see it as a fantastic feature in a brewing method for when you’re travelling. A decent, or a travel specific French press is hard wearing and isn’t going to break on you if it gets a little knock.

This way you can travel without worrying about not getting your caffeine fix wherever you are.

Your Choice Of Coffee Is Limitless

Well, there isn’t an infinite amount of coffee, but I doubt you’ll ever get through it all.

When using brew methods like the French press, you can choose whatever coffee beans you like. A luxury you don’t get when using single serve coffee pods. And there are vastly more coffee beans to choose from, than K Cups.

Environmentally Friendly

If you were to use something like the pour-over coffee method while travelling about, you’re going to have to consider keeping hold of your waste, or finding somewhere appropriate to dispose of it.

With a French press, you don’t have this problem. There is no filter paper. No single use K-Cups or coffee pods. This is exactly what you need while travelling! Not to mention there is no risk of littering, or waste ending up somewhere it shouldn’t.

Can Act As A Thermos

Some French presses that are designed especially for travelling or camping, have fantastic thermal properties to them. This is something that you might want to consider if you’re going away for the weekend, and likely to be drinking coffee outside.

Depending on what material the French press is made out of, will determine for how long your coffee will stay hot for. Sometimes a brew can go cold before you’ve even had a chance to finish it.

Did I Forget To Mention How Easy It Is?

It’s true.

A French press is the easiest brew method. There is nothing to it. Place your ground coffee in the carafe, and fill with the right amount of hot water. Leave for a few minutes and voila – a freshly brewed cuppa joe.

If you want any tips on how to brew the perfect cuppa, we have a great resource sharing the best ways to brew coffee.

Are There Any Drawbacks?

There are a couple, so let’s quickly run through them.

Unfiltered Coffee

Some of you might not think this is a big deal, and some of you might even have the opinion unfiltered coffee is more flavourful, and packed with tasty compounds.

This might be true, but there are two little diterpenoid molecules present in coffee beans, called cafestol and kahweol.

These two molecules are known to increase your cholesterol, and coffee drinkers that have a higher cholesterol should probably stick to filtered coffee brewing methods, like pour-over coffee, or a stovetop espresso maker. However, it only seems to have much of an effect when you start to drink 3-4 or more cups of coffee a day.

I’m not trying to scare you off using a French press, that certainly isn’t my aim. In fact, for every negative effect coffee has on your health, there are three positive effects to counter it. I just thought it’d be something you should know.

Apart from this, I can’t think of any other real drawbacks…

A Few Things To Consider

There isn’t a lot to think about when it comes to a French press, but these are just some pointers.

The Design

Ideally, you want the French press to be made from a strong and reliable material. This way if it gets knocked there aren’t going to be any problems.

You also want to consider having a double-wall which is going to keep your coffee hot by retaining all the heat. You could go one better and look for a vacuum sealed lid.

Finally, you might want to consider the dimensions, how much it weighs and whether it folds, or compacts down for easier storage.

The Filter

Very important. The last thing you want is coffee grounds in your brewed coffee.

Consider whether the filter works well or not. Some French presses come with a 4 tiered filtration system, which works really well at keeping all the sediment out.

So, let’s move on to the reviews.

The Best Travel French Press – The Reviews

OXO Brew Venture Travel French Press

Key features:

• Made from shatterproof plastic
• 32oz capacity
• BPA free
• Dishwasher safe
• Dimensions (inches): 9 x 7 x 7
• Weight: 430g

The first thing you notice about the OXO, is the easy-on-the-eye design. It’s aesthetically pleasing, and with the large handle and spout, it’s easy to use without spilling a drop.

To ensure no grounds get into your coffee, and for a smooth pour, make sure the spout is centered with the OXO emblem. That way the grate on the lid is perfectly lined up on the spout. The OXO comes with a see-through window, which easily allows you to see how much coffee is left.

So it looks good, but is it the best for travelling? Well it’s a pretty light French press, and it’s made out of shatterproof materials, so if it gets a little knocked on your travels that shouldn’t be a problem.

The handle sticks out a little bit though, which makes it a little awkward to pack. Maybe a collapsible handle could work better. It also doesn’t have an insulated double-wall or a vacuum seal either so your coffee might go cold quickly, if it’s cold where you’re travelling too.

With regards to the warranty, if you can provide a valid receipt for the product you can return it and be eligible for a refund, regardless of time. You can find OXO Brews warranty here.

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Stanley Adventure All-In-One Boil + Brew French Press

Key features:

• Made from stainless steel
• 32oz capacity
• BPA free
• Dishwasher safe
• Dimensions (inches): 7.64 x 4.25 x 4.25
• Weight: 900g
• Lifetime warranty

This all-in-one French press is for the avid camper and coffee lover. Not only is it a French press, but it can be used to boil water for your coffee, tea or soups and can cook food like beans or other camping type foods.

The French press comes inside the metal cup, which is easily removed when you want to boil water for your coffee. The press works really well too, with no grounds making into the brewed coffee despite only having a single mesh.

The fact this isn’t just a French press makes it perfect for camping or travelling. Yes it might be heavy, put you don’t have to pack a pot or mug meaning you’re carrying less weight overall.

Coming with a collapsible handle, it’s clear Stanley put a lot of thought into their products with regards to how practical they will be. A durable and reliable all-in-one product for the camping and coffee lover.

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BruTrek Steel Toe French Press Travel Mug

Key features:

• Made from stainless steel
• 20oz capacity
• BPA free
• Not dishwasher safe
• Excellently insulated
• Dimensions (inches): 6.75 x 3 x 3
• Weight: 408g
• 5 year warranty

This is a super compact French press, making it really easy to fit inside a backpack or bag to take on your travels. Plus, something that is a huge plus to the BruTrek is how well it’s insulted. The ultra-insulated technology ensures your brew is going to stay hot for hours after you’ve brewed your coffee.

Something to take note of is the 5 year warranty, which speaks volume at the quality of the build. BruTrek wouldn’t give such a generous warranty if they knew all their products were going to break after a few months.

To stop you from creating an over extracted brew, which is easily done with a French press if the brew coffee is still touching the coffee grounds sitting at the bottom, the plunger creates a physical boundary. Nobody wants a bitter brew!

There are a few different colours you can choose to match with your other camping or travelling equipment, from silver, black or blue.

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JOMO French Press Coffee Maker

Key features:

• Made from stainless steel
• 34oz capacity
• Not dishwasher safe
• Comes with travel bag
• Dimensions (inches): 9.17 x 6.73 x 4.72
• Weight: 1.1kg
• Lifetime limited warranty

This is another aesthetically pleasing travel French press. But it doesn’t just look good, there has been some thought put into the design so it’s satisfying and easy to use. For example, the bottom is covered in a silicone sleeve to stop any scratching from happening.

They also boast of an unbreakable double-wall stainless steel insulation technology, ensuring the heat is held for as long as possible. With a double filter system too, there aren’t any coffee grounds that make it into your brewed coffee.

Sturdy, durable, lifetime warranty, and a beautiful design. It’s great for travelling, although it may be a little heavy. This is due to the weighted bottom which makes it harder to spill, and creates an even pour. To make life a little easier, it comes with a travel bag for storing beans and other gear.

Although not your all-in-one camping necessity, you can get as much use out of this French press at home as you can while travelling or camping.

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Coffee Gator French Press Coffee Maker
 

Key features:

• Made from stainless steel
• 34oz capacity
• BPA free
• Not dishwasher safe
• Comes with mini canister for your coffee beans/ground coffee
• Dimensions (inches): 8.4 x 4 x 4
• Weight: 1kg
• 1 year warranty

You may have heard of Coffee Gator before. They have some great products for sale, like their gooseneck kettles, or coffee scales, all necessities for creating that consistently delicious brew.

Their French press lives up to their Coffee Gator standards, coming with a double-walled stainless steel insulation technology, and is vacuum layered to make sure your coffee doesn’t go cold quicker than you can drink it.

It has a great design, including a cool-touch handle so there are no chances of you burning yourself on the hot water. The filtration system works really well too, allowing all those beautiful coffee oils to spill into your brew, while keeping out all the sediments of your ground coffee.

With the small canister to store your coffee beans, and the durable and insulated stainless steel, this makes a great travel French press.

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Final Thoughts

There are some great French presses on this list to take with you on your next travelling adventure. Whether you’re going somewhere for work and want to make sure you’re able to have a high quality cuppa, no matter where you are. Or if you’re going somewhere a little more wild, and still want to brew a coffee.

To go travelling, you’re going to want to pack as light as possible, and so I would recommend the Stanley Adventure All-In-One French Press. Not only does it work really well as a French press, but has other applications to make your trip easier and more hassle free.

If you’re not grinding your own beans yet, you can check out these coffee brands that have pre-ground coffee especially for a French press.

Let us know which one you went for in the comments!