Is the Veken French press worth it for your daily coffee?
Worth it, with one honest caveat
Why French press coffee always ends up gritty
You know the last sip of French press coffee, grey, gritty, dregs coating your tongue like you accidentally chewed the grounds. You tip the cup, wince, and set it down half finished. That last sip is the reason a lot of people quietly give up on French press coffee and go back to a drip machine.
How the Veken's 4 layer filter actually works
Here's what's actually happening in a cheap press: one mesh screen, however tight, still lets fine particles slip past on the plunge, and that grit ends up in your cup. The Veken fixes it with a stack, not a single screen, a spiral plate, a cross plate, and two fine mesh layers, one after another. Each layer catches a slightly finer particle than the last, so by the time coffee reaches your cup, almost nothing solid rides along with it. That's the whole trick, and honestly, that's the thing that decides whether you keep using a French press or quietly retire it to the cupboard. The carafe matters too. It's high borosilicate glass, rated to handle a jump from cold to 360°F without cracking from the shock, which is why it doubles for hot coffee, cold brew, and steeped tea without you thinking twice about it. And every part that touches your coffee, plunger, filter, frame, is stainless steel or food-grade silicone, no plastic in the path, so there's no faint plastic smell riding along with the aroma. Ounce markings on the glass and the included scoop take the guesswork out of the ratio, so your third cup tastes like your first.
So you're not really buying a coffee maker, you're buying the gap between grit and clarity in your cup. Any French press will steep coffee, that part is free. What you're paying for is a filter stack good enough that you forget it's even there.
Who this French press is for, and who should skip it
Worth it if
- you want a French press with a filter fine enough to actually stop sediment
- you care about a plastic-free brewing path
- you also want to use the carafe for cold brew or loose leaf tea
- you're buying it as a gift for a coffee lover
- you don't mind hand washing glass and steel
Skip it if
- you want something dishwasher-safe and unbreakable
- you're rough on kitchenware or have young kids underfoot in the kitchen
- you want an electric, hands-off brew
- you already own a press you're happy with
Not for anyone who wants an unbreakable, dishwasher-safe coffee maker.
The Veken French press verdict: is it worth it?
If you like the ritual of a manual brew and don't mind hand washing glass, this is a quiet yes, it'll earn a permanent spot by the kettle. If you're rough on kitchenware or want something that survives a countertop knock without a thought, remember that the fragile part of any glass carafe is still glass.
Picture the first pour: clear, dark coffee, no grit at the bottom of the cup, no plastic smell riding along with the steam. That's the whole reason to own one of these. Among the thousands of people who've bought this one, the filter and the taste it produces are the most consistent praise, the kind of thing that makes a manual brew worth the extra thirty seconds every morning. Once it's part of your counter, you stop thinking about it, you just reach for it.
Amazon shoppers rate it 4.6 out of 5 across 17,931 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
Before you go
Is French press coffee better than drip coffee?
It's not universally better, it's fuller bodied and more textured because the grounds steep directly in the water, which some people love and others find too heavy.
Can you put a French press in the dishwasher?
No, this one is meant to be taken apart and hand washed after each brew, that's how the glass and the multi-layer filter stay in good shape.
What's the best material for a French press, glass or stainless steel?
Glass lets you see the brew and doubles for tea or cold brew, while stainless steel is tougher against drops but can hold onto flavors over time.
Can you make cold brew in a French press?
Yes, a borosilicate glass carafe rated for thermal shock like this one can move between hot brewing and cold steeping without issue.
By the numbers
We have reviewed 211 kitchen products. 91% land where this one does: worth it, with a condition attached. Only 9% earn an unconditional yes at full price. Every verdict is published as open data in the Is It Worth It Reviews Verdict Dataset (CC BY 4.0).
Full spec sheet
| Other Special Features of the Product | Easy to clean |
|---|---|
| Coffee Maker Type | French Press |
| Specific Uses For Product | Cappuccino |
| Operation Mode | Manual |
| Coffee Input Type | grounds |
| Power Source | Manual |
| Filter Type | Reusable |
| Capacity | 2.1 pounds |
Keep comparing
More Veken
More kitchen reviews.
We also post kitchen verdicts on YouTube, Tumblr, Mastodon, Bluesky.