French Press? To make tea

[Elarya]

I have a french press, still in box. I did a search, but did not see much on them. Does anyone use a french press to make their tea? If so, how did it go? Did one tea maybe work better than another?

Do you think a tea infuser pot is better?

[entropyembrace]

I goto a tea house that uses french presses fairly often it works pretty well just don't smush the leaves in the bottom...use the press as a filter not a press xD

[Chip]

+1, I never plunge ...

Ultimately a teapot with a built in screen may be better, but I have several french presses that I still use after 10 years, but mostly for larger batches of iced tea since they are pretty big.

[entropyembrace]

Yep, best is to use a teapot with a built in screen...I like the ones with ceramic filters...if you look inside at the base of the spout you'll see several small holes instead of one large one. That seems to work best as a filter for loose leaf tea.

[Riene]

I have a small 2-cup Bodum French Press that I use to make tea. It works well, and as someone said above, just use the plunger as a filter/screen, don't crush the leaves with it.

[thirtysixbelow]

I used a coffee press for almost a year to make all types of tea before I invested in proper teaware. If you already have one I would definitely try it out and see how you like it. It can make a good cup of tea with a little practice. A few tips: Definitely make sure you preheat it and do so as close to brewing time as you can because glass drops in temperature faster than most other teaware. If you are going to do multiple infusions it's best to put the plunger right above the water level before pouring and then pushing the remaining leaves down (making sure not to squish them) so when you remove the plunger to add more water you don't get tea leaves everywhere. Let us know how you like it.

[virago_ns]

A tea house by me uses the press technique (but in a 4 cup press). I definatly prefer the pot with a lift-out basket difuser. I find the presses over-steep some teas (i.e. greens and blacks) if the water is left in long enough. I suppose if you drank all the tea in the press at once it would work just dandy.

[wyardley]

If you take out the plunger entirely, it should work fine.

But I don't think it's something you should choose to use for making tea aside from if you already have one and don't feel like getting something more suitable.

[JP]

bodum, the makers of the original French Press, also makes several models of a tea press pot. I have one of them which I use for larger batches of tea, especially when I'm making some Gunpowder tea for the road. They are designed so that when you press the plunger the leaves are sealed in a chamber in the bottom of the infuser, which stops the brewing process. Nice for when I want to pour off a single cup and leave the rest in the pot for a later refill.