Kabalo Stainless Steel Double Wall Cafetiere Filter/Plunger Coffee & Tea Maker - 350ml 3 Cups

If you keep up with my product reviews here on Amazon, you may have seen my review of the Zyliss 'Hot Mug' cafetiere that I bought about a few weeks ago - and you're probably wondering why on earth I'm buying another cafetiere, right? Well, the answer to that could be roundly summed up by sorely admitting that the Zyliss one is absolutely rubbish and that I'm sick of drinking ruined cups of coffee that have grindings floating about in them. Not only that, but the more I used the thing, the harder it was becoming to push its plunger down and the whole thing was becoming something that I swore at more than I praised, so I resigned to the fact that I'd probably end up getting a better, more traditional cafetiere....And that's exactly what I did! After schmoozing around Amazon for a short while, I whittled the list down to a small number of models. Since this was to be used at my workplace, a glass one was out of the question so I was looking for a one-cup (or thereabouts) metal cafetiere with a traditional French press. In the end, as you can guess, I decided to go for this Kabalo one.>>>>>>WHAT'S IN THE BOX?Well, what do you expect to find in the box for a cafetiere? Some monkeys? A set of juggling balls? A kitchen sink? No, you don't get any of them in the box - but you do get a lovely shiny cafetiere and a smart measuring spoon/coffee bag clip.>>>>>>FIRST IMPRESSIONS?Once I'd removed it from the box and the bubble wrap bag that it was wrapped in, I was very impressed with this little thing. As said above, it's very shiny and feels incredibly high quality for the price. I love the minimalist approach to the design too and it looks very classy sitting here on my desk in the office. The only irksome thing I spotted right away is that the handle on the top of the lid is a little bit squiffy (a bit squint), but I'm not going to send it back as it seems to work just fine.Pulling the handle upwards extends the shaft for the French press and once it's fully pulled up you can lift the lid for the cafetiere right out of the 'pot', which reveals its gloriously traditional (and removable/replaceable) coffee press and the smart & clean brushed metal interior of the pot.The included measuring spoon/bag clip gadget is also of a very high quality and would mean that I would no longer have to resort to stealing my colleagues spoons to measure out my coffee!It has to be said - and this is an accusation thrown at ALL of the 350ml cafetieres I was looking at - that the advertised 'three cups' of coffee that can be made in this cafetiere is hilariously inaccurate. Well, unless you're talking three TINY cups of coffee. No. It makes one decently sized mug - which is surely the only way to drink coffee?>>>>>>BREWING UP A STORMOf course, there was only one thing to do (well, ok, two if you're being pedantic) now that I'd got it out of the packaging; first I needed to give it a quick wash and then I'd make my first cup of coffee in it! I duly initiated the coffee making ritual and boiled the kettle while I fussed about cleaning & drying my new caffeine-fix gadget. I used the measuring spoon to neatly scoop a heaped mound of coffee into the bottom of the pot, then poured hot water into it up to a point just below its spout, pushed the lid onto it (with the press still pulled up) and left it for five minutes. There's a neat little design on the lid whereby you can keep the coffee hotter by turning it so that the opening for the spout lets out less steam, adding to the fact that the double-walled exterior to the pot stops it from cooling down too.>>>>>>LET THERE BE COFFEE!After the five minutes was up, I pushed the press down, which moved beautifully smoothly, turned the lid to its fully open position and poured the coffee into a mug. Thankfully, not a single grinding was observed in the coffee - even right down the the very bottom - hooray! It was then time for the real test - had this new cafetiere done justice to the fancy Sainsbury's 'Taste the difference' Colombian Quinchia fairtrade coffee I bought for the occasion of testing it with?Well, yes it had indeed. The coffee was beautifully smooth, rich and hot - just like it's meant to be. In fact, half way through writing this, I went and made myself another cup of it in this cafetiere as I desperately needed one of those late-afternoon caffeine kicks.>>>>>>CLEAN AND SIMPLEI could be using these words to describe the smart, clean minimalism of this cafetiere, but in this case I'm actually talking about how gloriously easy this thing is to clean. Since it's made from stainless steel, I really just tend to rinse it out with some hot water and it's good to go. It's probably a good idea to squirt some washing-up liquid into it and run the filter up and down in it a few times every now and then for a proper clean, but that's by the by. It's easy to keep the outside fingerprint free, too - if you care about such things.>>>>>>SUMMING UPThis is a beautifully made and crafted cafetiere that not only looks good, but is able to reliably make beautiful, grind-free coffee at any time of the day or night. I absolutely love my one and would highly recommend it!

Lovely coffee maker. Coffee stays hot too.

This cafetiere is excellent quality and ideal for 1 mug of coffee. It keeps the coffee hot till you want it and pours perfectly. A 5 star purchase!

I really like my new cafetiere. It's very well made, the filter doesn't "leak" coffee grains like some do. Unlike glass cafetieres it keeps the coffee hot until poured. It holds enough for a large mug, unlike some.My partner doesn't like it, she claims it makes her coffee taste metallic, but I don't agree and it means I have exclusive use!

This is something I've been needing and looking forAs all my class ones breakOnly thing is for someone so may want it to actually be for three cups of coffee it only makes one small cup/mugDefinitely won't make three cupsMaybe three ExpressosBut for me or someone who wants just one cup made its perfect and easy to clean and useNone breakable and works nicelyReccomend for one cup/mug uses though

Lovely looking and functionable

Simple to use. Simple to clean. Keep coffee hot. Great cafetiere.

I have broken so many glass cafetières that I thought the time had come to invest in an unbreakable one. I like the double wall to have really hot coffee, when and washing up I know I do not risk breaking it. The 3 cups size it says it is means 3 small Italian espresso cups, this makes a perfect, single British mug of coffee. I have an identical one in a larger size, big enough for two mugs.