Mason Jar French Press | 6 cup (24oz) | Tea & Coffee Maker | Black | by Simple Life Cycle

I like Mason jars and things made from them, for a whole variety of reasons. But when you undertake to do so, there's always a degree of improvisation involved. This product showcases some of those tradeoffs.First, let it be noted that I don't care for coffee and therefore use this product exclusively for black tea, which requires boiling water. Though I haven't had trouble yet, I worry that eventually the repeated thermal stress may shatter the Mason jar. Second, with some blends of tea, leaves become lodged between the plunger-strainer screen and the frame that supports it, which is a bit of a pain to clean up after. But the worst feature is that, even with the carrying-handle driven all the way home-- where it won't stay; you have to constantly shove it back into place-- the whole structure is a bit "wobbly" in the hand when full. Not unsafe, mind you, but enough to make you think twice about just exactly how hot that boiling water truly is.So... It's not a perfect press and therefore I can't give it five stars. But, it's a very darned good one considering that it's made from a Mason jar, so it still gets four. I do wish, however, that they'd reassure me about the boiling-water-shattering-the-glass thing, and redesign the plunger and (especially!) the handle a bit. It won't be easy-- I pondered the matter before writing this review and couldn't come up with any constructive ideas to suggest. But, this is a very good product that could be better still. That's all I'm saying.

This is a well-made product -- the silicone sleeve fits the jar very snugly, so no fear it will fall out. The handle is a bit of a concern -- it slides into two groves along the side of the sleeve and as the product wears those grooves might widen. We didn't get a chance to find out, however, as the second time we poured hot water into the jar we heard the sound dreaded by home canners everywhere -- the sound of a mason jar cracking.Fortunately the silicone sleeve held the jar together enough that we were able to get a dishcloth under it before too much hot coffee spilled all over our table. It was still quite a mess, but not as much as it could have been.This was not caused by poor quality materials -- the jar was a Ball jar, not a cheap knockoff. It's just the nature of mason jars to sometimes crack. Usually this happens in a hot water bath while canning, and the contents of the jar just go into the pot. It's a bigger problem when, as here, the jar is not inside a container of some sort.I'm still giving this three stars, because we love the way it looks and the producer really did use quality materials. It's just that mason jars can unexpectedly crack in hot water, and ours did.One other minor issue -- I thought the pour was a bit splashy the one time we successfully used the press. Nothing radical, but not as smooth as other french presses we've had.

I bought this because I wanted to be able to find replacement jars locally. Seriously, they sell these by the carton at the grocery store. It turns out that the press is the ideal size to make enough coffee for a cup at the house and a roadie to take to work.So far, making coffee in this press has presented no challenges due to the hardware. The silicone parts give the jar a buffer (minimizing the risk of breakage when I bang it into the counter) and retains heat while the coffee brews. The screen on the plunger is fine enough that there isn't a lot of the silty sediment at the bottom of the cup and it fits well, so there were no grounds in the coffee either. Another review mentioned the plunger assembly doesn't reach the bottom of the jar. They're right it doesn't, but in use it doesn't matter. Once there's coffee in the press you can't push the plunger all the way to the bottom anyway. After adjusting the coffee-to-water ratio, the coffee from this press the same as coffee made in my Bodum press.I just found a problem mentioned in another review does happen. If you don't align the pour spout with the threads on the jar it leaves a gap and leaks a little. As long as you line up the groove in the spout with the threads it stops coffee from running between the glass and silicone.

According to Amazon 3 stars means "It's okay" and that's exactly what this is. It works, but has some issues. The spout on top doesn't screw on, it just fits over and you need to make sure it lines up with the threads. I haven't had any major issues with them no lining up but it's definitely not what I was expecting at first.The sleeve that goes around the jar fits well but because of the holes you need to be careful how you hold it if you don't want to use the handle which I always worry will fall out (it feels secure I'm just overly cautious)Overall I don't know that this adds anything that a regular french press doesn't have and that's my main reason the rating isn't higher.

I really like the creative use of the 24 oz. Mason Jar. It's less fragile than most carafes supplied with a French press and way easier and cheaper to replace if it does break. In use this French press functions as you would expect it to, but ONLY IF you properly line up the threads on the pour spout, which is made of a soft rubbery material, to the threads on the jar. Otherwise you will have coffee dribbling out as you pour. Read the instructions BEFORE you have hot coffee in the press.

Bought this on Feb 8th and it took us less than a month to hate it! I was so excited to have a mason french press. Before we were using a beaker set up, and I have already replaced the glass two times. This size is too much for one person, and too little for two people. It's difficult to get a good seal on the silicone lid, and leakage happens when pouring more often than not.In theory, this seemed like a really great idea, but the design proved otherwise. I still want this to work, but a custom mason jar would have to be manufactured in order for it to be a good press for two. Maybe the product could be marketed as a single man's cup of coffee. The lid need a tighter seal, or a new pour spout. I really want this design to be successful! @simplelifecycle The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Normal is a must read for you guys!