What is the Bodum Travel Press?
A press and a travel mug that are the same object, which removes the step where coffee gets spilled.
Bodum publishes vacuum-sealed double-wall stainless steel construction, a spill-resistant lid with the plunger built in, a stainless filter, a silicone non-slip grip, a coarse grind recommendation, dishwasher safety and a 15oz capacity. It measures 3.3 by 3.3 by 8.8 inches. Bodum also notes on the listing that the extra lid is no longer included.
Why brewing in the vessel you drink from is the point
Every other press has a decanting step, and that step is where the mess and the cooling happen.
With a Chambord you brew, plunge, then pour into a mug, losing heat and washing two things. On a train or at a desk that sequence is impractical and the pouring is where it goes wrong.
Here you add coarse grounds and hot water, seal the lid, wait, press, and drink from the same container. One object, one wash, and the vacuum wall keeps it hot for the hour it takes to get through it.
The thing it cannot do, and it is the same thing every press cannot do
The grounds stay in with the coffee, and there is no way to get them out.
A full-size press at least lets you decant. This one is the mug, so the grounds sit in your drink until it is finished, in a vacuum-insulated vessel that keeps them at brewing temperature. The last third of a Travel Press is reliably more bitter and more astringent than the first.
That is inherent to the format rather than a fault in this product, and it is why the YETI's GroundsControl filter exists. Drinking it within about twenty minutes is the practical answer, as is a genuinely coarse grind, which reduces how fast over-extraction sets in. Bodum recommends coarse for exactly this reason.
Bodum Travel Press vs AeroPress Go
The two travel brewers, and they separate on whether the grounds leave the cup.
An AeroPress pushes the coffee through a filter into a separate cup and the grounds eject as a dry puck, so the brew genuinely ends and the cup is clean of sediment.
The Travel Press is the simpler and tidier object: nothing to eject, nothing to carry separately, no paper filters to buy, and it is also the mug. If the priority is the best cup, the AeroPress. If it is the fewest parts and no bin required, this.
Is the Bodum Travel Press worth it?
Worth it as a commuting brewer, provided you drink it promptly.
It is inexpensive, it replaces a mug and a brewer with one item, and the vacuum wall does the job Bodum's glass presses cannot. For a desk, a train or a hotel room with a kettle, very little competes at the price.
Two honest notes. Fifteen ounces is one large mug, not two, so it does not serve anybody but you. And the listing states plainly that the extra lid is no longer included, which is worth knowing if you are comparing against older reviews that mention it.
Bodum publishes no warranty term, no weight, no heat retention figure in hours and no filter micron rating here.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Buy it for a commute, a desk, a hotel or a tent with a kettle.
It suits one person, one mug, brewed where there is hot water but no space and no sink worth using.
Do not buy it to serve anybody else, and do not buy it if you nurse a coffee for an hour, because the grounds stay in it the whole time. For that, a brewer that separates the grounds is the right answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the grounds stay in the Bodum Travel Press?
Yes. There is no way to remove them, so the drink keeps extracting and gets more bitter. Drink it within about twenty minutes.
What grind should you use?
Coarse, which Bodum recommends. Fine grounds pass the screen and make the cup gritty.
How much does it hold?
15oz, which is one large mug.
Does it come with a second lid?
No. Bodum notes on the listing that the extra lid is no longer included.
Is it dishwasher safe?
Yes, per the maker.
