If You Invest in One Coffee Tool, Make It a French Press

If you're going to invest in one coffee-making tool, make it a French press.
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Take the plunge and invest in a French press.Bodum

If we were trapped on a desert island and could only have one coffee-maker from now till the end of time, we'd make it a French press. It's low maintenance, affordable, and deeply forgiving—zero extra filters required. The French press also boasts one of the best (read: easiest) preparation methods out there: set it and forget it.

So, once you've dropped no more than $30 on a French press, how do you make the most reliable cup of coffee around? We teamed up with the coffee whizzes at Stumptown Coffee in Portland, Oregon, to get your morning brew down to a science. Here's how it's done: