Also known as the coffee plunger, is probably the most underrated method of brewing coffee. It is cheap, easy, and repeatable. With other methods of brewing coffee, the water passes through the grounds, with the french press, the water and coffee are steeped together which helps produce a more uniform extraction. Another relatively unique aspect of the French press is the way that it filters the grounds from the brewing liquid: by using a metal mesh. The holes in the mesh are relatively large so that more of the non-soluble material from the coffee gets into the cup. There are pros and cons to this, the advantage is you get little of the coffee oil and some tiny suspended pieces...