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Try finding one of them before you buy this one. The best don't use screws at all. It makes great coffee, but using this filter can burn you.The directions tell you to pour hot water in the top, then reach in with your fingers and unscrew the (now) boiling hot metal plate. Other models have a slot so you can use a screwdriver.
(local VN grocery store) and noticed that they come in different forms. Worse, sometimes it can be that it is screwed in too hard, so the water does not drain through, but now you can't loosen it, because the hot water covers the piece. I bought 3 sets for one dollar (15,000 dong) in Vietnam, and soon realized that I needed more.
The screw in needs to be tighten until you hit the coffee, but don't tighten too much (low drip, or no drip) and too little (too fast), but just right. That's why the simpler version works much better. I can't figure it out.It is much more difficult to remove the screw part after the coffee is done.
Ever since I came back from Vietnam, I have been using these small "French presses", or Vietnamese coffee filter sets. It works great. I have never seen this construction in Vietnam either.However, there is one advantage, it is that it is sturdier and lasts longer.
So, I bought a few in the U.S. This one has the screw in press, which I don't like as much as the simple press down piece that just sits on top of the ground coffee.
This little product is just great(Vietnamase Coffee Filter set)It is just like a regular coffee press, but it makes one cup at a time.
While its origins are south-east Asian, its has a cosmopolitan use that is quite underrated. This is however, not technically an espresso maker as espresso is made by forcing water through the ground coffee beans, while this apparatus uses gravity to distill the coffee.Many people who first experience these will be in specialty Vietnamese restaurants, offered as a traditional "Cà phê sua dá" (translated "Coffee milk ice"), but you should be able to find this nice little filter at many oriental specialty shops for anywhere between $3-$4.
So don't pay a high price for this item.Often, the best things are the simplest, and it doesn't get any simpler than this. Don't worry about manufacturer, as I have seen several, and there seems to be absolutely no difference in quality.
The Vietnamese styled coffee filter is really a nice bit of kit. Thus enabling a "Lungo" or "ristretto" type of taste as you would find with espresso machines.
It should last you decades of use. It makes the often mundane act of drinking coffee into a ritual.
If you're like me and have several different blends of coffee in your home to choose from, its nice to offer guests their choice of coffee without having to make several pots to do so.You can alter the strength of the coffee by how tightly you compress the top filter in this apparatus.
I don't think the online price is outrageous, but if you are lucky enough to live in a city with a Vietnamese market you can pick these up for $3 each. They are pretty cool for serving coffee when you have company. And this little gadget does the job much better than a Melitta style funnel and paper filter. If you grind your own you'll need to experiment a bit with how fine to grind and how tight to screw down the tamper, but after a few tries you should have the cup of coffee you want.I have 4 now.
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