Beautiful Brew: The Ceramic French Press from Yield Design

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“Rachel and I wanted a French press we’d be happy to leave out on the table, one that would be a centerpiece of the kitchen rather than something that goes right back into the cabinet after each use,” says Andrew Deming of Yield Design Co. He and his partner, Rachel Gant, met as design students at California College of the Arts in SF and founded Yield with a mission to “pair American craft and ingenuity with an eye toward the future.” That includes a beautiful brew: The duo, now based in St. Augustine, Florida, devoted a year to perfecting both the look and functionality of their French press.

Above: The one liter (eight cup) Ceramic French Press is available in cream and gray (shown below) in a matte glaze with a high-gloss interior and a copper pull; $150 from Yield Design.

Their primary challenge, Deming and Gant tell us, was “achieving a level of precision in the casting to consistently accommodate the steel plunger.” Although Yield prefers to work with local and domestic manufacturers, they ultimately choose to partner with a fair-trade, family-run Vietnamese ceramics manufacturing company with a history dating back to the 18th century.

First run of the presses sold out immediately; the second batch is newly available (from Yield Design as well as select retailers) and is on our wish list.

Above: “Our French press challenges the traditional notion that glass is the ideal material for a press pot. Measuring for a perfect pot of coffee happens on the front end of the brewing process and is not something to be eyeballed. This recognition freed us up to consider alternative materials and ceramic’s durability, feel, and heat retention won out,” says Deming.

Above: The press comes with a fine mesh steel filter (additional French Press Filters are available for $25). The Ceramic Pitcher is also sold on its own for $95.