My Bodum Experience

While cleaning out the grounds from a recent French Press, I being my usual spastic self, somehow managed to chip and crack the glass beaker of the press. I was not happy. It wasn’t my French Press to break and now I had a fully functional lid and handle to go with a destroyed beaker. I pulled out my wallet and went to Bodum’s website, fully prepared to buy a whole new setup.

*

Then I got the best surprise ever. It turns out, Bodum has a whole section on their site devoted to replacement parts. Everything is on there, down to the last screw and mesh filter. After a quick search to find the right size, I was able to find a replacement glass beaker and purchased it on the spot. It arrived yesterday and I enjoyed a delicious French Press along with some homemade banana bread. In the future, I will be much more careful when composting those coffee grounds…

*

So that’s the good news. The semi-frustrating bit is that Bodum is definitely making a killing on this replacement parts thing. The beaker we ordered was $20 with $7.95 for shipping and handling. A brand-new all-parts-included Shin Bistro Coffee Maker (pictured above) is only $30, which makes it tempting to buy a whole setup. Someday I’d love to see companies charge less for replacement options, but if spending that $27 means not wasting perfectly good pieces (i.e. the lid and handle of our existing press) and not buying new materials, then I’ll fork over the extra dough.

Side note: they also sell a plastic replacement beaker, for $22. Which is awesome for 2 reasons: a) it creates a small demand for glass and b) coffee would taste terrible and brew horribly in a plastic carafe. Glass carafes are a win:win for Bodum and make for very satisfied customers (read: a household who craves French Press on Sunday mornings).

To top it all off, their tagline is “Make Taste, Not Waste.”

I like that. 🙂

*All Photos courtesy of the Bodum website!