What's the Difference in Taste Between a Smart Cup and French Press? Which is Better: French Press or Smart Cup?

When it comes to immersion extraction, FrontStreet Coffee immediately thinks of the French press and the Clever Dripper. But do these two brewers taste alike, or do they each have a distinct style? FrontStreet Coffee ran a comparison to find out.

What is a French Press?

The French press is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to brew coffee. It is a straightforward device made up of a heat-resistant glass carafe and a metal filter fitted with a plunger. The method is simple: steep the grounds, then press them down with the plunger so the filter separates them, leaving a full-bodied cup. Even a complete beginner can pick it up quickly and make a decent coffee.

What is a Clever Dripper?

The Clever Dripper earns its name from the "piston valve" at its base. When water is poured in, the water pressure automatically closes the valve and holds the liquid, letting the grounds steep fully. Once steeping is done, setting the dripper on a server or cup opens the valve, and the coffee flows slowly out.

What are the Differences Between Clever Dripper and French Press?

1. Material: the French press is glass; the Clever Dripper is PCT.

2. Shape: the French press is cylindrical; the Clever Dripper is trapezoidal.

3. Pouring method: with the French press, the grounds are pressed down by the plunger and the coffee is poured from the top spout; with the Clever Dripper, placing it on a server opens the piston and the coffee flows out from the bottom.

What are the Differences Between Coffee Brewed with French Press and Clever Dripper?

First, freshly roasted beans are essential for better aroma and flavor. All the coffee beans FrontStreet Coffee sells are shipped within 5 days of roasting, with the optimal tasting window running from 5 to 35 days after the roast date printed on the back of the bag.

Both methods use the same water temperature, grind size, and coffee-to-water ratio. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry as the example, we recommend a medium-fine grind (granulated-sugar size, or 80% pass-through on a China standard #20 sieve), a water temperature of 90-91°C, and a 1:15 ratio (1g of grounds to 15g of water). For this demonstration FrontStreet Coffee uses 15g of grounds.

Clever Dripper Brewing Steps:

Fold the filter paper and set it inside the Clever Dripper. Place the dripper on a container and use hot water to wet the paper while preheating the device. Then move the Clever Dripper onto the scale (the valve closes automatically) and pour the ground coffee into the center.

First pour 30g of hot water, start the timer, and bloom for 30 seconds. After the bloom, pour hot water up to 225g, then steep for 1'50". When steeping is complete, move the Clever Dripper onto the container and open the valve to filter the coffee out. This takes about 15 seconds, for a total extraction time of 2'05".

French Press Steeping Steps:

For the French press, add 15g of grounds and prepare 225g of hot water. Pour vigorously into the pot, pull up the plunger, cover with the lid, and wait 4 minutes. Then slowly press the plunger down until the filter reaches halfway, and pour the coffee into a mug to finish.

Comparing the two, FrontStreet Coffee found that the biggest difference between the French press and the Clever Dripper is mouthfeel. French press extraction looks a little cloudy, and many people might assume the coffee is contaminated. Not at all: that cloudiness is coffee oil, and it is what gives the cup its fuller body, which is why French press coffee often tastes smoother. The Clever Dripper, by contrast, produces a cleaner, clearer liquid with clean, distinct flavors and well-defined layers.

So why does the French press retain oils while the Clever Dripper does not? It comes down to how each pours. The French press uses a metal filter with filter paper and presses the grounds from top to bottom, which slightly raises the extraction rate.

Then the coffee is poured from the top spout, and the oils floating on the surface flow into the server along with the liquid. The stainless steel filter and paper on the plunger do not seal tightly, so some grounds escape with the water as well. Coffee oils add richness and smoothness, making the flavor softer and more balanced.

The Clever Dripper, meanwhile, uses a drip-style flow in which the oils are filtered out by layers of grounds and paper, producing a clearer appearance, a lighter and cleaner mouthfeel, and more distinct flavor layers.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Which bean to brew is its own decision, and FrontStreet Coffee's range covers both directions these two devices reveal. If you enjoy the cleaner, more aromatic cup a French press can still deliver when the roast is light, try the Strawberry Candy. This Geisha-based blend combines a honey-processed Costa Rican coffee with a washed Panamanian Geisha, and steeped in a French press it releases rose, citrus, grape, and raisin aromas, turning into a strawberry-candy sweetness once milk is added. If you prefer the fuller, oilier body a French press is famous for, the PWN Golden Mandheling is a better match: selected three times by hand and once by machine, then roasted medium-dark, it brings dense spice, caramel, cedar, and dark chocolate notes with a thick, lingering mouthfeel.