Fellow Clara French Press: The Brewing Beauty Everyone’s Waited For

Name: Fellow Clara French Press
Brand: Fellow

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The Fellow coffee brand is known for making some of the most stylish tools in the coffee world. Clara French press is no exception. This French press promises to “make good mornings great” and is described as the Ferrari of the French Press world.

While its stylish design is undeniable, does it justify the astronomically high price? Here’s how we rated each aspect of the Fellow Clara French press so you can decide if the high price is worth it for you.

Summary: The Fellow Clara French Press

24 oz capacity
Double-insulated walls
Agitation stick for even extraction

Thrilled with this purchase, not only beautiful to look at but very efficient at keeping the coffee hot. Ordering a second one for our camper van. Highly recommended.
– Customer Review

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The Full Fellow Clara French Press Review

We did many French Press coffee maker reviews, and Clara is among the best we’ve tried. We’ve rated its build quality, brewing capacity, and the innovative filter. Here’s how the French press fared when put to the test.

Fellow French Press Review

Construction
Filter Type
Coffee Flavor
Size
Value for Money

4.4

Construction – 4.5/5

The Fellow Clara has a modern and minimal design with a matte black finish. This makes it stand out in the world of French presses, which are usually made out of glass. However, it’s not see-through which means you can’t watch the immersion brewing process. Keep this in mind if you like to watch your drink develop (1).

All components are well-built. The beaker is stainless steel and the lid and handle are BPA-free, which ensures no chemicals will leach into your coffee (2).

Fellow thought of (almost) everything. For example, in most French presses, you need to line up the lid in a certain way to pour out the coffee. Clara French press has an all-directional pour lid with holes all around, so you don’t need to align a small opening with the spout.

The Fellow even includes an agitation stick, which resembles a tiny oar. While we’re sure you have several items around your kitchen you can use to stir the coffee, the agitation stick’s shape is very effective. It’s the perfect height for reaching the end of the brew chamber, and the wide shape helps scrape up the grounds on the bottom.

The Clara is double-walled, so it retains heat better than most other presses, and you don’t have cold coffee. This helps you have better consistency, a more balanced extraction, and great coffee. The interior has a non-stick coating, which is supposed to make the cleanup easy. In reality, the coffee grounds still stick to the walls, as is the case with any other French press.

Every part of the Fellow Clara works exactly how it’s supposed to, and you’ll appreciate how well-engineered it is with every pot of coffee you brew.

That being said, there’s one aspect that could be better: the ratio aid lines. Fellow added lines on the interior to show how much grounds and water to add. The thought behind this is great, and the lines can be helpful, especially for a newbie. However, the lines are difficult to see, especially the coffee line down at the brew chamber. Also, those two ratio lines are all you get. If you don’t want 24 oz of brewed coffee, you have to get a scale or guess the measurements.

Filter Type – 5/5

One of the main cons of using a French press is ending up with a cup of coffee muddied with coffee grounds. This can happen because of too fine of a grind or a bad filter (3). Once again, Fellow doesn’t take any shortcuts, so you don’t have to fear this.

The Fellow Clara has an enhanced filtration mesh that fits perfectly in the beaker. The mesh forms a tight seal on the press’ inner walls, which filters out fine grounds and sludge that pollute the brew.

Coffee Flavor – 5/5

The result of the innovative filter design is that you’ll always have a clean cup of coffee. In many ways, this brewers offers the best of immersion and infusion brewing methods. The metal mesh filter allows coffee oils into the cup, so you get the bold, full-bodied brew characteristic of a French press. But the more refined filter design means you’ll enjoy the clean cup and flavor complexity of a pour over.

Even if you grind very finely and double the ratio of grinds to water to make a more potent cup of coffee, none, or very little, grinds will escape into your cup. For this reason, I really like using the Fellow Clara to brew the lighter roasts that can often taste muddy or underextracted in other French press coffee makers.

	Reviewed item
Manufacturer	Fellow	Sterling	BaristasBuddy	Bodum	Bodum
Model	Clara	Pro	The Parisian	Starbucks french press	Chambord
Product category	French press	French press	French press	French press	French press
Housing material	Stainless steel	Stainless steel	Food-grade stainless steel	Plastic and glass	Stainless steel
Color options	Black Matte	Stainless steel	Black, Mint, Pink, Yellow (matte)	Black	Chrome
Carafe	Stainless steel	Stainless steel	Food-grade stainless steel	Plastic	Glass
Available sizes	1	3	1	1	4
Water tank size	24 fl oz	34, 51, 60 fl oz	34 fl oz	34 fl oz	51, 34, 17, 12 fl oz
Number of cups	3	8, 12, 14	4	8	12, 8, 4, 3
Plunger type	Enhanced-filtration mesh	Double-screen stainless-steel	Stainless steel	Rubber gasket-covered plunger	Stainless-steel plunger
Lid type	BPA-free plastic	Stainless steel	Stainless steel	Plastic	Dome-shaped lid
Double wall	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Brews with	Ground coffee	Ground coffee	Ground coffee	Ground coffee	Ground coffee
Brew styles	4	4	4	3	3
Dishwasher safe	The mesh only	Yes	No	Yes	Glass carafe and the press
Dimensions	4.53 x 6.69 x 7.87	4.4 x 6 x 9 inches	4.1 x 7 x 8.4 inches	10.24 x 5.98 x 5.71 inches	4.2 x 5.5 x 9 inches
Customer review	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5
Warranty	30 days	1 years	30-day money return	1 year	1 year
SCA certified home brewer	No	No	No	No	No
Price	$249.99	$167.99	$31.99	$32.01	$29.49

Size – 3.5/5

Size is where Clara coffee maker falls short compared to other French presses. Its capacity is 24 oz, which is smaller than a typical coffee press. Keep in mind its overall size is similar to a standard 32 oz press. However, Clara French press is double-walled, which cuts down its total capacity.

24 oz is enough for about four decent-sized cups, which is enough for one or two people but isn’t enough for group use or a large family of coffee drinkers.

Value for Money – 4/5

There’s no going around it — Clara French press is a costly French press. It has some very thoughtful details that make use easier, such as the top-notch construction and build quality, enhanced mesh filtration, an all-directional lid, and a double-walled insulated chamber. It’s easy to use, and you’ll have hotter coffee for longer. Most importantly, it produces a better-tasting cup. The coffee is clean and bright, without many coffee grounds ending up in your coffee.

Get a good grinder so you can lessen the chance of having too many ‘fines’ that will sneak past the filter and cause the coffee to be over-extracted.

Overall, you’ll be paying for the modern design and quality construction. But, if aesthetics aren’t that important to you, you can find a press that’s three times as cheaper compared to the Fellow. While Fellow makes better coffee, it’s not really three times as good as other French presses.

Pros:

The stainless steel build makes it durable
Flavorful French press coffee
Keeps coffee warm for longer than other French presses
The filter doesn’t let grounds into the cup

Cons:

Smaller capacity than other French presses
The non-stick coating isn’t really non-stick
More expensive than other French presses

Do Not Buy Fellow Clara French Press If…

You want an affordable French Press coffee maker – The Fellow Clara press is one of the most expensive on the market. If you’re looking for a more affordable French press that brews delicious coffee, check out the French Press by Coffee Gator. It’s also made of double-walled insulated steel, which ensures your coffee is hot for longer. There’s a dual-filter screen that keeps the coffee sediment-free. Overall, it’s not as stylish as the Fellow Clara, but it does the same thing for less money.

You want a large capacity French Press- The Fellow Clara French press is on the smaller side with only a 24 oz capacity. If you need more coffee to sustain you, check out the Sterling Pro stainless coffee press. It also has double-walled insulation, and it’s 100% made of stainless steel. Most importantly, it has a capacity of 1.75 l, so it’s a great choice if you need a large caffeine fix. Another good large-capacity option is the French press from Starbucks.

The Verdict

The Fellow Clara is among the best and most stylish French presses we’ve tried. It’s the most attractive French press you’ll see, and the Fellow did their best to address the brewing method’s pain points. They made it easy to use the pour spout, the filter fits extremely well and doesn’t let grounds through, and the coffee stays warm for a long time.

Overall, this is the best choice if you are fine with a smaller capacity French Press, and ease of use and quality constructions are your main concerns.

A man using the Fellow Clara French Press in the kitchen