3 Globes out of 5

Most college students have no idea how coffee is actually made. Coffee is made in a Keurig, and it’s made like magic. I hadn’t used a real coffee maker in a long time, and after recently using one, I decided I wanted a real coffee maker. But having a Keurig makes a traditional coffee maker obsolete. It’s like carrying around a flip phone when you already own an iPhone. 

So instead, I bought a French Press. Sounds fancy, but really they’re only like $20. But to a college student, owning a French Press makes you feel like Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street, minus the part where he gets arrested by the FBI. My point is: it feels classy.

The specific French Press that I purchased was a Bodum Starbucks branded press. It was a relatively sturdy design, especially considering the price. It was easy to use, and the process of brewing the coffee took less than 10 minutes.

The coffee blend that I chose to brew was the Italian Roast from Starbucks. The blend is a dark roast, but it’s on the sweeter side. The blend was very good, and the flavor was of a much higher quality than it would be if it had been made in a Keurig. 

Keurig coffee is like the microwavable White Castle hamburger sliders of coffee. They’re not particularly good, but when you live two and a half hours from a physical White Castle and you get a craving for White Castle after watching the movie Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, it’ll get the job done. Fun fact: the White Castle in the movie is not a real White Castle; it’s a set that they built for the movie because there are no White Castles in Canada, and the movie was filmed in Vancouver. Second fun fact: Kumar’s burgers were vegan burgers because Kal Penn is a vegetarian. Third fun fact: outside of the U.S., the movie is called Harold and Kumar Get The Munchies.

French Press coffee is like the physical White Castle restaurant. When you go there, they treat you right. It’s the same thing, but the way it’s prepared is completely different, and that’s what gives it its quality. It doesn’t just get the job done, and it makes you feel nice and full. Fourth fun fact: White Castle released commemorative cups when the movie released, which marks the first time that an R-Rated movie had a fast food promotion.

All in all, a French Press is a nice change of pace from the Keurig coffee maker that I usually use each morning. I would recommend it to anyone who loves coffee. Fifth fun fact: during the police station scene where Kumar crawls through the vents, the dust that he sneezes was initially Walnut Powder. Kal Penn is allergic to nuts and had to be hospitalized, and when filming resumed the next day, the dust was replaced with chocolate powder.

I like the Bodum Starbucks French Press, but not as much as I like the movie Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.