As a very young child, pressing the plunger down was always my reward if I had behaved myself during the course of a meal (we only got the cafetière out on the most special of occasions). This was probably my first real experience of coffee, and the theatre and methodology involved have stayed with me all this time. I love a French press and today we are going to be exploring the best cafetières available – I had some fun when testing these believe me. Rather like how long you should leave your tea bag in for, this question has a different answer depending on who you ask. On the plus side, because it's see-through, you can see the coffee. This gives you an element of control that you don't get from opaque steel, because you watch the coffee brew. For me, that adds to the brewing experience – although coffee geeks would respond that coffee should always be left to brew for roughly the same amount of time (Wallace suggests four minutes, give or take), so what does it matter?

The Bodum Chambord 8 has the 8 in its name because it makes 8 cups. We got the 1-litre version for testing simply because we all wanted to try out a cup of coffee from seemingly the best cafetière in the UK. Did the Bodum Chambord 8 pass our expectations? Yes, and it exceeded them as well. This glass cafetière looks tremendously elegant, and the coffee-making experience is very refined. There is a lot to like about this. First of all, I really like the design – it is clear and simple, but not without style. I love the silver logo against the solid grey of the cylinder, and the handle is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The silver lid and plunger really finish it off well. This is one of the more expensive cafetières that we will be looking at on this list, but it is a great place to start. It is sturdy, long-lasting, versatile and does the job brilliantly. Make this your starting point in your search. We used a thermometer to record the temperature of each cafetiere for one hour to find out which ones cooled down the fastest. Ease of cleaningThis has everything I want though. It stands tall and proud, in one of three colours (steel, copper or brushed gold) and has a dignified elegance to it. It holds itself so well and seems to command respect. You could imagine it placed proudly on a table at a royal banquet at the turn of the last century, but it still wouldn’t look out of place on a modern kitchen counter. It is a stunning cafetière, and for that reason alone, this should be on your shortlist. As a cafetière at the lower end of the budget, this does the job. It is only small, so best to be used for small households or maybe as a travel option, but if that is what you are after, this is perfect. Cafetieres are much less clunky than coffee machines and take up a significantly smaller place in your kitchen or dining room. Coffee shouldn’t be a hassle, and cafetières make the process so much easier and enjoyable!

You may want to consider the durability of the french press. Do you find you often have a firm hand with the plunger? For some french presses, this can cause splashing problems or break the filter. Consider how robust you would like your coffee press to be and take this into account.

Stainless steel cafetieres are popular for keeping your coffee insulated, and our heat retention tests confirmed that they're effective. We know how much coffee is beloved, so we have compiled a list of tried and tested cafetières to help you find the best one. See below for our list of the best cafetières in the UK! How We Compared Cafetières