I am a lover of all things related to coffee and tea—throughout all seasons of the year. During the summer, I drink a lot of iced coffee, as well as iced tea and bubble tea. Now that fall has arrived, I can drink copious amounts of pumpkin spice lattes without any guilt. You can find me making London Fog and chai tea lattes when the colder weather sets in as well.
Suffice it to say, I’m very passionate when it comes to these hot beverages. My kitchen drawers are full of gadgets and gizmos to help me with my quest of making the perfect cup of steaming-hot delicious liquid gold. However, I’ve never had a contraption that can brew both a cup of coffee and a cup of tea, so I was super excited when I had the opportunity to test a gadget that can do both.
Introducing the BruTrek OVRLNDR Press designed by Planetary Design. It’s a travel french press with Bru-Stop technology, perfect for camping or other outdoor adventures. It comes in four colors: mountain lake, brushed steel, obsidian, and red rock. The best thing about this press is that the bottom unscrews for easy access cleaning. Being the self-proclaimed coffee/tea connoisseur that I am, I had to test it out and see if it could live up to my standards.
Brewing a cup of coffee or tea is easy; add some coffee grounds or loose leaf tea, pour in hot water, and screw on the lid with the Bru-Stop plunger in the up position. After the contents have brewed long enough, push down on the plunger and you’re left with a delicious hot beverage. In total, 24 ounces can be brewed, minus 4 ounces that are left in the bottom of the press.
The first thing I brewed was a good cup of joe. I followed the instructions, waited a few minutes, and then poured the coffee into a mug. The result tasted fairly smooth, though not as strong as a regular brewed cup from the Mr. Coffee maker.
Wanting to try brewing a cup of tea next, I unscrewed the bottom of the press to empty it out. I encountered two problems: (1) the liquid was still very hot and (2) I didn’t want to dump the grounds into the sink, but rather into the trash. I ended up pouring the liquid out in the sink and then rushing over to the trash can while dripping coffee on the floor.
Once the bottom was rinsed thoroughly, I assembled the press and repeated the process over again, this time with some loose leaf tea instead of coffee grounds. I waited a few minutes, pressed the mixture down, poured the tea into a mug, and added a splash of milk and a spoonful of raw honey. The result was a deliciously brewed cup of tea.
After using the press several more times over the course of the following week, I’ve developed a pro vs. con list in my mind. Pros: user friendly, easy to clean, brews a decent cup of coffee or tea, and perfect for brewing on the go or while camping. Cons: there’s 4 ounces of liquid left in the bottom chamber after your beverage is brewed, which can be slightly inconvenient.
To answer the question I posed in the beginning of this article: Can BruTek make the perfect cup of coffee or tea? The answer is yes.
