apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am obsessed with all things "Bodum" ---- and I don't even drink coffee.

Bodum double wall glasses are extremely fragile. I purchased sets in 4 different shapes and sizes, and I only have 7 left because they break unexpectedly with the clink of an ice cube or just set down the wrong way. Very sad...I hope they improve them so I can buy more!

I agree with jennie. I bought these last year as gifts for family members, and almost all are gone. Also, the box says they are dishwasher-safe, but I wouldn't recommend putting them anywhere near one. They are beautiful though.

i was in the bodum store on 14th st last week and was served coffee in one. they are lightweight and not hot to hold a steaming cuppa. it's too bad to hear about their fragility.

I'm a big fan of the Bodum double-walls. I haven't found them to be exceptionally fragile, and have run mine through the dishwasher many times with no problems. But when you do knock one off the counter onto the floor, it's twice as much glass to clean up....

tonfisk has been doing a line of cups w/ wood jackets for a few years now. and there is a little canadian company using wood veneers to make wrist cuffs based on a standard coffee cup shape, so you can wear it...and then transfer it to your cup when you hit the coffeehouse. molo design's 'float' line of glassware is double-walled also. maybe they are sturdier than bodum?

I bought one of their french presses in chrome plated brass that is really heavy duty. I LOVE it. The cups are beautiful too & I'll probably pick up some.

Speaking of all things "french press"...does anyone know of a quick & easy way to clean them? I have one and use it for loose tea...but it's a nightmare to clean and I can never get all the flakes out of the screen. I have the (cheap) Ikea version. I asked Santa for the Bodum one, I hope he deliver.

Jean,

I have a bodium french press. The bottom (right below the screen) unscrews and you can take apart the screen for easy cleaning. I do not know about the ikea press.

I use a Bodum French press and take apart the plunger to put it into the dishwasher. Very easy.

Jean, having tried that route for tea I really found that a teapot is so much better. I love this one from Adagio Teas. We use it twice a day here at work.

http://www.adagio.com/teaware/glass_teapot.html?SID=6a3dfedf49b4f68c9dfd0311b66eb83c

These glasses break VERY EASILY. My boyfriend and I are very careful with them. However, of the glasses we bought six months ago, half have broken.

We have a very low coffee table (10" from the floor) with a plush rug underneath. If one of our glasses falls off the table, it's all over for the glass.

Beautiful but completely impractical.

Thanks all! xoxoxo

I'm off to update Santa Claus!

i have a set of the tonfisk cups (with wooden sleeves) and molo "float" glasses that rena mentioned above. i highly recommend both designs.

the wooden sleeve really does help (i hate when i can't drink my tea right away because i have to wait for the cup to be cool enough to handle). and the molo does seem quite sturdy. i've had mine for months and no problems yet. (i think i bought the "float" wine glasses instead of the ones specifically designated for tea -- because they're bigger and i drink a lot of tea.)

I have the bodum glasses. Of the 10, only one has broken in the past year and that was a dishwashing accident, dropped a bowl on it while in the sink. Ironically that was the only time I've manually washed dishes, the rest of them have done fine in the dishwasher all year (top rack).

i wonder if the issue with the bodum double walled cups is a temperature thing? like the mingling of heat from the beverage and the cooler air between the layers of glass causes them to be more sensitive to weird barometric conditions, maybe?

ok, i'm basically making that up. but i'm distrustful of clear vessels for hot beverages anyway, for reasons i really can't explain. it's just wrong, people.

I have several Bodum double-walled glasses, and we haven't broken one yet; however, we tend to drink chilled drinks (e.g. OJ from the fridge) as opposed to ice-cold or piping hot. FWIW, we wash them in the top rack of the dishwasher, no problem.

Opoponax:

You should really try drinking hot tea out of a small glass. The color is so beautiful. Hold near the rim and you won't burn your fingers.

Anyway, I think double-walled glasses are goofy. My small duralex tumblers are a classic, and equally suited to cappucino, hot tea, red wine or cold orange juice. The versatility makes for less fuss in the glassware cabinet. I recommend it.

Drinking tea in a glass is a very East European habit. Dad told me it was the mark of a good housewife that she could make lemon tea and pour it so carefully there were 'stripes' of colour where the tea and lemon hadn't mixed.

He always thought tea in a cup was an affectation - 30 years in an English-based country never made him comfortable with a cup. He'd drink coffee. Those of his generation still left - 80+ old - still call it a glass of tea.

FYI I prefer a cup or mug, leaf tea and I use a stainless steel jug. I managed to wreck 2 pottery pots, and seen several glass coffee plunger thingies explode.

Thinkin' that the folks who had bad dishwasher issues with the Bodum glasses might have hard water and/or be using an overly abrasive detergent?

I have glass-glass mugs (like the Starbucks ones) that I got at Crate & Barrel and they've done fine in the dishwasher, no scratches n stuff.

Since Deb mentioned Eastern Europeans' penchant for drinking tea out of classes, I wanted to pass on this link to Russian "podstakanniki", metal contraptions with a handle that hold a large glassful of tea and keep your hand safe. Some can be quite beautiful (and expensive). They can be made of anything from tin to gold.

Also, as far as I know, in Morocco they drink tea out of very small glasses, so the small quantities of tea cool fairly quickly.

As we are on the subject:
http://www.details-produkte.de/en/produkt.asp?offset=48&ID=309

The fact that the hot liquid is IN the handle renders the handle's very existence useless, does it not? Or is there some sort of Pyrex tech I'm missing? Would a designer really err that badly?

And on the other related subject: just started using a french press a couple months ago, for coffee. Loved the idea of using it for tea. Will try tomorrow. :)

Hi Any and others,

I use a coffee press for tea at work and a traditional tea pot at home and find cleaning them takes up about the same time. My Bodum french press rinses very easily under a strong faucet, with only a couple of stray tea leaves to remove manually. I also find the cylindrical shape of the press (as opposed the a pot-bellied tea pot is easier to get under the hot faucet of the water cooler. Hope this helps and have a great Tuesday!

I'm a big fan of the Blomus tea glasses with stainless steel handles. (click my name for link) Surprisingly the steel handle doesn't conduct much heat at all. I guess it has more surface area towards the cold air than the hot beverage.

I own 4 Bodum 20oz double-wall glasses and never had a problem either hand washing or in the top shelf of the diswasher. Like ami, I drink mostly chilled drinks out of them. I'm of Czech decent, so that's mostly ends up being cold beer. :D