When I learned that Kuissential, the maker of one of my favorite manual burr grinders, was going to release a travel french press, I knew I had to get my hands on one. Luckily, Kuissntial reached to me and sent one my way in exchange for honest feedback. This review is fair, honest, and the words are totally mine.

The Kuissential Versa is a travel french press brewer, but with its own twist. Instead of pushing a plunger and the coffee grounds down, you pull them up and remove them entirely. The idea isn’t a new one, but few brewers have been able to achieve the pulling action without making a mess.

I’ve been using the Versa for about a month. I’ve brewing using a handful of recipes and have played with my own little tricks. After this review, I will lay out my own guide to using the brewer. Let’s dig in.

The Kuissential Versa Review

I opened the Versa with much excitement. Basic instructions covered the box. An insert with brewing information fell on my lap.

The brewing chamber holds the coffee grounds and water. Protruding from the opening is a rod with a fine stainless steel mesh filter at the end. On the opposite side is a pronged based with a little sphere holding the rod. The second chamber (doubled walled – excellent) slides over the first brewing chamber and twists into place. When you’re ready to filter the brew, you flip the whole thing over and pull up on the sphere, separating the grounds from the brewed coffee.

The Good

The Versa brews a solid cup of french press coffee. It has the classic heavy body, but there was very little sludge at the bottom of my coffee each time. I found the flavor to be on par with any other french press brewer.

The brewer feels very sturdy in my hands. Built with stainless steel and a durable, dishwasher-safe plastic, it doesn’t feel flimsy or poorly constructed at all.

The attachable travel-lid really is spill-proof, which is a huge plus in my mind. You could throw that coffee in your bag, throw the bag around, and you wouldn’t have to worry about spilling coffee everywhere.

Overall, the build and idea are great, but I noticed some minor quirks that kept me from falling in love with the Versa.

The Not-So-Good

The distance between the brewing chamber wall and the filter is very small. I didn’t have a problem filling it with water because I have a gooseneck kettle, but I can imagine it being difficult without one.

The outer chamber wouldn’t twist and lock in until I began to pull the filter in a little bit. If I pulled the filter in, the sphere would be out further than the pronged base, making the whole thing wobbly. I ended up just waiting to lock it in until I was ready to flip and pull.

I also noticed that the brewing chamber could afford to be bigger. At only 8oz, it seems small compared to the 15oz outer chamber. The extra 7oz of space isn’t being used during the brewing (or after, if you like your coffee black), and it seems Kuissential could have increased its size to allow for larger batches.

My Conclusions On The Kuissential Versa

In general, I found that the Kuissnetial Versa is a solid step towards travel brewing, but I don’t think Kuissential has quite hit the nail on the head just yet. It brews great coffee, but it doesn’t function ideally.

I believe the small entry and exit area for brewing will be a challenge for users without a narrow spout kettle, and the small 8oz batch size seems like an inefficient use of space (since the larger chamber holds 15oz).

The Versa isn’t the travel brewer for me, but it could be exactly what you’re looking for – especially if you like to add cream or sugar to your coffee to use up that extra space. At only $30 on Amazon, it’s worth a try if you find yourself still interested!

Kuissential Versa Brewing Guide

If you’ve pulled the trigger and are enjoying your Kuissential Versa, I hope you’ll find my method to using it enlightening and empowering. Let’s get started!

For this device, I like to use 15g of coffee and 250g of water, which fills up the brewing chamber to the tip-top.

1. Collect your freshly boiled water, freshly ground coffee, and Versa brewer.

2. Slide your coffee grounds into the brewing chamber, then fill the chamber all the way up with water just off the boil.

3. Set a timer for 4 minutes and set the outer chamber over the brewing chamber. Don’t flip just yet.

4. When the timer nears 4 minutes, grab the Versa by the bottom prongs. Using your other hand, pull the stainless steel filter into the brewing chamber by the sphere, locking the ground coffee inside. Then screw the outer chamber in place

5. Flip the Versa and pull up on the filter rod until it is raised as far as it will go.

6. Unscrew the chambers and lift the brewing chamber out slowly. Be careful! It’s hot!

7. Dispose of the coffee grounds by pushing the filter out and rinsing the device.

8. Enjoy your french press coffee!

You can then pour in some cream or flavor and attach the travel lid and take your coffee to go. Excellent!

Happy brewing, folks!