How to Use a French Press for Tea in Kenya
By 9 pm, the house has usually gone quiet. Dishes are away, the last WhatsApp of the day has been answered, and the only real decision left is what goes in your cup. Most nights, the French press sitting on your counter never gets touched after breakfast; it did its coffee job hours ago, so as far as you're concerned, its job is done.
Later in this piece, we'll show you the one mistake that turns a French-press tea ritual bitter before it's even finished steeping, and it has nothing to do with the tea you bought.
The Problem
Wanting an evening ritual and having the tools for one are two different things. A proper wind-down, the kind where you're not just scrolling until your eyes give out, usually gets pictured with a whole teapot setup: infuser, strainer, a pot that lives in a cupboard eleven months of the year. That's another thing to buy, another thing to store, another thing to wash. So most evenings, the ritual gets skipped, not because you don't want it, but because the entry cost feels higher than it is.
The real cost isn't just a missed cup of tea. It's the evening that never quite closes properly the kind where you're technically done for the day but your body hasn't gotten the memo yet.
A French press tea ritual is simply using the coffee press you already own hot water, loose leaf or a teabag, a few minutes of steeping, then the plunge to brew a proper cup of tea for winding down. In a Nairobi evening where the coffee hours are long over, this is the fastest route to a slow ritual: no separate teapot, no extra thing to buy, no extra thing to wash.
The Insight
Here's what most people get wrong: they think of a French press as single-purpose because that's the only way they've ever used it. Coffee in the morning, rinsed, put away. But the mechanism itself has nothing to do with coffee specifically; it's just steep, then separate. Hot water sits with something for a few minutes, and a mesh plunge pulls the solids out of the liquid. Tea leaves don't know the difference.
Once you see the press as a steeping tool rather than a coffee tool, the object in your kitchen doesn't change, but what it's for does. You're not buying a new ritual. You're noticing you already own the equipment for one.
Can you use a French press for tea? Yes. A French press works for tea exactly the way it works for coffee: steep your loose leaf or teabag directly in hot water inside the carafe, let it sit, then press the plunger to separate the leaves from the liquid. It's actually one of the simplest ways to brew loose-leaf tea without buying a separate infuser.
How to Use a French Press for Tea
Heat your water below a full boil for delicate leaves
Fully boiling water is fine for heartier things rooibos, black tea, chamomile tea, a proper tangawizi chai but it scalds anything delicate, like green tea, and pulls out bitterness along with the flavour. Boil your water, then let it rest off the heat for about a minute before pouring if you're brewing anything lighter.
Add your leaves loose, straight into the carafe
No infuser, no bag necessary. About a teaspoon of loose leaf per cup goes directly into the press, the same way you'd measure coffee grounds. If you're making tangawizi tea, this is also where fresh grated ginger goes in.
Steep by the clock, not by feel
Set a timer for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the tea. This, by the way, is the mistake we mentioned at the start: people carry over their coffee instinct, where leaving grounds in longer means a stronger cup, and apply it to tea. With tea, longer steeping doesn't mean stronger; it means bitter. A timer is the difference between a ritual you look forward to and one you quietly stop doing.
Press slowly, all the way down
Once the timer goes off, plunge the mesh filter down in one smooth, unhurried motion. This stops the steeping instantly and separates the leaves cleanly, so nothing keeps brewing in the carafe after you've decided it's ready.
Pour into a cup that's actually yours
Not the nearest mug from the drying rack, the one that makes the ritual feel like it was made for you specifically. This is a small decision, but it's the one that turns "I made tea" into "I did my evening thing."
Let the press keep the rest warm
A double-wall insulated carafe holds its heat for up to an hour without a reheat, so if you're sharing a pot across a slow evening, or coming back for a second cup once the kids are down, it's still properly warm, not lukewarm and sad.
The Netai Lens
The ritual usually breaks at the tool, not the intention. A flimsy single-wall pot goes lukewarm in fifteen minutes. A fiddly infuser stains and gets left in the sink. So the ritual quietly stops, not because you stopped wanting it, but because the hustle made it more friction than it was worth.
This is where two pieces do the job properly, together. The Netai Double-Wall French Coffee Press is built for exactly this: double-wall insulated borosilicate glass that holds heat for up to an hour, a 1-litre capacity that brews up to 8 cups, and a 4-stage mesh filter that catches the leaves cleanly, whether you're brewing coffee at 7 am or tea at 8 pm. It's KSh 3,000, with delivery available across Kenya.
And what you actually drink from matters just as much as what you brewed it in. The Netai Rumi Rose Mug, with its soft 3D rose detail on clear glass, is KSh 700 the piece that makes the cup feel like it was poured for you specifically, not just whatever was closest on the shelf.
Together, they're the first anchor pieces of The Netai Living System™'s Wind-Down Ritual: the press that brews properly, the mug that makes it feel like yours.
The Ritual
There's a particular kind of quiet that settles in once the last cup is poured. The day's noise, the traffic, the group chats, the small emergencies, all of it is finally behind you, and what's left is just steam curling off a mug you chose on purpose. You're not doing anything. You're not scrolling toward anything. You're just sitting with something warm in your hands, in a kitchen that's finally stopped asking anything of you.
This is what a proper close to the day looks like: not dramatic, not effortful, just present. The house is quiet. The press sits empty on the counter, done for the night. And for a few minutes, so are you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a French press tea ritual?
A French press tea ritual is using a standard coffee press, hot water, loose-leaf tea or a teabag, a few minutes of steeping, then the plunge to brew tea as a deliberate evening wind-down, rather than reaching for a kettle and a teabag on autopilot.
What's the difference between using a French press for tea versus coffee?
The mechanics are identical: steep, then press. The differences are in the details. Tea generally needs cooler water than coffee, especially delicate varieties like green tea, and a shorter steep time, usually 3 to 5 minutes versus the 4 minutes typical for coffee. Leave tea in too long and it turns bitter far faster than coffee does.
Can you use a French press for tea?
Yes. Any French press works for loose-leaf tea or teabags exactly as it does for coffee grounds. Add your tea directly to the carafe, pour hot water over it, let it steep, then plunge to separate the leaves from the liquid.
How long should you steep tea in a French press?
Most black teas and rooibos need 3 to 5 minutes. Green tea is more delicate and does better closer to 2 to 3 minutes with slightly cooler water. Setting a timer rather than guessing is what prevents the bitterness that comes from over-steeping.
Does a French press work for rooibos or tangawizi tea specifically?
Yes, and heartier teas like rooibos and tangawizi (ginger) chai are actually more forgiving in a French press than delicate teas. They can handle water closer to a full boil and a slightly longer steep without turning bitter, which makes them a good starting point if you're trying this for the first time.
Which Netai French press works best for this?
The Netai Double-Wall French Coffee Press | 1 Litre is built for both coffee and tea, with double-wall insulation that keeps a full pot warm for up to an hour and a capacity that stretches to 8 cups, whether you're brewing for one slow evening or sharing across the family.
There's something quietly satisfying about realising the tool for a better evening was already on your counter the whole time. If mornings in your house are already sorted, Why Oatmeal Jars Are the Easiest Breakfast Hack for Busy Kenyan Mornings is the natural bookend: the same intentional-systems thinking, applied to the other end of the day.
Evening Ritual Pieces
☕ Netai Double-Wall French Coffee Press | 1 Litre, KSh 3,000 →
🌹 Netai Rumi Rose Mug, KSh 700 →
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