I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed with this. The big sell of this is that unlike traditional presses, this is insulated and will keep coffee really hot. The first two cups I had were really lukewarm, which I though was odd since my kettle has a thermostat and water was about 210 each time I brewed. I double-checked the instructions and realized that you have to preheat the french press. That mostly solved the problem but it adds another step and a few more minutes. It wouldn't be as big of a deal if it wasn't the major selling point of the device, and the justification for why you should spend more on it than another press. I just don't understand why I need to put hot water in the press, to warm it up BEFORE I add hot coffee. I can pour coffee into one of my cheap travel mugs and have piping hot coffee for hours, longer than the gator french press btw, so why haven't they figured it out for this?

I previously owned an insulated french press that I purchased many years ago from Starbucks. (I wanna say that I bought it like...8 years ago). anyway, it was time to retire the thing. The handle had broken off, it leaked, the plastic part of the lid had cracked in a way that made it rather dangerous to use. But, I was stubborn, and didn't want to get rid of it. I mean, that coffee pot was my longest relationship, how could I give it up!? But, finally, it was time. So I went on the search for a comparable replacement that could handle my 2-3 pots-per-day usage and wouldn't break.

After some research and searching around town for something I liked, I stumbled across the Coffee Gator on Amazon. I'll admit, I immediately liked it because of the name. I mean, come on, Coffee Gator? It sounds cool.
So I read some reviews, and finally decided to buy one.

It arrived in the mail 2 days later and I opened it up, excited for my new kitchen toy. It was in a pretty box, packaged up all nice, and I immediately put it to work. And omg, it's amazing!!

The double filter really does make a difference. (I was a little dubious about this before trying it out), and my coffee is more of a drink, and less of a 'snack' now. I had gotten used to having some grounds in my coffee, and didn't mind it, but gosh, it's nice to just drink coffee without stuff in it.
It keeps the coffee about as hot as my old one did (in it's prime). So as far as that goes, I'd say it's about average compared to other insulated presses. (I also have a glass press that I use for tea, and that gets cold really quickly, so it's better than those for sure)

The thing I like best about it, is that there are no plastic pieces to break off. The spout and handle are firmly attached (Welded?) to the pot, so they shouldn't come off. And the lid/plunger are metal as well. But not the kind of metal that makes your hands stink. I bought the gunmetal grey one, and just as a purely aesthetic comment, it's not as dark as it is in the Amazon pictures. Just fyi. It's still grey...but not really that dark. Which is fine. Oh, and it's not as heavy as it looks. I was expecting it to be pretty weighty, but it's not. It's not gonna give you a workout at 6am when you roll out of bed.

So ya, bottom line, I couldn't be happier. I would absolutely purchase again if a tank ran over my current one and managed to break it. And I would absolutely recommend it to anyone that loves coffee. And they say it's expensive, but for any insulated press you're gonna get into pretty pricey territory, and this one certainly is worth it. 10/10 Thanks, Coffee Gator!!

oh, and the little container that comes with it, is adorable. I'll never use it for coffee, but damn, it's cute.

Either I got a defective unit or it is NOT vacuum sealed. Doesn't keep the coffee hot for long.Sides are quite warm shortly after filling with hot water, which wouldn't happen if properly sealed. If I make two cups of coffee at a time, 2nd cup is lukewarm before I can drink it.

UPDATE:
The customer service from coffee gator reached out to me about my review and offered me several options to fix/resolve my issue with the product. I changed my review to 5 stars since after having a chance to use the press (after lots of cleaning to make sure I didn't drink glass) and their customer service all added up to a quality product.

Not sure what happened here....

But in the bottom of both the "free coffee jar" and the press itself, there were shards of glass as if something has broken, however I wasn't able to find ANY reason that glass would be in the press. I rinsed and scrubbed it and I'm going to try and use it, but the fact that their was mystery glass everywhere leads me to believe I may have a returned unit.

Really helped to class up my tailgate game. Great product overall, perfect size for making about 4 servings of coffee at once. Extremely durable and still looks great even after some abuse from tailgates and camping trips. Gunmetal finish is slightly textured, which gives it a nice rugged look as well. Most impressed by it's ability to keep the coffee hot.

Only request: Add a hash mark on the inside to denote halfway full for only making half a french press worth of coffee. (a small detail, but would still be nice)