Pre-warm pot by filling with hot water. Dump out water when ready to brew coffee or tea.
Spoon coffee or tea into press pot. How much depends on your preference. A good place to start is about 1 Tablespoon (3 Teaspoons) of ground coffee per 6-7 ounces of water, and about half this much for most tea.
Pour water that has just come to a boil into the press pot in the proportion just mentioned above. Put the lid on top, and let the coffee or tea steep for 3-5 minutes.
After 3-5 minutes, when coffee grounds (or tea leaves) had mostly settled to the bottom, push the plunger down to separate the grounds (or leaves) from the coffee (or tea).