AeroPress
Why the Aeropress?
If you're looking for a unique brewer for single cups of coffee, the AeroPress is one of the absolute best options out there. It may not look like much, but the AeroPress will produce clean, flavorful coffee every single time. These little brewers make such good coffee, they are used frequently in competitions! Simple and easy to use, they make great concentrated coffee and iced coffee as well.
The Taste Test
When we look for a brewer, we have some pretty strict criteria:
- Obviously it has to be good—very good.
- It has to be easy.
- It has to be fast.
- It has to be easy to clean up.
- It has to be economical.
The "Good" part.
A French press is easy to use, but leaves quite a bit of particulate matter in the coffee. Not a bad thing, but sometimes we just prefer a cleaner cup of filtered coffee. The Aeropress uses a small paper filter disk (350 are included) about the size of an old fashioned silver dollar that catches all the sediment. While a French press strains the coffee grounds out of the water, the Aeropress forces the water through the grounds under pressure like an espresso machine. The results seems to be coffee that is more fully extracted, without the bitter acids that can result in over steeped French press coffee. You actually only press a small amount of water through the grounds resulting in what Aerobie calls "espresso"--it's not, but it is a dense coffee concentrate. To that you simply add hot water to dilute to the strength you prefer, essentially making a modified Café Americano. Very rich, very smooth, very flavorful. The cup is virtually without that acidy bite that some coffees have.
The "Easy" part.
How's this: heat some water in a kettle or microwave. While it's heating, remove the filter cap and insert a paper filter and reattach cap. Grind 1 to 2 heaping scoops (included) to a grind finer than drip, but not quite as fine as espresso. How much? Depends on how strong you want your coffee or if you are going to make a couple of cups out of it. Use the funnel (included) to dump the ground coffee into the chamber. Set the chamber on top of the cup you want to use. (Note: in a moment you are going to exert downward pressure on that chamber tube, so a paper or Styrofoam cup really isn't strong enough.) With the water now in the 190 - 200 degrees F range, fill the plunger to about the number 4, saturating the coffee grounds. Give it a little stir, let it sit about a minute. Stir with the paddle (included) for 10 seconds. Insert the plunger and gently press down until all the water has been pushed through the ground coffee and into your cup. Remove the Aeropress. Enjoy.
It's Fast.
We timed it from start to finish in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Most of the time was waiting on the water to heat. Easy Clean up? Just remove the filter cap, hold the Aeropress over the trash can, and press the plunger down to eject the coffee puck. Rinse. You're done. Economical? Considering how easy it is to use, how quick it brews a cup and the superior quality of that cup, and that it comes with all the accessories (funnel, paddle, filters, scoop) it is a bargain. The fact that the entire thing is made in the U.S.A. we thought was an added plus.
One Final Thought
We are home coffee roasters ourselves. We are simply not going to offer you anything that we don't personally use and enjoy. The Aeropress is not just another gizmo--it truly is a better way to brew coffee!
