[Closed] Aeropress?..any good

Yes they are.

Here is some reading material.

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/what-coffee-do-you-aeropress

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/aeropress-what-do-we-think

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/aeropress-then

Hmmmm.

I use one at work. That's where it's one major advantage shines - it much less messy to use than a cafetière.

But the coffee that comes out is mediocre.

And given that it's just a big syringe I don't think they are good value for money.

However the advantage above means it willl remain my coffee maker of choice at work.

I have one at work as the filter coffee machine produces rancid, burnt tasting brew. The coffee isn't as nice as that from a stove top, but it's nice enough, and the process is easy and doesn't require a lot of cleaning up after.

In terms of ease of use its by far and away the least faffy.

In terms of flavour its not worse than a stove top its just a completey different style of dtink. Extremely clean, no grit or burnyness to the flavour much prefer it over a cafetiere.

As for mediocre coffee from it... you get out what you put in.

V60 would be another option.

I've found they're useful for convenience in situations where other preferred methods aren't available to you...Camping, hotel rooms, stand duty etc. I wouldn't use one as my preference for making a brew (although others do, and enjoy the coffee they produce). Usful bit of kit in your coffee making arsenal.

[url= https://www.procook.co.uk/product/procook-satin-stainless-steel-double-walled-cafetiere-1l?utm_source=GoogleShopping&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_campaign=MerchantFeed&gclid=CjwKEAjwsLTJBRCvibaW9bGLtUESJAC4wKw1DYZZHB4EszNEx5081P-nj1QN3hH99Zmr1q5emD3APxoCgTfw_wcB#fo_c=1344&fo_k=39cff9e2a704225a40e6823f3ba0be37&fo_s=gplauk&fo_oid=4628 ]Perhaps a double skinned metal one would stop you from smashing your press?[/url]

No better than a cafetiere, just less mess is all.

There is a difference between the drinks produced by a cafetiere and an Aeropress. The paper filter of the Aeropress means that you do not get the fines at the bottom of the cup, and cafetiere tends to be a stronger/harsher/more robust/muddier brew (choose whichever adjective you prefer). Conversely filter coffee is usually described as a 'cleaner' cup, and will not be as strong as a cafetiere, although the Aeropress is I think a close second to cafetiere.

At the end of the day, the beans will make more difference to the drink than the method of brewing.

Overrated imho. I've gone back to a 3 cup cafetiere (£6 from Sainsburys). To clean just add a bit of water to the compressed grounds, give it a swill and pour it down the plug 'ole. Simples.

I am not a barrister.

Conversely filter coffee is usually described as a 'cleaner' cup...

I've certainly been lead to believe it's the 'purest' way of making coffee, assuming you're after a regular cup of joe and not something Italian-based and American-bastardised, probably involving caramel or whipped cream.

On a sidenote I bought a new Aeropress recently and the instructions on how to make coffee had changed. Previously it recommended making – essentially – a double espresso shot and adding hot water to taste. The newer instructions recommend making a longer 'shot' and leaving to brew after stirring for a minute.

Should add: use a mesh filter, the 'upside-down' method and espresso-ground beans.

If you use a quality coffee, and get your technique right, the coffee from an aeropress is as good as anything else available if you like a filter coffee.

Re it not being as good as a stove top, they're two totally different types of method. Like saying chips are better than mash.

A further thought: some of the better coffee shops - but sadly not that many - offer different brewing options in addition to espresso.

According to your profile location, I suspect the best coffee shop near you is Little Red Roaster in Poole (not been there myself, but heard a positive review of it from a friend). According to this [url= http://www.brian-coffee-spot.com/2015/06/16/little-red-roaster/ ]2015 blog post [/url], they offer cafetiere and pour over (i.e. filter, albeit not Aeropress), so you could try the drinks there to get an idea of the difference (although be preparared to be spoilt by getting drinks made with freshly ground high quality beans).

I only use mine when I go camping or stay at someone's house who doesn't have proper coffee 🙂 The bean to cup machine does all my coffee at home.

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I am not a barrister.

Waste of money if you are using stale pre-ground coffee, better off getting a Hario/rhino grinder and some fresh roasted beans and using them with your cafetière or getting a V60 filter.

Like having a wood fired pizza oven built to cook £1.99 frozen pizzas.

Biggest bonus is ease of cleaning, but I also really like the 'clean' taste you get from it.

Like having a wood fired pizza oven built to cook £1.99 frozen pizzas.

😆

Like having a wood fired pizza oven built to cook £1.99 frozen pizzas.

It's not though, is it?.

Maybe a £500 bean to cup machine could be considered in your analogy, but a cheap plastic syringe? Na.

To clean just add a bit of water to the compressed grounds, give it a swill and pour it down the plug 'ole. Simples

That's a quick way to block up your drain. Coffee grounds mix with fat and food to form pretty solid blockages.
I keep a strainer next to the sink, run a bit of water into the cafetière, pour grounds through the strainer and then empty into the food waste bin. Very easy, and a lot less likely to bugger up your sink outlet. Unless you're really lazy 😉

To clean just add a bit of water to the compressed grounds, give it a swill and pour it down the plug 'ole. Simples.

Ffs don't do that.

Re it not being as good as a stove top, they're two totally different types of method. Like saying chips are better than mash.

Logical fallacy! Chips *are* better than mash

Just throw the grounds and water mix outside. Or into a house plant.

I like the aeropress at work, i even bring it home when on leave. I think I prefer it to the cafetiere now and the stove top isn't available at work. For the sake of only £20 or whatever it is it's worth having though.

the coffee makes the most difference. Aeropress needs quite a large scoop to get the right amount.

A lot of the posh coffee shops around here use them to make coffee.

Grow some mushrooms with your used coffee grounds [url= https://www.gourmetmushrooms.co.uk/shop/oyster-mushroom-growing-kits/gourmet-mushroom-coffee-grounds-kit/ ]here[/url].

Aeropress makes great coffee, I just find you need to brew for a lot longer than the instructions, and use the upside down method.
Next for me is to try a metal filter but they are seriously pricy!

That's a quick way to block up your boss's drain.

ftfy

Everything mixes with fat to form fatbergs. Stop being so precious. Nobody is going to think of the children.

That's a quick way to block up your drain. Coffee grounds mix with fat and food to form pretty solid blockages.

My Nan lead me to believe that coffee ground helps keep drains clear...

Edit: seems it's quite a divisive subject:
https://www.chowhound.com/post/disposing-coffee-grounds-393294
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/7044/will-disposing-of-coffee-grounds-in-the-sink-cause-drain-blockage

Next for me is to try a metal filter but they are seriously pricy!

I have one it gets clogged.

Back to filters

I've heard that some people get a Crema on thier coffee. Is this so and how?

In addition, how long does this increase stirring go on for? Im using the upside down method and stirring for about 30 secs before pressing.

Kryton57 - Member
I've heard that some people get a Crema on thier coffee. Is this so and how?

In addition, how long does this increase stirring go on for? Im using the upside down method and stirring for about 30 secs before pressing.

I find it's very coffee dependent. I have APs both at home and work. At home I grind the beans but at work I use pre-ground.

If the beans are from a pack which has just been opened, freshly ground and the water is the right temperature, you can get a half-decent crema. Which, of course, disappears the minute you adulterate the shot with water to fill up the cup.

I find sometimes wetting the coffee before adding the rest of the water can help to release the crema as well.

Every now and again on a newly-opened bag of ground I'll get some as well, but it's far more hit and miss.

That said, I like it fairly weak, so with less coffee there's likely to be less crema.

Next for me is to try a metal filter but they are seriously pricy!

I use one. On the whole I like it and it saves the planet, one paper filter at a time.

I use a metal filter. It stops me from inadvertently listening to Nickleback.

[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWyyj-HaNj9jMafS3m9CMbmTtWmIxoMy7z6nf-bQ1-AvxBqFFj8Q [/img]

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Metal filter....
I have one it gets clogged.

Mine never gets clogged. It also makes the coffee taste slightly different to using the paper filters, it's as if the paper stops oils or very, very fine particles from getting through, but the metal one doesn't.

one of the great things about the aeropress is the fact that you can just fire the remains into the nearest bin, give it a quick rinse and it's ready to go again. Having to fish about to find a metal filter, does slightly undermine that advantage.

Having to fish about to find a metal filter, does slightly undermine that advantage.

I use a metal filter too. The only problem is because it is silver, thin and flat; I've left it in campsite sinks a few times and had to run back to get it.
I got it from US eBay. They are about $5, the postage costs more so I bought 2.

@nickc - [i]"Having to fish about to find a metal filter, does slightly undermine that advantage."[/i]
The simple solution is to remove the metal filter before ejecting your spent coffee into the bin. Use some lateral thought, it's hardly rocket science.

Use some lateral thought, it's hardly rocket science.

[img] [/img]

@nickc - we're too beautiful to fall out, let's have a coffe break

😆

You can't really get crema with the paper filters so need a metal one for that.

As for time, I stir for about 3 seconds then leave it to brew for 2-4 mins depending on beans and grind.

At 30s I'd get some seriously weak coffee...

I just take my (non-clogging) metal filter off before i fire the remnants into the sink then give it a rinse

If you fire the remnants into the sink, why do you bother taking the filter off first? Anyway - it's not eco-friendly to dump the grounds in the sink, since they them have to be rinsed away with fresh water that took resources to purify, and they end up in waste water that again needs resources to clean.

I find that the paper filter helps keep the puck of grounds together when you fire it into the bin, and I do hate a messy bin.

Just wondering out loud what the environmental impact of making the metal filter is vs the paper filters. How many paper filters would you need to use up to equal the energy cost of extracting/working the metal?

You can't really get crema with the paper filters so need a metal one for that.

My understanding is Aeropresses are crap for getting crema, regardless.

Just wondering out loud what the environmental impact of making the metal filter is vs the paper filters. How many paper filters would you need to use up to equal the energy cost of extracting/working the metal?

I suppose that depends on the life of the filter / Aeropress... 😆

I use a metal filter. It stops me from inadvertently listening to Nickleback.

Be careful. It gets everywhere...

I don't get the aeropress, I know it's cool and enduro on here but it's a faff. I just use a filter and cone thingy, pop the filter and grounds in the bin after, don't even need to go near the sink.

Just wondering out loud what the environmental impact of making the metal filter is vs the paper filters. How many paper filters would you need to use up to equal the energy cost of extracting/working the metal?

you think too much!

For clarity i actually liked the metal filter but uts genuinely clogged.

Like pushed so hard on it that it forced scalding coffee past the plunger. Should probably have rinsed it occasionally.

The difference eith a filter and aeropress is the filter doesnt alliw you to brew the coffee.

Its precisely no more faff than v60 filter... which i also use.

Just wondering out loud what the environmental impact of making the metal filter is vs the paper filters. How many paper filters would you need to use up to equal the energy cost of extracting/working the metal?

The coffee will have the highest environmental impact (growing, transportation, roasting, grinding, packaging, transportation, waste), probably followed by boiling the water in the kettle each time to make a cup (energy to boil, overfilled kettle). After that it depends on the lifespan of the aeropress and the filter used as to their whole life environmental impact. The embodied environmental impact of the aeropress could be outweighed considerably [i]over time[/i] by the product being made within it.

Regarding the metal vs paper. Again it depends on how often they are used, but then also the packaging and the weight of transportation.
My metal one came in a little brown paper pouch that was straight in the recycling bin. The paper ones came wrapped in plastic, in the plastic holder and weigh more. However the paper ones can be composted if so inclined. But then that can also release CO2 from the process of breaking down so that's more GHG's

Tl;dr - i don't have the facts at hand and i'm spitballing all the potential environmental impacts here because i'm really bored this afternoon

I've tried Aeropress, cafetiere and pour over filter coffee. I prefer the purer flavour of pour over, and staff at good coffee shops which offer both agree.

If you watch them you'll see how to make it; temperature and time make quite a difference.

The Aeropress seems to have been the result of 'theory' taking precedence over practice.

Other than that I like espresso.

Aren't Areopresses for people who like talking about drinking coffee more than the like drinking it?

I am a huge fan of the aeropress (and I don't talk about it!) - find it makes better coffee and less messy than a cafetiere, but personally I use a cone and filter over a cafetiere.

Try it!

So my fortnightly delivery of beans (Black Gold from Yahava in Margaret River) came with a free Aeropress - yay.

Ground up some beans, broke my grinder. Inverted method for Aeropress. Lovely strong cup (bad idea to test, it's 10pm!!!) and really quite impressed. Good score.

Now..... I'm looking for a decent hand grinder that doesn't cost t'earth. Answers on an e-postcard.

less messy than a cafetiere

Mines starting leaking out the sides during the press. Getting fed up.

@aphex
I've got one of [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Coffee-Tea-Espresso/Hario-MSS-1B-1-Piece-Coffee-Mini-Mill-Grinder/B001804CLY/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1499092606&sr=1-2 ]these[/url].
Using it is like a mini-work out

Boiling water is the biggest killer of the coffee when Aeropressing (and other places also)
when I have been in a rush and not let the boiled kettle cool the coffee has tasted pretty average.

on leaving the water to cool (to an obviously accurate 80degC) the resultant coffee has a far superior taste.

Boiling water is the biggest killer of the coffee when Aeropressing (and other places also)
when I have been in a rush and not let the boiled kettle cool the coffee has tasted pretty average.

on leaving the water to cool (to an obviously accurate 80degC) the resultant coffee has a far superior taste.

I once read one of those coffee making for blokes type articles and it said that it takes yonks (i.e. 10 minutes sort of) for a kettle of water to cool down anywhere near the right amount. Maybe more (it was very specific, but this is the internet so I'm deliberately changing the numbers). When I followed one of those methods that was used by the Colorado and Oregon Aeropress champion including timing and temperature (all measured in true bloke style) I ended up with a luke warm cup of Mellow Birdsalike. A quick ten seconds in the microwave sort of rescued it but it was still bland.

boil kettle

top up with another 20% of cold water from the tap

It'll be close enough. Better than boiling, for sure.

There's a new Aeropress style coffee maker on kickstarter, [url= https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1555081857/cafflano-kompresso-a-portable-authentic-espresso-m ]Here, needless to say i've ordered one.[/url]

I just stop the kettle before it reaches boling point. 🙂

For clarity i actually liked the metal filter but uts genuinely clogged.

soak it in PulyCaff

I've just ordered an Oomph. It's like an Aeropress but doubles up as a travel cup too. Another kickstarter project I believe. Hopefully it won't just end up in the kitchen drawer.

And I can highly recommend Crankhouse Coffee for beans/ grinds. It's a small independent roaster in Exeter. And there's a cycling connection there. They're doing a TdF promotion at the moment. The CH7 is my new favourite for espresso.

Steve Cummings uses one;