Before you buy a coffee maker, there are factors you may wish to consider before parting with your money. These range from the cost, to the special features and your own preferences i.e., is the coffee maker capable of meeting your expectations with the coffee you enjoy and the number of cups you consume? We take a look at the Aeropress and analyse how it makes coffee and is it suitable for your needs.
The Aeropress coffee maker is popular with coffee enthusiasts keen on retiring their good old French Press. The coffee maker can be described as a new-age portable coffee press. It utilises a rapid total immersion coffee brewing process, to make delicious, smooth, flavour-packed coffee minus the bitterness and high acidity associated with the French Press.
How does an Aeropress work?
The Aeropress is a product of creative and smart thinking design resulting in a simple product that works better or as good as the most complex coffee makers on the market today.
The coffee maker works by forcing hot water through ground coffee at high pressure. This simple process extracts maximum coffee essence from the coffee grounds. When done conventionally with a machine, this process could be described as complex and time consuming. Typical filter coffee makers make coffee by slowly dripping hot water into filters filled with ground coffee.
The Aeropress takes the best aspects of coffee making and simplifies the process by producing coffee that ranges between conventional and espresso coffee quality. It brews coffee under the perfect conditions (ideal temperature, total immersion & rapid filtering), resulting in great tasting coffee packed with beautiful flavours and low acidity.
The mechanism is simple – forcing hot water through ground coffee using hand pressure. The heat resistant chamber forms an airtight seal when the plunger is located and pressed down.
As a result of only 20-30 seconds of press time, the Aeropress will brew coffee minus the mess, bitterness, and high acidity levels associated with a French press. It has a microfilter that gets rid of grit, allowing particle-free coffee in seconds.
Step by step guide on using the Aeropress coffee maker
Using the coffee maker is incredibly easy. You just need hot water, ground coffee, and hand pressure to extract maximum coffee essence from your coffee grounds. The Aeropress components can be cleaned easily by rinsing under a tap. It is worth ensuring all seals are wiped and dried thoroughly.
After you’ve finished brewing, you’ll need to unscrew the cap holding the filter and push the plunger downwards to get rid of the coffee residue. Cleaning the Aeropress is as easy as rinsing the rubber seal at the bottom of the plunger. During use, the rubber seal wipes the chamber clean eliminating the need to clean the chamber.
Quick guide to using the Aeropress
Step 1:
Start by unscrewing the black filter cap and inserting the filter paper. Reattach to the main body, add the coffee grounds followed by the hot water into the cylinder.
Important: The coffee needs to be pre-ground. To get a concentrated brew use approximately 2.6g of coffee for every ounce of water. However, the amount of coffee you should ultimately use is entirely up to a person’s taste and preference. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, take a look at our picks in our article here.
Step 2:
Stir the mixture and leave to brew, fit in the plunger on top.
Step 3:
After allowing a few seconds, slowly press the plunger down, forcing the hot water through the coffee grounds and filter.
Step 4:
Remove the filter, wash, and enjoy your coffee.
You can make 1 cup of American/filter coffee for every pressing.
Potential problems with an Aeropress
Since the Aeropress is a coffee press that utilises manual hand pressure, you should place the coffee maker on top of sturdy coffee mugs only. Paper cups or weak mugs may not be able to withstand the manual force created when pressing the plunger down, to force the hot water through the coffee grounds and filter.
Pros and cons of the Aeropress
Pros
There are several things to love about the Aeropress. The most notable include:
- Better than the French Press – The Aeropress in our opinion makes better-tasting coffee minus the acidity and bitterness associated with the French Press. The Aeropress also makes coffee faster with less mess.
- Versatile: Great for home use and on-the-go – The coffee maker is lightweight, sizable, and compact. The Aeropress also comes with a zippered tote bag that makes it portable and great for use when traveling, backpacking, camping, boating, etc.
- Easy to clean – The Aeropress components can be cleaned easily. The clever plunger design coupled with an easy-to-remove filter, makes it extremely easy to clean. It only takes a few seconds to clean this coffee maker.
- Readily available filters – Although the coffee maker comes with 350 replacement filters, more can be bought from many retailers.
Cons
- Size – The Aeropress may be too small for people looking to brew multiple cups of coffee instantaneously.
- Loss of air pressure or splatter if held/used incorrectly – The rubber plunger can lose air pressure, if held incorrectly. Pressing too fast can result in too much pressure, resulting in splatter. To get the best results, the plunger should be in an upright position and pressed slowly for a period of 20 seconds.
Is the Aeropress value for money?
The Aeropress costs the same, if not less than a French Press but offers more benefits, including the ability to brew different varieties of coffee. It’s also faster, easier to use, and clean making it valuable for persons looking for the fastest ways to make coffee at home or on-the-go in record time. The coffee maker comes with 350 microfilters. Once exhausted, you need to buy more filter papers. Click here to check price.
Alternatives to the Aeropress coffee maker
Aeropress GO
The Aeropress GO is a great alternative for people interested in an Aeropress specifically made for persons looking for a coffee maker they can travel with. The Aeropress GO comes with a drinking mug that works as a carrying case making it incredibly easy to enjoy a mug of coffee on-the-go. click here to check the price
Key Features
- Great design: The Aeropress Go stands out the most for its ingenious design that ensures everything you need fits inside the mug.
- Brew hot or cold brew coffee in seconds: The Aeropress Go makes hot coffee in a record 60 seconds and cold brew in approximately two minutes
The Kohipress
The Kohipress is simply a portable French Press. This coffee maker is equally good for brewing coffee while on the go. The Kohipress utilizes full immersion steep (with a pressurised plunger) like the Aeropress.
Key Features
- Reusable filter: The Kohipress stands out for having a fine micron reusable stainless steel mesh filter. Unlike the Aeropress, you don’t need to buy filters over and over. However, Unlike the Aeropress, you should be willing to see some grit in your coffee cup.
- High quality materials: Besides being made of high quality BPA-free plastic like the Aeropress, the Kohipress’s chamber is made of premium-grade stainless steel.
- Highly portable: Like the Aeropress Go, the Kohipress’s insulated travel mug design has been built with portability in mind.
Summary
In a nutshell, the Aeropress Coffee Maker is a notable alternative to the French Press which is known to occasionally produce poor tasting coffee and rather annoying to clean. The Aeropress offers more versatility, with where you brew whether it’s at home or on holiday. Making it the ideal travel companion for the coffee lover. Together with a handy travel bag this coffee press is easy to slip into any rucksack or suitcase. If you are interested in a worthy alternative to the French Press, this coffee press comes highly recommended. If you just need to make a few cups of coffee in a minute or so, buy yourself the Aeropress Coffee Maker here.