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The AeroPress Thread

Thank you Bruce for the kind report. You're off on a new adventure. Hope the nose heals quickly.

And JP, I completely agree that heat is of no concern in grinding. Those beans were roasted at near 400F and they'll soon be immersed in 175F water.

Although blade grinders are viewed with disdain by coffee snobs. I'm quite sure that a blade grinder, properly used, can deliver first class results for the AeroPress.

I'm also sure that a cheap burr grinder cannot deliver the goods -- no matter how it's used. Though quality burr grinders certainly can. For AeroPressing here's my grinder rating:

Quality Burr Grinder - First Choice for quality and convenience.

Blade Grinder - Good quality if you time the grind and determine timing that works. Less convenient because you have to help the grind out of the bowl with a spoon or paddle.

Cheap Burr Grinder - I've tested several. One had acceptable grind quality but threw grind all over the kitchen. The others produced such poor grind quality that it would be better to grind at the coffee shop or supermarket.

Best regards,

Alan
 
Thanks, Alan. That's great to know. I was about to rush headlong into buying a burr grinder. But after reading what you wrote, I think I'll tinker with my blade grinder until I get the grounds the right size.
 
Ok, so I've been reading about the AeroPress for the last few weeks and finally purchased one. All I can say is . Yeah. It's that good. I can finally actually make a great cup of coffee on a college-student budget!

Looking forward to a new coffee experience.



- Justin
 
I've found a retailer near where I work, figure I'll get it one day heading home. I do love a nice cup of coffee...and I'll use my old hand-driven burr grinder like I do with fresh beans. :001_wub:
 
Mine arrived on Friday and was promptly tried out. Even without me being dialed in properly I still produced a cup of coffee that I was able to drink start to finish without cream or sugar!

This gentlemen, is a first for me! :001_tt1:

I could taste the Ethiopian Harrar coffee's notes and not once did my tongue hit a patch of bitter. I've been working over the weekend to dial in my settings better but this was a great investment for me. :)

Thank you Alan!
 
well it's as great as everyone has said! I took it to work last night and made some for others, everyone liked it. Later on during the night after I ran out of beans I got a small cup of coffee form our commercial bunn made with maxwell house bulk coffee, it tasted awful, just a few cups of the smooth good stuff ruined me! I actually grimaced as I sipped that other stuff. :ohmy:
I just got some mexican chiapas in and will experiment some more in a few minutes.
 
I've been using the Aeropress almost daily now for six weeks. It's such a simple, yet unbelievably effective device. I marvel at it every time I have a cup of coffee. I thought I'd share something I've learned while using it.

For me, the one thing that consistently affects the quality of the brew is water temperature. If I use water just off the boil, the coffee tends to be bitter. So I really make it a point now to use a thermometer, and only pour in water once it's gone down to 170 degrees F. At that point, the coffee comes out smooth, and it's just hot enough not to scald me.

Anyone else have similar results? I notice a few posters like to use really hot water.
 
I've been using the Aeropress almost daily now for six weeks. It's such a simple, yet unbelievably effective device. I marvel at it every time I have a cup of coffee. I thought I'd share something I've learned while using it.

For me, the one thing that consistently affects the quality of the brew is water temperature. If I use water just off the boil, the coffee tends to be bitter. So I really make it a point now to use a thermometer, and only pour in water once it's gone down to 170 degrees F. At that point, the coffee comes out smooth, and it's just hot enough not to scald me.

Anyone else have similar results? I notice a few posters like to use really hot water.

Hi berzerkeleyan,

I completely agree with your findings. My blind tasting tests on a score of people came to the same result. I find that a lot of people go to great trouble to avoid doing the easy thing -- that is to use a thermometer. They come up with elaborate schemes which are more work and less accurate than simply using a thermometer. There are lots of well-meaning folks out there that think if they bring the water to boil and wait a minute, it will be down to 175F. In fact, it might not reach that in ten minutes. Of course the cooling rate depends on the amount of water and lots of other factors.

Glad you're getting the brew you want -- the EASY way.

Best regards,

Alan
 
I've been using my Aeropress for a couple of weeks now and thoght this would be a good time to report my experience:

i was also surprised by how good the resulting coffee was (even after having my expectations raised by this thread).

I even went to the effort to test the Aeropress at my local coffee shop.
I compared a double shot Americano from the espresso machine to one made with the Aeropress using the same coffee/grind/amount and topping up with water to the same level. They tasted virtually the same! If anything I'd give the nod to the Aeropress for being in some sense 'smoother'. The proprietress was similarly impressed and took down Alan's contact info ????

As for water temperature I'm lucky. I have what is esentially an eletcric samovar that I bought in a Chinatown appliance shop some years ago. I use it for getting multiple infusions from tea by the cup. It has two temperature settings - 184 degrees F and 170 degrees F.

My only area of conncern at the moment is the grind. I won't get my blade grinder back for a month so I'm getting coffee ground when I buy it. The first batch was way too fine (Turkish setting) and wouldn't work for more than 2 scoops. My current batch is at 'a shade finer than drip' and it's OK.

I'm going to experiment with time (from addition of water through pressing) and volume of coffee until I get what works absolutely the best for me.

All in all a product that can be recommended without reservation.

Thanks Alan


Bob
 
OK, I've been a deadicated coffee-phile for many years. I'm also the only one in the house, so my brewing methods are a small Melita filter and a French Press. A dropped spoon just destroyed my press, and I'm in need of a new one. I've heard of this Aeropress, and it has been getting some good (ahem) press, but the question is - how good is this thing? How does it compare to a well-made press or filter cup?
 
Well, if you drop the Aeropress it bounces quite nicely. :biggrin1: And it brews one heck of a cup of coffee, with more control over all parts of the brewing process than other methods.
 
OK, I've been a deadicated coffee-phile for many years. I'm also the only one in the house, so my brewing methods are a small Melita filter and a French Press. A dropped spoon just destroyed my press, and I'm in need of a new one. I've heard of this Aeropress, and it has been getting some good (ahem) press, but the question is - how good is this thing? How does it compare to a well-made press or filter cup?

Lets just say my French Press hasn't moved since the Aeropress showed up...for the price you should really try it.
 
I've been using the Aeropress with sub-optimal coffee (Starbucks :lol: ), and it still manages to make it taste good. I quiver with anticipation to imagine what good beans will taste like going through the thing.
 
I turned my French press into a loose leaf green tea press. I only use the AeroPress for coffee both at home and work. I have a Cuisinart 12 cup for when I need coffee for company.
 
I decided to get one for my Dad's birthday and added one on to the order for myself. They came in last night and I just gave mine a test drive. I used 2 1/2 scoops of Ethiopian somethingoranother from Costco (ground in store on the fine side of drip) and brought the water in the plunger just to boil in the microwave. I let it set for 45 seconds or so, wetted the grounds, and poured the rest in. I stirred for 10 seconds and slowly plunged for about 40. Topped my thermal travel mug off with hot water out of the water cooler, added 2 Splenda and come cream. Fantastic cup. :thumbup: No bitterness. Much better than what I get out of our big Bunn here at work with the same coffee. Now I'll give it a whirl with some of that canned stuff and see what happens. :eek:
 
Well, I gave it a try with some Maxwell House. The normally acidic, bitter cup of crap was much improved to simply a smooth cup of crap. :smile:
 

johnniegold

"Got Shoes?"
I just pulled the trigger on one of these babies. I gotta get away from you guys. :wink: I can't take anymore of the Cuisinart coffee/sludge/mud/yuck/whateveryouwanttocallit
 
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