Aeropress, My New Coffee Brewing Favourite

The Aeropress is rather a cult coffee brewer and few non-coffee-nuts know about it. But from the first cup of coffee I brewed with it, I was hooked. I now use it regularly for making coffee and my French press has been relegated to the back of the cupboard.

The Aeropress’ brilliance is in its simplicity and ease-of-brew. Measure in your coffee, briefly steep your grounds in the main chamber and then plunge the coffee through a paper filter directly into a mug. Cleanup is simple: unlock & remove the filter cap, press out the coffee puck + paper filter then rinse/wipe off the plunger. Simple.

As for brew quality, if you’re consistent, it’s consistent. It doesn’t make the greatest cup I’ve ever had, but it does produce a nice, smooth cup of coffee and you can vary that quite a bit with ground levels and types.

The Aeropress’ design is rather underwhelming which may make you skeptical of its capabilities. It is (to borrow a Jony Ive-ism) unapologetically plastic. Which, I suspect, makes it more durable and keeps it relatively inexpensive –you can get one for around 30$USD

The take away: it consistently brews a great cup of coffee, it takes only a few seconds to clean and it has a plethora of accessories and brewing variations –if you’re into that.