I'd had my eye on this bit of kit for a long time, always putting off the purchase because I have a cafetiere already. Honestly, how much better could this really be?
The Aeropress turned up on my doorstep last Monday, and like an excited child I took the first chance I had to make a cup with it. Find out my thoughts after the jump. ;)
This purchase was part of the same spending spree as the Hario Latte Shaker. Just as with that item, this was from Coffee Hit through Amazon and the service was predictably impeccable.
Aerobie is something of a newcomer to the coffee market, their one and only product for it was invented just 9 years ago, but that hasn't stopped them making a reputation for themselves outside of the sports world they are traditionally a part of.
The first thing you notice about the Aeropress when you receive it is the packaging, it's a touch on the larger side and covered in rave reviews about its contents, I wasn't sure of their credibility but my worries soon ended.
Inside the packaging you'll get of the brew chamber, the plunger, filter cap, a measuring scoop, stirrer, grounds funnel, filters a filter holder. That's quite a lot of kit for the money, and I got an additional 350 filters as part of the package I purchased also.
Construction is robust, with heavy duty copolyester for the brewing chamber and plunger body to deal with the high water temperatures. The filter cap, filter holder, funnel, stirrer and scoop are polypropylene and are much nicer to the touch. Everything goes together incredibly simply and the instructions are direct and to the point.
The brewing process is as easy as it comes, though I'm sure it could be refined to improve consistency of flavour, mouthfeel and yield. Where cafetieres fail to filter out all of the fines, this excels. I've been brewing Aroma Coffee's Shropshire Roast in this and my Bodum for the last week, and the resultant cup from each has allowed me to conclude that the Aeropress produces a more balanced, smoother cup with better mouth feel than a french press.
The nature of the brew process combines elements of pour over, cafetiere and espresso brewing. On the pour over side of things, the Aeropress utilises a paper filter (though this can be swapped out for an aftermarket metal one); from a cafetiere perspective we introduce the plunger mechanism and from espresso brewing we understand that increased pressure and short brew times produce a smoother cup at the finish.
Where a paper filter would ordinarily create a thinner cup than french press, in this instance it does not. The supplied filters appear finer than the standard V60 style papers, and so in theory they should have less of an impact on the end product whilst still preventing the fines that cause a gritty cup from your cafetiere.
Aerobie suggest making espresso shots or American drinks from their product, though for me it fits somewhere between the cafetiere and the moka pot in terms of end product. It certainly isn't an espresso maker, but the other options aren't either, what it is however, is a fantastic tool far more suited to every day use than those. The cup it yields is beautifully balanced, irrespective of any rushed brew I could make with it, and I was blown away from the first sip.
The nature of the brew process combines elements of pour over, cafetiere and espresso brewing. On the pour over side of things, the Aeropress utilises a paper filter (though this can be swapped out for an aftermarket metal one); from a cafetiere perspective we introduce the plunger mechanism and from espresso brewing we understand that increased pressure and short brew times produce a smoother cup at the finish.
Where a paper filter would ordinarily create a thinner cup than french press, in this instance it does not. The supplied filters appear finer than the standard V60 style papers, and so in theory they should have less of an impact on the end product whilst still preventing the fines that cause a gritty cup from your cafetiere.
Aerobie suggest making espresso shots or American drinks from their product, though for me it fits somewhere between the cafetiere and the moka pot in terms of end product. It certainly isn't an espresso maker, but the other options aren't either, what it is however, is a fantastic tool far more suited to every day use than those. The cup it yields is beautifully balanced, irrespective of any rushed brew I could make with it, and I was blown away from the first sip.
To conclude, the Aeropress gets 5 stars. It's easy enough to make a quick coffee, cleaning it is as simple as can be, from a cost perspective it won't break the bank and most importantly I can get great coffee with it time after time. I will say that it uses a lot of grounds, this is the only downside to it, but in my opinion that's also where the beautiful body and mouth feel of the end product come from.
When reviewing the Hario Latte Shaker I said the two might go well together, and in the desk drawer at the office that might be true, but I'd be doing the Aeropress a disservice to say the two are on an even par.
When reviewing the Hario Latte Shaker I said the two might go well together, and in the desk drawer at the office that might be true, but I'd be doing the Aeropress a disservice to say the two are on an even par.
As ever, I'll keep experimenting with things to get consistently excellent results in the future. I've no doubt that the Aerobie will make things easier on this front, its user-friendliness and ease of operation make it an incredibly forgiving piece of brewing equipment.
Check back in for more updates on this product in a few weeks. The follow up video review will be available shortly.
Until then.
Luke
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