Aerobie AeroPress Espresso Machine & Coffee Maker

The Aeropress is a simple coffee maker designed by the same genius that gave us the Aerobie flying ring.  I don't know why he decided to make a cofee maker, but I am glad he did.

First off, though, a little background on me.  I am a true coffee geek.  I collect coffee makers of all types - drip, press, vacuum, forced (espresso), lever, even cold coffee brewers.  I roast coffee in my garage and generally feel that I make a better cup of coffee at home than just about any coffee shop or restaurant within 30 miles.

The Aeropress is a simple, lightweight, easy to use coffee maker.  It consists of 6 parts - funnel, scoop, filter holder, stirrer, brewing vessel and plunger.  These parts essentially fit within each other for one nice, compact package that could fit in a purse or laptop bag.  It is entirely plastic or rubber so it is also very light.

Brewing coffee in this is quite easy.  The first thing you do is remove the filter holder from the brewing vessel, put a filter in it, and screw the filter holder back on and put the brewing vessel on top of a standard coffee mug.  Next - grind your coffee (or open your coffee bag if you don't have a grinder) and use the supplied scoop and funnel to add the ground coffee into the brewing vessel. I recommend a grind about 1/2 way between standard drip level and espresso level. If you are making one cup - one scoop.  Two cups - two scoops etc all the way to four cups.  Then take your hot water and pour it over the ground coffee.  The Aeropress manual recommends using water between 165 and 175 degrees, but I find that to be a little too cool.  I usually use water that was pulled off the boil a couple of min before using (about 195).  Usually I boil the water and as soon as the water comes to a boil, I remove the kettle from heat and prepare the coffee maker.  By the time I am done, the water is at the perfect temperature.

After you pour the coffee, let it sit for 10 seconds then use the included stirrer to rapidly stir the coffee for another 10 seconds.  Take the stirrer out and put the plunger in place.  Push the plunger down with steady, even pressure for 10-20 seconds.  At this point, you are done and have made a coffee concentrate that is somewhere between a standard drip coffee in strength and an espresso in strength.  I usually add water to the concentrate (about a 50/50 mixture) and the resultant cup is very smooth.

Cleanup is also a breeze.  Unscrew the filter holder and push the plunger all the way through the brewing vessel (over a garbage can or sink).  This ejects the grounds and filter.  Then give everything a quick rinse in water - you are done!  It takes me longer to sneeze than it does to clean this thing.

All this is well and good, but there are some minor issues.  This maker does seem to use a bit more ground coffee than other methods to make the same amount of coffee in the end.  The coffee maker is also a little 'finicky' just like every other coffee maker I've ever owned.  It takes a little while to find the right grind fineness level, water temperature, and times of steeping, stirring, and plunging to get the perfect cup.

Overall, however, I would say this is a superb, top notch brewer and is my go-to brewer for coffee while travelling.  At around $25 - you can't beat the price.