Any Aeropress users?


 
Ken Barth

Ken Barth

TVWBB Super Fan
Looking for a little advice or info from those that use an aeropress and grind their own beans. I currently use a keurig machine and a 3 “cup” Bialetti Moka Pot. I use 2 keurig pods to make 12 oz coffee (6 oz setting each pod), strong, and add the contents from the moka pot to give me about 16 oz coffee. I want to stop using the keurig machine.

I started looking at French presses and through researching, found the aeropress. Wife doesn’t drink coffee often so this would work for me, one cup at a time. For those that use the aeropress, how do you like it? And, how much better than keurig machine and pods is it? Please stick to taste, not how much better for the environment it is - I kinda get that already.

Also, if anyone can recommend a good internet coffee roaster that sells beans in the bag and roasts per order, please let me know. Thinking of using JavaPresse. They roast, bag, and send out beans within 2 hrs according to their website and are Fair Trade certified plus they will send me a free manual grinder with my first order.
 
@Ken Barth, I use an Aeropress every day, and have done so for over a decade. I love it. I'm also the only coffee drinker in the house, so it is perfect for me. I make (very) strong coffee with a high ratio of grounds per cup, and this little device is perfect. The brew I press from it is very concentrated, so I top off with a bit of hot water to achieve my desired strength. TONS of information on the Internet on different methods, I use the "inverted" method. Best addition in my opinion is the stainless steel, reusable disc filter (though the paper ones work just fine, too.) I have never had a cup from a Keurig that I liked, so you can guess my opinion on which is better.

Beans are VERY subjective. There's the beans/blend themselves, then there's the roast (and, of course, freshness.) I have two pounds of Peet's coffee shipped every two weeks. I have migrated to a medium roast coffee, away from the heavier, French style roasts as I find I get MUCH more of the flavor of the bean at medium, with some roasty-ness still there. You will need to try a variety of blends from a variety of origins to really find what YOU like. I'm on the west coast, so don't really have much to offer in terms of somewhere closer to you that would fit the bill. If you can, find a local outfit roasting their own, and make friends with the roaster! :)

I grind with either a manual Orphan Espresso Lido 2 grinder, or my Barratza Maestro electric burr grinder (if everyone in the house is awake.) :) I travel with my Aeropress, Lido, beans and a collapsible electric boiler.....because, well, I'm a bit obsessed with my morning cup of coffee. :) Oh, and NEVER forget that the water you use can make or break your coffee experience. I always use bottled water when I travel, as you just don't know what the local water will be like.

PM me if you want more obsessive details! :)

R
 
They are great though I don't use mine much anymore. Since my wife and I drink coffee I make a big pot in the AM and save the leftover in a sealed mason jar in the fridge for afternoon ice coffee.
 
Joe Anshien said:
They are great though I don't use mine much anymore. Since my wife and I drink coffee I make a big pot in the AM and save the leftover in a sealed mason jar in the fridge for afternoon ice coffee.
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I love making cold brew (not quite the same.) During the summer, I'll make a BIG batch weekly, and just take what I need each day. So refreshing when it's hot!

R
 
I used to use one, but I took it on a camping trip and it went for a hike I guess, and never found its way home.

I use a french press and/or my moka pot when I want "good" coffee.

During week day / work days I make extra strong, over extracted french roast in my drip coffee maker.

Since I work from home I drink a fair amount of coffee during the day.
 
I guess I should add, I liked my Aeropress, but I never invested a ton of time to perfect it. I bought it so I could have a good fast cup of coffee when camping. It was small enough to fit in the jeep and not take much space.

I replaced it with a Coffee gator, a 32 oz all stainless french press. It's bigger than the Aeropress, yet it made enough for two of us to each have 16oz cups to get our day started..
 
A few friends are coffee nerds and they rave about the Aeropress.

But in my house, we go 1.5 french presses each morning using the large 51 ounce pot size. We have the time now since Covid/work from home. My Bunn coffee maker has been relegated to hot water making.

I spent some $$$ to get a commercial Zojirushi 2L thermal carafe, so the FP coffee stays hot all day without reheating. From there, it goes into a HydroFlask or a Cosori steel mug on a temp adjustable hot plate on my desk. As you might guess, I'm somewhat OCD about my coffee getting too cold. Or too hot either. I also sprung for a Baratza grinder.

Like Rich, I have migrated away from french roast and over to medium roast. Since we go through a LOT of coffee, we buy big bags of Costco whole beans (which are private labeled by Starbucks). I think it tastes great.

Of all the components, I think the grinder is the most important by far. With a good grinder, you can use any method and any pot with good results. Getting the grind right is really important when making FP imo.
 
I have a small one. Coffee is good from it. Again my choice of beans may not be someone else's. But I find it tedious and time consuming given the quantity of brew we have every AM. Plus I am really not a fan of a brew that feels like maybe I can "chew" it a little :D Wife has a cup before work, I have one first thing, one with breakfast and one after lunch so I currently I use a Zojirushi maker and a KitchenAid burr grinder. I grind my beans once every 3 days keeping the rest stored hermetically. I like darker roasts. So while at Costco I will typically buy the non Starbucks ones (really dislike Starbucks beans), or there is a roaster from WI that sells beans through my local Sam's. Really nice brew too. But again I typically buy a dark or french roast.
My coffee maker is a thermal pot BTW so I don't leave my brew "cooking". The Zojirushi holds water until it reaches 195 to 205 before brewing so extraction is pretty good. I also like the OXO Barista Brain. Actually brews the best coffee I have ever had. But the pots are garbage. Seals leak, hard to clean and such. If I could have the Zojirushi carafe with the OXO brewer match in heaven
 
We do a 50/50 mix with Bustillo Espresso and Trader Joes Organic French Roast Decaf as too much caffeine bothers my wife. That decaf is the only one I have found to use water decaffeination instead of harsh chemicals, if anyone is interested. We also have a reverse osmosis water filter we use for all drinking and most cooking. I find it much better than tap water.
 
I have and use the Aeropress on occasion. I like it most with Black Rifle Coffee's Silencer Smooth, a light roast. I have found that a medium grind gets me the taste that I'm looking for, but with the Aeropress, there are only around a million different ways that you can use it.

I also grind BRCC Beyond Black dark roast, for use in my french press, BB and Caribou my Keurig in the adapter cup with the little filters.
 
I am the only coffee drinker at my house. I don't have an Aeropress, but use a french press. Simple, easy to clean, and makes great coffee (for me).

I am sorry I can't make a recommendation on beans. I have a very unsophisticated palate, and typically drink anything. Therefore I use pre-ground Folgers or Kirkland Signature; whichever is cheaper.
 
I have an Aeropress Go for our camper and I love it. It's like having nice treat every morning when we're traveling in the camper. I get free Keurig at work so I am fine with that for my daily.

I fill up the Aeropress to the top with my favorite Community coffee and then use it like espresso and mix it with milk to make enough for both me and the wife. I'm a bit of a coffee philistine so I can't give you much depth of discernment. I got an Aeropress because it worked well for the camper and doesn't take much space. But, I think it makes tasty coffee.
 
C Lewis said:
Cool thing about the Aeropress or French press, if you have a camp stove, gas grill, or Jetboil, or any other way to get the water going, is no problem making coffee during a power outage. (y)
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The first time we had a PG&E power shutoff due to fire danger, I had plenty of gadgets to make coffee including three French presses, a Moka pot even a gold mesh coffee filter and a funnel or a camping coffee pot with a percolator.

And then there was the electric coffee grinder...
 
DanHoo said:
The first time we had a PG&E power shutoff due to fire danger, I had plenty of gadgets to make coffee including three French presses, a Moka pot even a gold mesh coffee filter and a funnel or a camping coffee pot with a percolator.

And then there was the electric coffee grinder...
Click to expand...

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I got an aeropress recently and I like it.
I generally only drink 1 cup of coffee a day, so it works for me.
I used a small french press before and got no problem with that one either.
I guess you can say I am not a very sophisticated coffee drinker ;)
For bigger groups, I have a SS insulated French press, or I make filter coffee. Filter holder, filter bag, coffee and pour hot water ;). I have very limited power.
I did buy a cheap burr grinder (manual) and I am chuffed with that one.
Nice thing about the aeropress (for me) is that it takes a (what I know as) standard grind
 
DanHoo said:
The first time we had a PG&E power shutoff due to fire danger, I had plenty of gadgets to make coffee including three French presses, a Moka pot even a gold mesh coffee filter and a funnel or a camping coffee pot with a percolator.

And then there was the electric coffee grinder...
Click to expand...
The Aeropress will actually make pretty good coffee from store bought pre-ground, but I have a small, cheap hand grinder. I think that it was all of around $12 or so. It's actually a pain to use for more than a cup, but works pretty well.
 
I used to use an Aeropress to make my coffee at work each morning. I carefully measured precise amounts of coffee using a digital scale, timed the steep, then diluted the concentrate with additional hot water. I used a Thermos insulated travel coffee cup, mostly because it will hold the coffee for several hours at very near the proper drinking temperature. I'd leave the top off right after brewing so it could cool to a drinkable temp, then close it up and enjoy sips of near perfect coffee for hours.

In all honesty I prefer a French press, but the Aeropress is hard to beat for portability. When I traveled I'd also take it with me to make coffee in the morning. Never trust the coffee makers in hotel rooms. There's no telling what dirty towel the maid has wiped it out with. As someone mentioned above, I recommend the stainless steel screen filter instead of the paper filters. It lets through the aromatic oils that get trapped in the paper.

Unfortunately, it's been long enough since my daily Aeropress routine that I don't recall how much coffee and water I used.
 
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