SingleServeCoffee.com Forums

[bob]

After Jay's review, I couldn't help myself. I purchased an Aeropress through Locals Only Coffee,

http://www.localsonlycoffee.com/product_p/aer01.htm

and it arrived yesterday.

So this morning at 6:00am I fired up the kettle. Luckily I read the instructions last night as you have so many options between amount of grounds, ground size, and water volume to achieve your perfect cup...not possible to read and decipher that much information that early in the morning. Set-up is easy: place the plunger housing on top of your cup, put in the desired number of scoops of coffee, add water to the desired level, mix for 10 seconds, insert the plunger (wetting the rubber stopper first), and slowly press down.

As I prefer a rich cup of coffee first thing (normally a 3-cup shot from my espresso pot to get me started), I used two scoops of Allegra Espresso Bella Cante from Whole Foods, ground for espresso, to make 2 +/- shots of espresso.

Aerobie recommends using water that is between 165 and 175 degrees for optimal flavor and taste. I stopped the kettle when I first heard the bubbles start to rise. I poured the hot water in my cup to warm it up and then inserted an intsa-read thermometer to obtain the temperature - 175 degrees. I dumped out the water from my cup, added water to the just under 3-cup mark, and followed the directions as noted to press the coffee.

First impressions:
Appearance and aroma: very dark liquid, almost viscous; notes of cocoa and dark berries that I had not noticed before with the espresso pot; a small amount of crema on top which was mahogany in color.

Mouthfeel: WOW! that is some rich coffee that is mouthcoating with an almost glycerin aspect. The acidity was a little more apparent than with the espresso pot, adding brightness to the cup.

Taste: the taste matched the aroma with some added chocolate notes. I detected no bitterness.

Temperature: could be a little warmer, but then again I can also down 2-3 shots of espresso in a few gulps (volume-wise). Warming the cup was definitely key, especially as it was 57 degrees in the house when I woke up.

Clean-up: easy, no more than 30 seconds. Remove the bottom filter from the plunger housing, plunge the used coffee puck into the trash, rinse with water. Done and ready to set up for the next cup.

My wife made a cup a couple of hours later but makes hers Americano style adding hot water to the espresso mixture. We both agree that the amount of water to add will take some experimentation to achieve our perfect cup. Whereas during the week I don't have time to sit and drink a cup leisurely, I intend to try the Americano style on the weekends.

In comparing the Aeropress to a french press, the Aeropress does produce a cup with more body and flavor.

Is the Aeropress more work than my espresso pot? The set up time is the same but the clean up is definitely faster. More work than the Senseo in my office? Sure, but the quality of the cup from the Aeropress is far superior. Would the Aeropress work in an office environment? Highly doubtful.

So overall, I am happy with my purchase and look forward to my next cup of coffee from the Aeropress (even as I enjoy a cup in the office of Molto's Sumatra Mandheling - these and their Kona pods rock!). And how depressing to have to drink a few more cups until I achieve the perfect balance of grounds and water. The horror! The horror!
_________________
Aerobie Aeropress
Senseo
6-cup espresso pot
3-cup espresso pot (first cup of the day!)
1-cup espresso pot
French press

[hoofdpijn]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. I've been on the brink of ordering since the ssc review was posted. Your follow on impressions have pushed me over the edge.

PS. I just ordered. localsonlycoffee has it on sale right now for $28
_________________
-Elliott-

[agentfive]

Amazing review. Thanks for the insights. I'm glad you like it.
_________________
- Jay Brewer
- Editor, http://www.singleservecoffee.com
- Current arsenal: Dolce Gusto, Bunn My Cafe, Senseo, GPOD, OPOD, Keurig B40, B50, B60, B70, & Assorted (N)espresso Machines...

[JustLeft]

Wow, I would have thought they would recommend a temperature between 190-200 degrees. I have never used a french press, so that could be different.
_________________
Keurig B77 - $139
Nespresso Citiz - $369
Keurig Mini - $89
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Tassimo - $169 (Sold eBay)
Wife who puts up with my coffee habit - priceless

[bob]

I was a little surprised as well at the recommended temperature. I had been instructed that the 190 to 200 degree temperative range was optimal by a professional roaster. And that's the range I used when I made french press style. However, the folks at Aerobie must know their product...my wife said she could taste a difference between using 185 degree water (which she used yesterday afternoon in an I-need-a-cup-of-coffee-now fit) and the 170 degree water used this morning. I think you would really have to make two cups side-by-side to know for sure.

Anyway, I made an Americano this morning using the same proportions of coffee-to-water in the press as yesterday. I filled the remainder of the cup with hot water. As expected, the mouthfeel was thinner but the flavor did not diminish. I'll probably just stick to the espresso-style, but it's nice to know if I want to extend the cup with a little hot water, I am not sacrificing too much.
_________________
Aerobie Aeropress
Senseo
6-cup espresso pot
3-cup espresso pot (first cup of the day!)
1-cup espresso pot
French press

[Leah]

I was surprised about the recommended water temperature, too, so I tried a little experiment with some Starbucks Kenyan, ground about drip-fine in a Capresso burr grinder. I tried using boiling water from the kettle in batch 1, water straight from my D90 in batch 2, and water from the D90 slightly cooled to 175 (took less than a minute) in batch 3. Results: Batch 1: yummy, but pretty bitter. Batch 2: Better. Very nice mouthfeel, kind of smooth. Batch 3: Rather cold, but lovely taste and an almost satin texture. Wow. Will warm up next batch with hot milk, or nuke it. Love the Aeropress, but am not coordinated enough to use it weekday mornings in my usual zombie-like state. It is my new weekend pot - the French Press can go pound sand.
_________________
Nespresso D90
Tassimo
Bunn My Cafe
Keurig B50
Senseo

[Hodaka]

well, I broke down this evening and ordered mine from:

http://www.kitchenfantasy.com/shopping_cart/aeropress.html

it was $33 shipped.. my wife will have another cow I'm sure, but I'm really wanting to give this a try.. oh well...
_________________
own:
* Nespresso C100 (my new toy!)
* Aerobie Aeropress
* Bunn My Cafe (home)
* Keurig Ultra B50 (going to sell!)
* 3 Senseos (2 black, 1 blue)

[hoofdpijn]

Mine should be here tomorrow. Can't wait to try it out. If I like it I'm going to take my senseo to work with me and use the Aero for my weekend coffee drinking at home.

My girlfriend thinks I'm insane with all my different coffee makers and a cabinet full of pods. She rolls her eyes everytime I get on ssc.com. "What on earth could you be reading about COFFEE so much?". She doesn't know about the aeropress yet. I can see her face now.....
_________________
-Elliott-

[Bucfanmike]

all right guys..thanks.. my wife just saw me reading this post and following the link and i just got flicked in the head multiple times..

guess no aero for me.. just yet

Mike
_________________
Hi, Im Mike and I have an addiction...
i have tried them all and ended up with:
Nespresso Romeo E350,
Grindmaster OPOD, Toddy Cold Press, Krups kp1010
and now home roasting with HG/BM method

[Hodaka]

[hoofdpijn]

I've had my aeropress for a few days now and after some initial experimentation I've been able to work out a routine that is simple and gives me some of the best coffee I've ever had. I was a bit put off at first, thinking that after using the Senseo for the last year I would be spoiled by the simplicity of the pod experience. Well, I am indeed spoiled but believe it or not, the aeropress is really not that much more work and the quality of the cup of coffee is significantly better. Enough so that the aeropress is going to become my daily use coffee maker.

My routine goes like this:
I wake up, start the kettle and when it's boiling, turn it off. Get in the shower and get ready to go. Grind two scoops of beans to make a double shot, dump the grounds in the aeropress, dump water in (which has cooled to the right temp by now) , stir and press into 12 oz travel mug. Top off the mug with more water from kettle, cream and go. That's it. A fabulous Americano. I can do this in the nearly same amount of time it takes to put water in the Senseo, wait for it to heat up and make the cup of coffee.

Clean up is almost as simple as with Senseo. This was a major concern for me. Simply push the puck of grounds out and rinse the press with water. I don't know how it could be any easier and it surely beats the pants off of my vacuum brewer and any drip machine I've ever used. If you rise out your pod holder and the spout from the Senseo when you clean up, you're doing the same amount of work that takes to clean up the Aeropress.

As for the coffee itself, I'm not so good at colorful language to describe what I taste but I will say that the cup is smooth and extremely rich with a significantly different mouthfeel that I really like. Very silky. No bitterness or acidity at all. Most of all, there is flavor and lots of it. A symphony of subtle tastes and texture. I picked up a bag of Peet's Major Dickasons blend from World market. This is my first experience with this coffee and it's marvelous. The beans are dark and shiney and smell fantastic out of the bag

Since I've been trying to cut back on my caffiene consumption, I really want to make my morning cup count and the senseo just wan't cutting it for me even with the 5 boxes of 3rd party pods that I've purchased over the last few weeks. I'm very pleased with the decision to try the Aeropress. I had to buy a grinder as well so the investment to try this out was more than just the nominal price of the press but it has been worth it.

My experience is based on the fact that I only drink 1 cup of coffee in the morning and that I am the only coffee drinker in the house. As the cups multiply I suspect that the appeal of a machine increases significantly. The added work of the Aeropress perhaps becomes more and more off putting with the number of cups you have to make. However, since you can make up to four shots in the press at one time, the effort to make four Americanos (or two big mugs of coffee) is actually quite minimal. My experience though tells me that, the senseo at least, cannot compete with the flavor of coffee produced by the Aeropress. It's no comparison for me. I've enjoyed my time with the Senseo but it looks like it's going into the cabinet next to my vac pot and drip machine.

If you're on the fence with this one, I say give it a try. I think you'll be surprised by the ease with which you can have a quality cup of coffee.
_________________
-Elliott-

[Hodaka]

I used my Aeropress for the first time yesterday. I ground 2 scoops of beans and used water to the midway point on the 2 shot marking. I then topped off my cup with 4oz for each shot (8oz) of water. The coffee just tasted weak to me. So, I'm wondering if:

1) I started off with too much water (use the lower end of the 2 shot marking?)

2) I added too much water? (directions say 4oz per shot for Americano)

3) I didn't grind my beans fine enough? I tried not to pulverize them, but maybe I should. After all, there's a filter, unlike with my french press..

Any thoughts? I want a cup at least as nice as what I get from a Baronet Kenya AA, and i didn't get that yesterday..

I supplied all of my water directly from my Bunn, which should have been almost the ideal temperature after transferring from my measuring cup to the grounds..
_________________
own:
* Nespresso C100 (my new toy!)
* Aerobie Aeropress
* Bunn My Cafe (home)
* Keurig Ultra B50 (going to sell!)
* 3 Senseos (2 black, 1 blue)

[burke dennings]

You can get help from the inventor of the Aeropress personally.

He's been answering questions about the Aeropress on the coffeegeek forums.

http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/195166

[bob]

And, don't grind your beans too fine. The fine folks at Whole Foods re-tuned their grinder so that the espresso setting actually works now and creates a fine powder that is actually too fine for the Aeropress. The pressure of pushing the plunger down actually created a solid block of coffee in my Aeropress when I used a powdery grind, and I could not get any water to go through. I ended up having to use my espresso pot for that bag of coffee.

As Alan describes in the above link on coffeegeek, grind your beans at a fine drip setting. At that size, I seem to get the best extraction. Alan also recommends using 185 degree water at a 1:1 coffee:water ratio for an americano, and he fills up to the top of the 2. Definitely check out that thread as there is a lot of good information. Heck, he will even help you personally to achieve the "perfect" cup. How's that for customer service!
_________________
Aerobie Aeropress
Senseo
6-cup espresso pot
3-cup espresso pot (first cup of the day!)
1-cup espresso pot
French press

[Hodaka]

as with all things in the kitchen, experimentation is always required

I ground 3 scoops of my Ethiopian 2 beans for 30 seconds (very, very fine).
I used water from my Bunn at the halfway point of the 2 mark.

I stirred for about 30 seconds and although it took a little while, the grind never stopped up and pressed through to make a wonderful 2 shot of espresso with a wonderful crema on top (I had thought crema was not possible with the Aeropress, but it was definitely there and better than that little frothy layer I get from my Bunn).

I added 8oz of water from my Bunn to this and got a heavenly cup of coffee. I like mine on the strong side and this is absolutely perfect. My second try with the Aeropress and I've already gotten a better cup of coffee than I've ever gotten from my Bunn or Senseo.. I'll go as far as to say I've never made a cup of coffee this good at home, ever.. even with my french press...

Cleanup is great. It actually takes me longer and makes more mess to clean up my grinder than it does to clean up the Aeropress. I'm sold..

In short: Wow!!

edit: mmmm, tanzanian peaberry..mmmm
_________________
own:
* Nespresso C100 (my new toy!)
* Aerobie Aeropress
* Bunn My Cafe (home)
* Keurig Ultra B50 (going to sell!)
* 3 Senseos (2 black, 1 blue)