On a recent trip to Budapest, I came across an Aeropress for sale in a café. Everybody knows holiday money isn’t real money, so buying it abroad made it effectively a free purchase.
I’ve been following the commentary, mostly via Reddit and James Hoffman, on the Aeropress for some time. It always came across as a bit of a gimmick to me; a novelty item for coffee aficionados to argue about.
Fun fact, Alan Adler, the inventor of the Aeropress, also invented the Guinness World Record-breaking Aerobie flying ring. You’ve definitely seen these at some point.
Several months on however, I have to say I’m really impressed. I’m using it every day and it’s my go-to brewing method above everything else I have.
Here’s why.
Why I prefer the Aeropress to my French press
The French press is the closet brewing method I can think of to the Aeropress, so this feels like a sensible comparison to start with.
I own two French presses; a glass one for the home and an insulated steel one for travelling. Both are straight forward designs with the typical plunger screen system. Both suffer from the same three problems.
Firstly, they’re a pain to clean properly. With the Aeropress, you eject the spent coffee grind (satisfyingly) and you’re a quick rinse away from being ready for the next coffee. A more thorough clean doesn’t require removing screws and dismantlement.
Secondly, the filter in the Aeropress prevents rogue coffee grinds getting in the cup. Look, I’m not heavy handed with a French press, but every time, every time, at least one dingleberry finds its way into my mug and it annoys me. Not so with the Aeropress.
Finally, the silt. That harsh, bitter mud that makes it through the plunger mesh on the French press is completely eliminated. Another win for the Aeropress filter here. This really hit home when I travelled without the Aeropress last week. I’d forgotten not to gulp down the last bit of coffee from the French press brew and regretted it instantly. The Aeropess allows you to enjoy the whole cup from start to finish. That’s a win.
Aficionados claim the filter also takes out some bitter oils and the pressure in the plunger improves extraction consistency. I haven’t done a blind taste test to comment, but it’s on the internet so it must be true.
Why I prefer the Aeropress to my Nespresso machine
The Nespresso machine is king of convenience, sure. I spent ten years tolerating, even appreciating, Nespresso coffee for the convenience alone. The quality, however, is questionable. Don’t get me wrong, what Nespresso did for coffee in the 2010’s was a work of marketing genius, and I’d take a machine Lungo over an instant coffee any day of the week, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the standard of specialist coffee available today.
A dash of milk takes the edge off the taste, but when I started drinking it black, it was a no-go for Nespresso going forward. I dabbled with other brands, and even tried grinding my own coffee into custom pods, but didn’t see great results.
On the other hand, the Aeropress is completely agnostic of your coffee preference. It doesn’t tie you into specific suppliers.
The second advantage is the Aeropress travels better. I need coffee every day, but I’ve never been desperate enough to pack a machine.
Why I prefer the Aeropress to my moka pot
When done right, I’ve had some incredible coffee from a moka pot. It’s a completely different brewing method, so hard to say the results are better or worse than the Aeropress. But what I will say is I find the Aeropress far less fiddly and cleaner.
Day-to-day, I’ve found myself reaching for the Aeropress over the moka, which is all the evidence I need.
Are there any downsides?
Filters are single-use. They’re insanely cheap, but you may not want to rely on buying them all the time. If that’s the case, a brewing method that doesn’t rely on these may be a better choice. I believe you can get steel reusable ones, but I’ve heard mixed reviews.
Secondly, a proper brew still takes a bit of time. Your machine coffee will always be more convenient than any manual method. If speed is your priority, there are faster brewing methods out there.
Finally, while the original Aeropress model is excellent, I would be cautious about which one you buy. They’ve gone down the Ninja marketing approach of releasing tweaks and twists of the original product. Reviews for these are varied. People say the glass one is too fragile to travel with and the steel one conducts too much heat. I’d recommend sticking with the original.
Should you buy one?
Put it this way, I do not regret buying mine. I thought it was a gimmick, but I’m well impressed. It’s now my method of choice both at home and when travelling.
I don’t think I’d switch to another brewing method until I convince my fiancé to let me get a barista machine for the house. Even then, the Aeropress sits in the goldilocks zone of quality and convenience, so it’s going to be a harder sell to spend ten times the money on an upgrade.
If you do want to pick one up, here’s an affiliate link (UK) to the one I’d recommend.
Happy brewing!
