A friend of mine is buying one of these and as soon as it arrives in the post will be bringing it over to be put through its' paces. I'll let y'all know what we think of it when that happens.

Java "Loves new toys" phile

Hi all,

I have been in recent discussions with the manufacturer of this product in the US, they are apparently looking for a distributor in Australia.

I am considering buying a couple of units for sampling and evaluation.

Assuming that it can produce a reasonable end-product, would any CS members be interested in purchasing an item like this for use in the office or in the car whilst travelling etc??

Not sure exactly where it would sit in the market as yet - It is not really a high-end, specialist piece of brewing equipment like a syphon etc.  Nor is it a 'Demtel' product either...

But anyhow, if people are interested, please let me know!!!

Regards,

James

I haven't tried the Aeropress, but I can vouch for their frisbees!

- Rob

James,
  Have you got one here to try? I'll assume you have if you're considering importing them. What are your thoughts?

Some of the reviews mention espresso. I wouldn't have thought this possible out of this type of plunger. Do you know if the whole cup of water is forced through the 20 micron screen, or is it just a smaller amount and you top up? I can's see too much effective difference between it and a plunger. Ok, the screen might be finer, but it's still forcing water through coffee grinds.

ChristianS, keen to read your review...

Boris

Hi everyone,

James, Your right theres no Oz outlets just yet. I ended up ordering from www.localsonlycoffee.com, airmail ended up costing nearly as much as the press itself! The price you pay for wanting it yesturday

Theres a few online retailers, all based in the US and all with very similar prices (+/- a dollar or two). Bulk orders would obviously help with shipping costs.

I can't see a device like this replacing Miss Silvia (or any good quality machines), as half the fun is the process of pulling a shot. But the Aeropress is very portable and relatively cheap. We'll see soon enough how easy it is to use, and more importantly how good the coffee tastes.


Regards,

Christian

Hey all,

I got to try a cup of java brewed with the aeropress here this last week and I must say I was very impressed.

I didn't have a chance to really play with it and put it through its full paces testing different grinds and pressures but for a first-shot-guess-at-the-grind-and-pressure the resulting cup was the best non-espresso or Cold Process cup of java that I can remember having.

The coffee used was Nicaragua Angelina Estate taken to the start of the rolling 2nd crack and was 4 days post-roast. It was ground slightly coarser than for espresso with the water heated too 195F.

The water was poured over the grounds, a quick stir given to ensure a complete mix and then the plunger put in and the water pressed out over about 30 seconds.

The resulting cup was incredibly smooth and full of rich flavor with very low acidity. I was very impressed with it!

The filter did a very nice job with no sediments making it into the cup and clean-up was easier and less messy than with a French Press with it appearing to be easy to brew several cups in a row (this wasn't tested).

Overall I'd have to say the Aeropress does exactly what it says it will, giving you a near espresso quality cup of java that is many times better than any brewed coffee I've ever had.

The only downside I see with it is the small quantity of coffee produced. I can see no reason why the design can't be scaled up so it produces several times as much coffee. Four times as much would be a nice mark to shoot for I think as that would produce enough for two people to enjoy a nicely sized cuppa.

I'm hoping to get the chance to play with the Aeropress here at home for a couple of days where I can experiment with different grinds and pressures to see how that changes the final cup. If nothing else I'll probably end up ordering one for myself here in a month or two for the camping season where it will replace my usual Moka or French Press coffee.

Java "Enjoying his cuppa" phile

I just ordered one of these things online from Flags and Kites. Who can resist that name?

lochness

About $54US all up, $30 of that is product. Apparently, Flags and Kites (love that name!) will be giving me a bonus 350 microfilters. The filters, by the way, a said to be reusable.

At this price it's got to be worth a try.

Apparently it's polycarbonate and tough.

The big reason for me is I want some way of preparing medium-roasted beans in something other than a vacpot. I just find that what is ideal for the vacpot is too acidic in the Faema Family. I would rather burn a roast than put up with what gets called "citrus notes". Maybe it's the thermostat on the Faema, maybe it's my iron-pot roasting, but I've just been sampling some of the PNG and Sumatra in the vacpot and they're both nectar. Distinct, distinctive and wonderful. Even though the roast looks pretty dark, they're both too acidic in the Faema. To get good espresso I've been using those Monsoon beans and some overdone Peru beans with a bit of medium roasted Peru for balance. Very dark-roasted Timor was great  in the Faema, till I ran out of beans. (I later tried some professionally roasted Timor given by a friend, but it was way too citrussy.)

Maybe it's just me or my Faema, but I really would like to find a "third way" and lose the acid while keeping the fruit. Maybe the Aereopress will do that. Or maybe I need some tips from the Snobs.

Thanks Christian. I'll wait for your follow-up.

Ooh tempting... I'm tossing up between this and the el cheapo $59 espresso machine Aldi has on special this week (for something at work that is)... hmm what to do what to do...

Excellent an ozzy distributor! Thanks for the info Matt

Now for a little bit of a follow up...

For myself I use one level scoop of coffee, water level between 2 and 3, temp at around 85C.  The grind fairly fine as well, same as I use for miss Silvia. I've found the result to be excellent, very tasty brew. All done in around two minutes including heating the water.

When attempting a double shot, using two level scoops of coffee and water level at 4, the taste was very bitter. Perhaps adjusting temp and/or grind could remedy this?

Anyone else like to share their Aeropress experiences?


Regards,


Christian

Quote:


Hi Curtis,

As the importer/retailer of this product, I think you should contact our head of Admin.... Andy Freeman via PM, to ensure that any potential for conflict of interests or product spruiking can be dealt with in accordance with current site policy. Better to get this ironed out sooner rather than later, if you know what I mean ,

Cheers,
Mal.

Recieved one of these at work today... (OHS wont let me have an Espresso machine in my office & as I've stated before the coffee downstairs sucks).
Had one cup and early impressions are good.


Tim

Just made my first brew in the Aeropress. I agree with all the positive reports. I kept the temp to 75F (Shark kettle), stirred briefly and plunged as soon as I could (but slowly). Result with some Mandheling was great. Lots of flavour, not quite as silky as vacpot but far less coffee for similar strength levels. There was just-right acidity with the very quick brew, even with a grind of 6 on the Rocky. I can't see any relationship between this and espresso; it just strikes me as a very good and very economical way of making coffee. I'll keep my vacpots and my misbehaving Faema Family, but I'm not sure I'll be keeping the French press. Silkiness may be increased by coarsening the blend a little, but why should I bother chasing vacpot flavour? And why chase espresso flavour? Why not just have Aeropress flavour?

Hello All,

I invented the AeroPress and joined this forum to support you with any technical help I can provide.   I've been doing that on the coffeegeek forum for quite a while.   I've learned a lot from questions and issues posted there.  I'm sure I'll learn from you to.

Let me know how I can help you.

(link leading to commercial postings removed by 2mcm)

You can also search for my posts under the same user name that I picked here.

Best regards,

Alan Adler

I'm still using this thing and still liking it. I've just been using my preferred espresso stuff - Ugandan, Malabar, Ethiopian etc -  but I'm going to start roasting coffees of a less earthy type for use in the aeropress (and vacpot) just to see how they go. Better, I suspect.

I keep using the same filter, reinserted wet after a rinse, and it seems to work better than a new filter. Certainly it doesn't lose any performance, so I'll keep using it till it tears.

Congratulations to Alan on making such a clever product.