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  • #31
    Re: Aeropress?

    It might well be worth splitting this topic to create a new topic on filter.

    I have to say that I just dont get the seeming lack of enthusiasm for filter coffee. CS members seem to have nothing but reverential oohs and aahs for cupping, vac pot and clover, yet few people seem to have any time for filter, which produces a similar cup.

    Filter is quite popular in the US of A, including coffee professionals. They have a much easier time getting very high quality green coffee than we do here, so I think that its worth at least giving them some consideration. Not to mention the surprising number of roasters and other coffee industry dudes here who surreptitiously enjoy drip. At the end of the day, closing your mind to it only really deprives you of anything.

    Judging by your post it sounds like you dont have much time for the Aeropress, which is fine. Though Im kind of wondering how often you may have actually used one. People who do use it regularly seem to be very satisfied with the results, and as you say, its whats in the cup that counts.
    I think that to some extent I might just have different taste preferences from other people. I used the aeropress quite extensively when Veneziano added it to their range and I wanted to work out how to use it to be able to advise my customers. I thought that the inverted method to make a long black type drink was the best, and was quite good if thats what you were after.

    Personally, I too prefer having a long black when using the Aeropress (a couple of times a day). As for drip coffee, I find it doesnt provide anywhere near the spectrum of body or flavours the Aeropress can offer using different grind settings and coffees.
    I agree that aeropress brings out more body than drip; the gravity feeding limitation of drip means that you only get so much stuff in the cup. However, I think that neither aeropress nor french press are really able to capture the array of flavours, or, at least, to reproduce the flavours with as much clarity. It may well be that this isnt coincidence; perhaps it is the absence of whatever compounds create body that allows the more subtle flavours to speak up louder. Its like tasting the top of a cupping bowl compared with the bottom. Again, Im not saying that one is better than the other, Im just saying that most of the time I enjoy being able to really appreciate the different flavours that coffee has to offer.

    And BTW, 350 Aeropress filters for $6.00 works out at roughly a third of the cost of what youre buying at safeway.
    ... best three cents per cup I ever spent ;P

    I bought a bodum kona around a year ago and found the gold mesh weave to be suspectly similar to the swiss gold mesh (id go as far as to say identical except for the little bodum insignia), but im pretty sure a simple google search yields a number of online traders who sell for around $25, but you dont get the cool bodum caraf!
    Thanks for that, Ian. Last time that I googled, nothing came up.

    THe thing that bugs me about the cone drip is how wasteful of coffee it is - you probably need about 50 grams of coffee to get a decent cup - so what you save in gear you spend in coffee.
    If you were using that much coffee, you must like coffee with a very high brew ratio. Filter is not a good way to brew this style of coffee and your experience perfectly illustrates what I have been saying - different people have different preferences.

    There is an excellent chart around that shows the effect on flavour of changing the amount of coffee that you use here

    Also, there is a risk that, as the water drains through, some of the coffee will be overextracted and some underextracted, and the water cools dramatically along side all that coffee.
    One of the first things that I did when I got my pourover drip brewers was to stick a thermocouple in the top, thinking that I wanted to see how bad those pieces of junk were. I was forced to eat my words when the temperature drop across the brew turned out to put most espresso machines to shame. When I get some time, I guess that I should take a few photos.

    It is basically impossible to control the process.
    That is totally incorrect. You can control the brew temperature by changing the temperature of the water that you pour in. You can control the grind and dose as for any other brewing method. With some brewers, you can have a steep time before the main brew starts.

    To give you an example, today I thought that the coffee that I was drinking was a bit peppery and slightly bitter. A simple grind adjustment three notches coarser fixed that. I am looking forward to learning more from Lingles book, when I get it.

    The Aeropress allows the user to control some of the variables to get the extraction rates right.
    What the Aeropress allows the user to do that drip does not is to force the extraction to terminate when they want. If you prefer the flavours that you extract from the early part of an extraction, chances are that you will appreciate this feature of the Aeropress. You can also increase the steep time by using the aeropress in the inverted method. Other than that, you can control the variables in exactly the same way as you can with a filter brewer.

    Cheers,

    Luca

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    • #32
      Re: Aeropress?

      Paul Geshos from Mecca really likes the #2 Swissgold filter and the porcelain drip cones - those are harder to find and more expensive, but the Swissgold can be reused
      I have reused my first Aeropresso filter 13 times now. A quick rinse, place on paper towell, fold over and press. Almost dry. Place back in filter holder and reattach to unit. Replace plunger and press to bottom to force air through. Just raise the plunger slightly off the filter paper and voila ready for storing. Takes about 30 seconds off ones life.

      For six bucks, 360 or so filters per pack with at least 13 uses suggests a filter pack will last around 13 years .

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Aeropress?

        I did the aeropress inverted method today with roughly three scoops of coffee (why the scoop has to be so big?)

        Put 40 ml, let sit for 15 minutes. The push the liquid out of the thick sludge. Ooo...very dark.

        It tasted.... :P~

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: Aeropress?

          Originally posted by rudy link=1215044814/20#32 date=1216015459
          I did the aeropress inverted method today with roughly three scoops of coffee (why the scoop has to be so big?)

          Put 40 ml, let sit for 15 minutes. The push the liquid out of the thick sludge. Ooo...very dark.

          It tasted.... :P~
          ;D ;D ;D

          Just goes to show rudy, when all else fails, follow the instructions!

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: Aeropress?

            Originally posted by rudy link=1215044814/20#32 date=1216015459
            Put 40 ml, let sit for 15 minutes.
            Holy snappin ducks bills Batman.... Thats a lonnng, lonnng time

            Mal.

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: Aeropress?

              Hehe, now the aeropress is inverted again with the same mix except this time cold water.

              Will see how it goes tomorrow morning. I love this thing ;D

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Aeropress?

                Originally posted by luca link=1215044814/20#30 date=1215954827
                Filter is quite popular in the US of A, including coffee professionals.  They have a much easier time getting very high quality green coffee than we do here, so I think that its worth at least giving them some consideration.  Not to mention the surprising number of roasters and other coffee industry dudes here who surreptitiously enjoy drip.  At the end of the day, closing your mind to it only really deprives you of anything.

                Luca
                In desperation I had a coffee bag coffee at the end of today and, surprisingly, quite enjoyed it.

                I always thought that the best stuff came out in the first instance and all the bitter stuff came out later.  Better to mix the concentrated shot with some clean hot water than put it all through your grounds.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: Aeropress?

                  We set out for our annual July pilgrimage to Brisbane this year in a Mercedes Sprinter Campervan. This was due to taking our little 13 year old Foxie-Kelpie cross dog with us. She had just had a 6 cm. lung tumour removed and needed convalescence time at our holiday time . We usually make the dash in the car.
                  A top prority was to take the Aeropress and KG 100 grinder and some good coffee beans (thanks Chris). We would buy some more beans in Brissie to tide us over until we could roast again when back home.
                  We had great coffees on the road. At breakfast time we pre-ground for our lunch stop as we had no power once we left the caravan parks in the mornings.
                  On arrival at the relatives at Narangba we continued the tradition of the Aeropress. They were fascinated by the procedure and enjoyed the coffee sessions immensley.
                  On Sunday July 20th we decided to drive to Yandina and visit Pioneer to stock up on some more great coffee. What a boo boo. They were closed. Not being defeated we drove across to the Sunshine Coast Airport to drink and enjoy their coffee and purchase the beans we had driven 1500 kilometres for. As soon as we enterd the airport we could smell the delicious coffee aroma. We were not disappointed in the coffee nor the excellent Hertitage blend beans we purchased. We were like kids in a lolly shop.
                  Monday afternoon we decided to go to Shots at Burpengary and have an afternnon coffee. Caught out again. Shots shut at 3p.m. It was 3.10 p.m when we arrived. Damn we had waited a year.
                  The relatives were impressed with the lovely Aeropress taste using 2 scoops of beans, grinding a little coarser than for espresso and filling press up to 4 with 85-90 deg. water. Stirring this for 10 seconds then pressing. This was divided into 2 big cups (or mugs) and hot water added, milk and sugar to taste.
                  We will be back in 2009 and will visit our favourite coffee spots (making sure they are open this time before we venture out). We had hoped for a visit to Naked Coffee etc. but time ran out. Thank God for the Aeropress.
                  Herbie.

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                  • #39
                    Re: Aeropress?

                    I usually make a short black and I use the finest grind I can. The bottem left pic is a single scoop and is about 40mls of liquid. The next pic has been diluted with water, then cream and finally bonsoy soy milk. I tried making a long black with the same amount of coffee but all the water added at once however the final result is more bitter and not as nice as making the liquor and diluting later.

                    The final result is completely grit and sludge free and tastes perfect down to the last drop.



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                    • #40
                      Re: Aeropress?

                      Welcome to CS yummyfur and thanks for the pics.

                      Good for you for experimenting till you found what suits you best.  What a lovely journey coffee is!

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                      • #41
                        Re: Aeropress?

                        Just got an aeropress this week and in a word "smooth". First cup was "Brazil Yellow Bourbon", I couldnt believe the clarity and smoothness. Had 2 other SOs since then and all good but very different tasting. After reading Lucas comments I will feel obliged to get the old drip and plunger back out and try some different things.
                        I have been experimenting with a Dutch conical burr hand grinder "De Ve" that I got on Trade me for $10.50 and then the Compak on different settings, good fun.

                        Cheers
                        Chris

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                        • #42
                          Re: Aeropress?

                          Hey, Yummyfur,
                          How long are you steeping your short black for before you press?
                          boiling the water and waiting, or do you have a specific temp. for the water you use?

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                          • #43
                            Re: Aeropress?

                            I had this photo sent to me by someone who took their AeroPress with them to Vietnam.

                            Apparently its a hit with the locals, though condensed milk is clearly mandatory.



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                            • #44
                              Re: Aeropress?

                              Hi all just got my Aeropress yesterday (thanks for the quick service Dennis) I was really impressed with the quality of the first shot i pressed, considering i havent had time to roast my own & desperatelly sort out some Mc donalds beans (I know ,I know) but the tasted really good in silvia & i used the same grind for Aeropress with great results.
                              Not quite espresso but better that drip or perc coffee.
                              gotta go coffee is calling!

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                              • #45
                                Re: Aeropress?

                                My two cents worth today is that I have finally realised that some beans suit aeropress or plunger much more than espresso

                                Eg my lightly roasted Monsoon Malabars are aweful for espresso - Ive gotta use 30 grams of coffee to even get anything like a decent shot. In the aeropress on the other hand the coffee produces great coffee - tasty, sweet and rich.

                                Now I have beans for espresso at home and beans for work and never the twain shall meet.

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