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Aerobie Aeropress - first impressions

PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:08 pm
by wallisj
HI all

Just bought me one of them new fangled aeropress which our friend Steve (hasbean) has started selling....

Just tried my first 2 cups of coffee from it .... gotta say i'm impressed.

Never been a fan of press-pot...always feels a bit gritty and powery (although never used the proper grinder for pp coffee)

With the aerobie, i just left the madcap on the espresso grind and dosed 2 of the scoops provided into the filter ... poured on around 5oz of water ... stirred ... waited ... pressed slowly ... Results...very tasty, clean flavourful coffee..

It claims to be similar to espresso and in a way it is, there is a "puck" produced and it definitely is more of an extraction of coffee than a brew but the flavour is more that of americano....but a very very nice americano.

I used the Sodade (Jo2 thanks) espresso blend with it...definitely could tast the chocolate notes...i think it would be a very good method for cupping coffee (i did get a spoon and do some slurping)

When i did that i could really taste the different flavours.
Overall...happy bunny ... for days when i just want a coffee quickly but without having to mess around resetting the grinder for press.

The total time to brew a coffee is <1 min and cleanup takes all of 10 seconds ... filters are reusable but you get a whole stack of them anyway.

Definitely worth the £25 asking price ... not one for a dinner table since its more a 1 - 2 cup process so there is still a place in the world for other more "bulk" methods but if you just want a quick cup of nice clean joe....highly recommended.

Cheers all

Jamie

PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:53 pm
by CakeBoy
Sounds great Jamie, so what is the volume per "shot" on this new fangly thingemy then, enough for two or just one person? :D

PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 10:09 pm
by wallisj
With espresso grind i've done a good single cup (around 5-6oz) ... you can do a lot more but you need to grind coarser obviously ... i recon you could do 2 decent cups 8 - 10oz in a single go ... it says you can put up to 5 scoops of coffee (provided measuring spoon is fairly average size) ... espresso grind recomends no more than 2 scoops which i can do quite ok for a single nice cup of joe

Not forgetting its designed to brew straight to cup ...

PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:27 pm
by CakeBoy
Interesting. So you can get volumes of coffee that are more akin to drip/press quantities but with the characteristics of espresso then? Sounds good :D

PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 12:01 am
by wallisj
Just checked ... holds around 8oz max ... so really just 1 good cup or 2 small cups

PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:18 am
by CakeBoy
Useful for travelling then, seems it even produces enough for two without having to repeat the process twice.

PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 1:37 pm
by scook94
Well I've had 4 or 5 cups out of my Aeropress over the weekend. I'm also impressed so far. The "espresso" is very drinkable indeed with no taste of bitters or sours but very smooth if not quite as intense as a "proper" espresso. I've read on the CoffeeGeek thread on this device, that crema can be made using the Aeropress but I've had no luck in that department.

As a base for an Americano is really where it's suited best IMHO. I've tried using a small amount of water to brew and then top up with hot water, or using the maximum amount of water and topping up. I'm still not sure which is better, but there isn't much difference.

I have still to find the optimum amount of beans though, the scoop is quite large and will hold approximately 14g of coffee. I find 1 scoop isn't enough and 2 is too much. Strangely enough, as I write this I realise I haven't tried it with 1.5 scoops! Doh! Been playing with other variables! :wink:

It's a very clean cup, very similar to my SwissGold, I'm gonna have to try an a-b comparison with both these devices once I'm settled on the perfect method with my Aeropress.
Where it wins over the SwissGold though, is the quickness of the brewing process and even more so on the clean up afterward. The puck ejects very cleanly and a quick wipe of the base of the plunger is all that's needed.

The maker claims that he re-uses the filter up to 20 times before thowing it away. I'm not so sure about that as the filter gets quite discoloured and even rinsing it under a tap doesn't seem to help much.

All in all it's definitley worth the money. Ideal for travelling with, all I need now is a good hand grinder.... :D

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:30 am
by scook94
Anybody know anything about the metal filters for the Aeropress that I've heard mentioned elsewhere? If they were to work as well as the metal filter on the SwissGold devices, then it's got to be the logical progression...

Steven.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:30 am
by wallisj
I agree that 2 scoops is too much and 1 isn't enough ... still playing but impressed overall

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:06 pm
by Steve
I think they come into there own for traveling, cant wait to try mine out on the next South American expedition.

Steve

PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:15 pm
by espressomattic
Just rub it in why don't you ;)

PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:52 am
by CakeBoy
Steve wrote:I think they come into there own for traveling, cant wait to try mine out on the next South American expedition.

Steve


Groan .... :lol:

PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:09 pm
by Bertie_Doe
Hmm, I was toying with the Eva Solo for my sailing trip this summer, but the Aeropress seems a better bet. Assume a grind slightly courser than espresso?
It would be handy Jamie, if you could supply dimensions as there is limited space in my jolly swagbag.
Quentin

PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:50 pm
by Steve
Assume a grind slightly courser than espresso?



No an espresso style of grind is perfect.

Steve

PostPosted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:36 am
by scook94
cumberpach wrote:Hmm, I was toying with the Eva Solo for my sailing trip this summer, but the Aeropress seems a better bet. Assume a grind slightly courser than espresso?
It would be handy Jamie, if you could supply dimensions as there is limited space in my jolly swagbag.
Quentin


I kinda gave up on my Eva Solo, was way too sludgey even on the coarsest grind. An aeropress is much smaller, just a few centimetres taller than a 330ml can of cola, similar dimension at the top but wider at the bottom so that it sits on top of a regular mug. It's also going to be far more robust for a sailing trip as it's not made of glass!

Steven