Interesting. I'm not 'particular' about my coffee, in the sense that I only like certain kinds, but I do like good coffee - I can name all the restaurants who's coffee I've enjoyed on one hand - er, using one finger. I will definitly look into an aeropress. Thanks.

It's gift buying season so here's a two year update on the Aerobie Aeropress and thread bump.

Thanks to Jeff W.'s recommendation in this thread got an Aerobie Aeropress November 2007. Have used it every day since (BTW, it travels well) and it's still in near perfect condition.

Upside: Easy to use, easy to clean, durable, makes an extremely good single large cup of coffee (I use a steel thermos cup). Only $30

Downside: Looks like drug paraphernalia (bong). $30 is too cheap if you're a balla. Might be hard to find. Coffeegeek forum thread on aeropress is now 186 pages long. I don't think it's the only thread.

~ Rick

Nice bump guy

I'm actually about to get a french press, and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for A) the press and B) different coffee to try out? By the way, on average, what will a cup of coffee cost me every morning, obv will depend on the beans but you know, guestimate)

edit: Are there aeropresses that make more than one cup?

Aeropress is awesome. Makes the best coffee I've ever had. I think the step where you stir the grinds before pressing is part of the reason the coffee comes out so good. I can't see any reason to own anything other than the aeropress.

That thing looks badass...coffee...black.....yum

Can anyone address this? I'm about a week away from buying a new coffee maker, so it's time for me to start making a solid decision.

I use the aeropress to make one very strong 16 oz thermos cup of brew and I only use two aeropress scoops of coffee. With the max (I think) three scoops and if not so strong you could use the aeropress to make the about four regular mugs.

My Mom is visiting in a couple months for the first time in seventeen years and loves coffee and I'm hoping to impress her with my cooking since I've never had the chance to do so (she won't let me in the kitchen when I'm back East). I'm looking for a short sturdy container that the aeropress tube will fit over and also pours well (essentially a small measuring cup with a flat top). Plan is to make the maximum amount of coffee, immediately transfer to two quality thermo mugs, then add the near boiling leftover water and milk. Then we can each have two cups and it will stay hot for hours. Not sure Mom will like the idea of a thermo cup but I do know she loves coffee hot.

BTW, Amazon is now selling the Aeropress for $26 with free shipping. Note that the reviews are very good and some have good tips. I'd get extra filters.

I know nothing about the French press except most of the reviewers who have tried both prefer the Aeropress.

~ Rick

Yeah, there's a massive majority of 5 star reviews, and then a couple who go "lol this doesn't make THAT good coffee, and it takes a lot of grind to make a decent cup compared to a normal coffee maker"

Nebiolo, can you clarify: Does it make 4 normal sized cups of coffee (I'd say normal is about 10-12 ounces?) or is it 4 espresso sized cups? I suppose, given that its only $26, I have very little to lose, and should probably just buy it and try it out for myself :P

My thing with the aeropress is that it seems to be really complicated - getting the water to the exact temperature, for example. When I wake up in the morning that is NOT how I roll.

I came home just in time for "Poker After Dark" (with durrr v Helmuth v Cunningham v a solid guy I think I've played at the Bike - gee durrr plays a lot of dominated junk) and during the twenty minutes of commercials (which has sold me on getting cable with Tivo) did some measuring.

I was surprised to find out that the basic swag style thermo-mug I use is about 14 ounces, only a little more than a good size 12 ounce ceramic mug. When I'm alone I make one very strong thermo-mug. My gf is too refined to drink coffee out of a thermo-mug so on the days she comes over I make a regular Mr. Coffeemaker 10 cup pot and we drink maybe half or less. I've come to hate ceramic mugs because I have to constantly reheat in the microwave to keep it hot. I prefer function over elegance.

Anyway, I want to find a cup/measuring cup/container with a flat top that will pour without spilling. Then I'd use the Aeropress to make a enough base to make two decent 12 ounce ceramic mugs of coffee for gf and me (keeping in mind the Aeropress makes faux-expresso and you add hot water to make regular type coffee). Since I usually also have martinis ready to go for gf it's sort of the old couple's (if she read the word old she would kill me) equivalent of vodka and red bull so we can have an active evening (is this too much information?).


No, it's really simple. First, forget the thermometer (except perhaps a few times to experiment for how long off a boil you should wait) or getting an exact temperature. Just boil the water, and get your Aeropress together with ground beans. I can grind, re wrap the beans properly, assemble the Aeropress, brush the beans out of the grinder, and clean the grinder (in my case a simple $15 chopper) all before the water boils.

Once the water is boiling take the kettle off the burner. If you want to use near boiling water wait about five to ten seconds, if you want water nearer the recommended 175 degrees wait longer. Just experiment using time as the offset.

Using the exact same beans the Aeropress blows away the regular coffeemaker. And since I'm not writing a novel/screenplay or trying to meet young chicks I have rarely visit a Starbucks type place .

~ Rick

Does anyone have any experience with the Exceptional Designs Bean Vac Coffee Canister (ED150)?

If you sort the reviews newest to oldest it appears the problem with battery life is solved.

My current methods may horrify purists. If I get a small bag of beans (let's say 8 ounces) at a real coffee shop (not often since none are nearby) I wrap the original bag in three more plastic freezer bags (re-using those bags almost forever since they don't get dirty) and store at room temperature. Generally this amount of beans lasts me about two weeks.

If I get a large Costco bag of beans (I think 40 ounces) I split about 8 ounce off and put it in an old normal Starbucks type bag with the vent and wrap as above and store at room temperature. Then I triple wrap the big bag and store in the freezer. The coffegeek forums seem to frown on freezing beans but nobody seems to mention the triple wrap; my beans never seem to absorb moisture. But they don't seem quite as good as first out of the fresh bag.

~ Rick

Went out and bought a french press and a burr grinder today, not sure why i dint do this sooner.

Thanks guys

Now that I'm awake I remembered there were some Aeropress videos on YouTube; you can watch rather then read my blather. This one seems to be the simplest.

Noticed in one of the other videos what a PITA it is to scoop out coffee out of a container from a grinder (you can't get in the corners). What I do is use decent quality medium size round paintbrush and scoop directly out of the chopper. The chopper (i.e., a mini food processor for $14) is OK since the Aeropress likes a fine grind. I pulse while I assemble and re-bag to keep the heat down.

I also noticed some people simply microwave their water using the top plunger. I might try that.

One more tip - when you pour the hot water into the ground coffee start slowly wetting the top of the grinds. This compresses the grinds a bit and keeps water from instantly reaching the filter and creating fast "drip through' which you don't want. Now fill the rest and immediately stir for ten seconds then press.

~ Rick

Rick, thanks for both posts. That video certainly does make it seem simpler, plus, very relaxing music :P


I think my general lack of coffee-bean knowledge is what's making me so hesitant - I've been using a senseo type thing for the past year, and have only used instant coffee before that, so I know absolutely nothing about coffee beans.

When you buy the beans, you can keep them for as long as you want, as long as they aren't ground? I think I read you saying that you keep them in the freezer, triple wrapped or something.

Okay - but what about after I grind them, how long are they good for? Any special way to store them after grinding?

IMO whole beans start to go stale about about a week. Ground coffee goes bad in a day or two.

I go from beans to the grinder straight to brewing and only store whole beans. With the Aeropress you can get away with a cheap ($20ish) blade grinder sort of like this. That's because it works with a fine, "expresso" type blend (but not super fine, that clogs the filter during the final inch of the press). From my reading the French Press requires a coarse, even grind so you really need to spend the big bucks on a good burr grinder. With the cheap blade grinder I sort of turn it on for a few seconds with a rest in-between several times all while I'm wrapping the beans back up. This avoids heat buildup in the beans which supposedly ruins flavor. The brush makes it easy to get the ground beans out of the grinder into the aeropress funnel (especially with French Roast, that's really oily/sticky).

This is a good link on bean storage but if you Google you will find lots more advice, some of it confusing or conflicting. The coffee threads on the various coffee forums are insanely long and bean storage is hotly debated (I've only skimmed a few threads). One note from the link; when a good coffee shop sells beans they usually package them in a bag with one of those one-way gas valves.

Even with pre-ground coffee I think you'll find the aeropress a giant step up.

~ Rick

Large double double from tim ****in hortons. /thread

Thanks to the detailed advice in this thread :P I have both the aeropress and the Krups coffee grinder in my amazon shopping cart, and will be ordering tomorrow I'm excited, especially because its winter, and winter is prime-coffee-drinking-time, imo

I firmly stand by the french press. Its a bit more time consuming and less passive than a regular percolator, but i believe the flavor is par excellence. Just make sure you grind the beans less fine than a normal drip.

Brewed my first cup with the aeropress. Dericious!

I just got my Aeropress last night. It's pretty good. It's going to take a little effort to perfect the timing, but it shows promise. My first cup was a little bitter, so I used a little less water on the second, much better. I have a french press as well, and I'm sure it won't be abandoned. I predict that I will go through month long or so phases with each method of brewing, pretty much how I skip around with my other preferences for foods and such.

just shipped an aeropress from amazon. cant wait until it gets here.

You might want to check out the aeropress threads on coffeegeeks (linked elsewhere in this thread) but I think bitterness is reduced by using a slightly lower temp water and only allowing the coffee and water to mix for ten seconds or so or perhaps less.

~ Rick

I'm sure people already know this, but i live across the street from a trader joes and their coffee isn't terribly expensive and does me just fine.

coffee = sustenance

So we opened our gifts tonight instead of tomorrow because someone had to leave tonight, and obv I got the aeropress so I'll let you know all know how I find it tomorrow after my first cup imo. I'm excited.

Got some beans too by the way, so going to grind them in the morning, as advised...And then you know the rest.

Excellent coffee, and not nearly as difficult as I had expected. The acidity that I'm used to in my coffee is indeed gone, and it is very smooth and rich. I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning, so I can have another cup :P (I need to get some decaf imo)