Aeropress : Portable Perfection

The Aeropress has, for years, been regarded as one of the best, if not the simplest way to make a good cup of hot coffee.

The hexagonal cardboard box looks like something out of a late night informercial ad, and the kit looks too simple to be true.

Matt Toogood over at Raw Coffee Company had nothing but praises for this setup. A quick search on Google reveals a ton of tips and tricks to make this the ultimate coffee maker, and one such technique involved upside down brewing which creates an opportunity for the grounds to properly bloom.

But first, what’s in the box…

There’s the body and plunger, which had me baffled for a good half hour before I realised that I needed to use my thumbs to push up against the silicone seal to push the plunger back up and out

Then there’s the filter holder (unnecessary, but lends a nice touch) which holds a pack of 350 filters (included in the box), a funnel (for klutzes who can’t scoop grounds into the Aeropress body without spilling, a coffee scoop, a stirrer, and a filter holder.

After figuring out how to separate the plunger from the body, the rest was easy. So easy that I refused to believe it would produce good coffee, but I had nothing to lose, so…

Step 1 — place a dry filter onto the inside of the filter holder

Step 2 — wet the filter holder with hot water, preferably around 85°C and attach it to the bottom of the Aeropress

Step 3 — measure out the amount of coffee you want to make using the scoop. 1 scoop gets you the equivalent of a double espresso. scoop grounds into the Aeropress body

Step 4 — place Aeropress onto top of a study cup. I use a cheap office mug which I drink out of.

Step 5 — pour in hot water (no more than 85°C) into the body until it reaches the number corresponding to the number of scoops you used

Step 6 — attach the plunger to the top and apply firm, constant pressure until the plunger reaches the bottom. This should take around 20s, max

Step 7 — remove the Aeropress from the top of the cup and be overcome by the awesome smell of fresh coffee

Cleaning is a breeze. Like really idiot-proof — just screw off the filter. The paper filter will remain stuck to the body. Just place it over a trash bin (I have a compost bin for this now) and toss out the grounds — don’t waste, they make great fertilizer!

I’ve found the coffee to be much better than expected. Is it the best I’ve had? I can’t say for sure, but it’s certainly up there with the other coffee makers I own and use, and definitely as easy to use as a French Press, with better results.

I also love that it’s travel-friendly (there’s practically nothing breakable), just bring freshly ground coffee in a ziplock bag, and have some hot water available, and you’ve got yourself a brilliant brew on the go.

Double bonus that this setup isn’t expensive. I got mine for AED160 from Raw Coffee Company, plus AED85 for a 500g bag of Ethiopian Herra (ground for the Aeropress), which works out to around AED2.70 per cup of awesome.