AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker

Makes an excellent cup of coffee quickly and clean-up is an absolute snap. However, it wants over twice as much coffee per cup as my Melitta filter which probably accounts for much of the flavour.

I've owned every style of coffee maker imaginable (except a vacuum pot) and this makes the best except for a perfect shot from my Rancilio Silvia. Even the best baristas can't produce a perfect shot every time and I'm *not* one of the best. Plus "real" espresso is labor intensive, especially at 7am.

I had been in the market for a super-auto espresso machine ($2k +) and tried every one that Williams-Sonoma had to offer. I wasn't happy with any of them and decided to stick with my french press. A coffee fanatic website suggested the Aeropress and I ordered it from Amazon the same day. It is far superior to anything that comes out with the touch of a button. I don't have anything against the Nespresso or Jura or their brethren but this blows them away.

To be clear, this gizmo doesn't make espresso. Its coffee is heavier than normal with a thicker mouth-feel but it ain't espresso. However, it is the best coffee I've ever had and far better than you can get at most coffee/espresso bars.

Don't overheat the water -mid 180s is good. Their recommended 175 seems too low.

Use good beans and grind them yourself.

Enjoy!

Wow, finally a voice of reason (see Franz Kaffkeine's review) amongst the throngs of adoring reviewers.

You're spot on Franz - the flavor of the Aerobie is not good and it does require more beans than one should need to make a good cup of coffee.

I've been using the Aerobie for over a month and every single cup I make is an experiment - and one that usually fails. I alter water temp, bean quantity, grind, and steeping times in an attempt to reach Aerobie Nirvana but it never comes. I keep changing these variables with the hope that the resulting coffee won't be so harsh and bitter tasting but even after a month of experimentation, the coffee is just too bitter and lacks flavor.

Since, in a theoretical aspect, the Aerobie is not that far away from a French press, you'd think that there must be a way to brew good coffee with it but I can not find it. My very last attempt will involve using a very coarse ground similar to that used for a French press as I know that a sure way to brew bitter coffee in a French press is to use too fine a grind. We'll see what happens.

One thing I have to compliment the Aerobie on is the excellent full body of the coffee. No grit (like a French press) and almost good to the very last drop (completely unlike a French press).

If you're coming from a low-end dripmaker, you may not notice the lack of flavor but still, you may be "stung" by the bitterness. It's a shame that such a convenient, easy-to-use and easy-to-clean coffeemaker lacks the one critical element: flavor.

If you're having trouble compressing the Aerobie, it means you're simply using too fine a grind and you're slamming into the laws of physics. But if you're using too fine a grind, you're probably experiencing real bad coffee flavor as well. Though the Aerobie recommends a very fine grind, I'm assuming they are referring to brewing espresso. I have found that using a fine grind in the Aerobie is a sure way to brewing horrible-tasting coffee.

I have to admit that, after a month of experimentation, I have brewed some half-decent cups of coffee with the Aerobie but even so, the flavor was always noticeably lacking. The most important tip I can give about using the Aerobie is monitoring water temperature. If you pour water straight off of boiling into the Aerobie, the resulting taste will be very harsh and metallic.

I'd love to give the Aeropress more than one star but if it can't brew good-tasting coffee...

At first, I was skeptical of this product. It seemed too good to be true, but everyone was recommending it, so I gave it a try. This is undoubtedly one of the best appliances I ever bought. The quality of coffee I get from the Aeropress is exquisite. The simple, efficient and clean way to make wonderful tasting coffee is like nothing I've ever come across before. If you don't buy the Aeropress, there is nothing that will save you from the indescribable despair of not tasting this authentic, superior coffee making experience. Buy it, buy it now! What're you waiting for?

Well, despite the legions of disciples besotted by this product, I didn't like the Aeropress. I bought one with the highest of hopes for a quick, smooth single-serve cup of coffee, with minimal cleanup. What I got was a month of tweaking coffee amounts, steep and press times, and water temperatures, none of which yielded a decent cup. The vaunted silky smoothness of the Aeropress cup landed on my taste buds as an utter absence of flavor. Desperate attempts to extract some sort of taste usually yielded a bitter cup.

Furthermore, the amount of pressure required to press this little bugger is not trivial. I'm a 52-year old man, have a decent pair of guns for forearms, and found the effort to plunge the "syringe" an annoyance.

And lordy, a HALF a cup of beans to brew two puny shots of concentrate? Come on. Good coffee costs big bucks. I may have a reasonably refined coffee palate, but that doesn't mean I'm going to crack open my 401k to pay for my habit.

I finally gave up and went back to my Chemex. A bit more of a hassle to use, but that first robust, smooth cup was enough to remind me what the brown stuff is *supposed* to taste like. And I used exactly half as much beans to get that cup.

Sure the Aeropress is inexpensive, but after about two years of doubling up on the amount of coffee you need to make one cup, you've wasted enough money to buy an entry-level espresso machine. Or 10 Chemexes.

Sorry, but for me, the Aeropress just plain simply didn't work. Advocates will say I didn't experiment enough. Maybe so. But life is too short to waste a month of mornings producing a swill that leaves you poorly equipped to face the rigors of the day!

The one star I do give it is for its ingenious design, quick prep and easy cleanup. It's just what happens in between the prep and the cleanup that the problem!