AEROPRESS REVIEW: WHAT MAKES IT A GOOD COFFEE AND ESPRESSO MAKER?
The AeroPress is an icon among coffee lovers. Let’s see why.
Photo: Julia Bobak
If you’re new to coffee brewing or you’ve never strayed from your drip coffee machine, you might wonder what all the fuss is about.
The AeroPress is an innovative pressure-powered coffee press invented in 2005 by Alan Adler. I love this manual brewer because it’s easy to use, affordable, and makes great coffee. Plus, it’s lightweight and portable, making it my go-to choice for camping and travel.
WHAT I LIKED:
- Easy to use and clean up
- Allows a lot of control over your brew
- Compact, lightweight, and durable
- Affordable price
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
- Can only brew small volumes of coffee
- Not aesthetically pleasing
Does that sound like something you need in your coffee toolkit? Read this Aeropress review for all the details.
A Full Review Of The AeroPress Coffee Maker
The AeroPress is one of the most popular coffee brewing methods, beloved by coffee geeks and beginners. Its low price and easy-to-use design make it approachable for coffee newbies. While its delicious coffee and room for experimentation appeal to the pros. There’s even an AeroPress World Championship!
For such a simple design, there is a lot to talk about regarding the AeroPress. So let’s get started.
How We Rated It
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Aesthetic Appeal
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Ease of Use
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Custom Brewing Features
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Portability
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Value for Money
Design Features And Aesthetics
The AeroPress doesn’t have the elegance of manual pour over brewers like the Kalita Wave or the Chemex, but that’s not its goal. Its design is about being practical, light, and portable.
I didn’t buy the AeroPress to show off on my countertop. It’s for taking out of the cupboard for a quick coffee or shoved in my backpack for a caffeinated adventure. It’s not unattractive but is a wonderful example of function over form.
The recently released Aeropress Clear does away with the gray plastic of the Original, offering a bit more visual appeal.
What’s in the box?
My Aeropress arrived in the classic hexagonal box.
The unboxing.
Unboxing revealed the brew chamber, plunger, filter cap, scoop, 30 paper filters, and an instruction guide. Older models of the Aeropress Original included 100 filters and a filter holder, but cuts have clearly been made to keep costs reasonable.
What comes inside the box.
The brewing chamber has a 10-ounce capacity and is marked with four brew sizes. The whole kit, minus the filters and instructions, weighs just 7.75 ounces and measures 4.6” tall by 3.6” in diameter.
The Comparison Table For All Aeropress Products
Take a look at how the Original Aeropress coffee maker stands against the Aeropress Go or XL in the table below.
 |  |  |  | |
Original | Go | Clear | XL | |
Capacity | 10 oz | 8 oz | 10 oz | 20 oz |
Max cups | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Material | BPA-free polypropylene | BPA-free polypropylene | Tritan plastic | BPA-free polypropylene |
Weight | 220 g | 170 g | 233 g | 286 g |
Dimensions | 5.26” x 4.22”⌀ | 5.3” x 3.9”⌀ | 5.26” x 4.22”⌀ | 7.75” x 4.25”⌀ |
Accessories included | Scoop, stirrer, paper filters | Scoop, stirrer, paper filters, filter holder, mug with lid | Scoop, stirrer, paper filters | Scoop, stirrer, paper filters, Aeropress carafe |
Price | $39.95 | $39.95 | $49.95 | $69.95 |
How Do You Use The Aeropress?
I found the Aeropress was an incredibly forgiving brewer with virtually no learning curve. I made delicious coffee on my first attempt, and it only improved as I refined my recipe.
Unlike pour over drippers, there’s no need to master a special pouring technique – or even use a gooseneck kettle.
The brewing setup.
My process to brew a single cup of coffee is to add 18 grams of medium-fine ground coffee into the chamber, followed by 9 ounces of 200 °F water. Then I steep for 1 minute. Check out our step-by-step recipe for making coffee with an AeroPress for all the details.
After a fair amount of experimentation, I found I prefer the AeroPress inverted method when I brew at home. I stick to the standard method when camping; balancing the brewer upside-down is trickier without a countertop.
The inverted method.
I always brew coffee by weight at home, but the included scoop is handy when I’m away from my scale. I found a level scoop holds about 11 g of ground coffee.
Brewing Aeropress coffee.
The Alan Adler Aeropress Recipe
Alan Adler famously recommends a super-low brewing temperature of 175 °F, which I was curious to try. I struggled to achieve a good extraction with these parameters, except when brewing very dark roasts. I recommend this recipe if you’re a dark roast fan looking to minimize bitterness.
How much coffee can I make with the Aeropress?
The Aeropress claims to brew one to four cups of coffee, but I tend to use mine to make one cup of coffee at a time. The recipe above yields a smooth-tasting coffee that fills a standard 11-oz ceramic coffee mug.
To make four cups, you need to increase the coffee-to-water ratio to brew a strong coffee concentrate. Then dilute it with hot water to make four servings, like you’re making Americano. In my experience, these end up either very small or very dilute. Realistically, I’d say it can brew up to three cups of coffee.
What grind size is best for Aeropress?
The Aeropress is quite forgiving of grind size, provided you adjust the other brewing variables to compensate. For a first pass, I recommend a medium-fine grind for AeroPress, like table salt. If the plunger goes down too easily, your grind is too coarse; if you struggle to press, your coffee grounds are too fine.
Ground coffee inside the Aeropress.
Clean Up Is Easy!
A feature I love about the Aeropress – especially when I’m out in the backcountry – is that it’s virtually self-cleaning! After brewing, invert the Aeropress, remove the filter cap, and keep pressing the plunger. Out comes a nice, easy-to-discard coffee puck. Then just rinse everything with water.
The cleanup puck.
I tend to be this basic with my at-home clean-up as well, if I’m honest. But for a more thorough clean, it’s entirely dishwasher-safe on the top rack.
What Is So Special About Aeropress?
In my opinion, what makes the Aeropress special is its versatility. Despite its simple design, this manual coffee maker gives you a lot of room to flex your barista creativity. That’s why the World AeroPress Championships is such an exciting event.
You have complete control over your brew by adjusting the grind size, water temperature, amount of coffee and water, and extraction time. You can also play with the filter by doubling up or opting for a metal mesh filter (my favorite). Or you can add an Aeropress accessory to switch things up.
The coffees I brewed with the Aeropress were sweet and smooth with very little bitterness. The small but strong shots of coffee make great jumping-off points for various drinks. The most common option is to dilute it with hot water like an Americano, or you can add steamed or frothed milk to create cafe-style drinks. You can even use your AeroPress to make cold brew coffee.
Or check out this video to see Steven from Home Brews Coffee use it as a no-bypass brewer:
Which coffee is best for Aeropress?
The Aeropress can brew a delicious cup using any high-quality coffee beans. I’ve enjoyed all roast levels and flavor profiles of specialty coffee with mine.
I even performed an extensive Aeropress coffee review, brewing 15 different beans. My overall favorite was the Koa Coffee Kona Grande Domaine, but it really depends on the style of coffee you enjoy. Personally, I usually opt for darker roasts when making espresso-based drinks and medium or light-medium roasts for regular coffee or cold brew.
Just remember you might need to adjust your recipe to optimize the extraction of different coffees. I use a finer grind and hotter brew temperature as the roast gets lighter.
Can the Aeropress make espresso?
The AeroPress cannot make true espresso. By definition, espresso brews under higher pressure than can be achieved by an AeroPress. However, because the AeroPress brewing process is pressure-based, it can brew a concentrated shot of espresso-style coffee. In fact, Adler has said his invention was inspired by espresso machines (1).
The filter cap on the Aeropress.
That makes the Aeropress a great option if you want to make something like espresso at home without spending a fortune on a machine. I actually have an espresso machine, but sometimes I still use an Aeropress to brew a “shot” because it’s quicker, quieter, and easier to clean.
The result is similar to a Moka pot, but I found the Aeropress brew smoother and less prone to bitterness.
Is Aeropress better than French press?
I get this question frequently, and there’s no one answer. It depends on your taste and priorities.
Despite both being presses and immersion brewers, the two are pretty different. The Aeropress uses higher pressure, so it brews faster and produces a smoother cup with less bitterness. The paper filters yield a cleaner brew with a milder body.
Coffee from a French press takes about four times as long to brew. The coffee oils stay in the cup thanks to the metal filter, giving a rich and full-bodied coffee. The French press can brew larger quantities, making it the better choice to serve a crowd.
The Ultimate Travel Brewer
I can’t praise the AeroPress enough for portability. It is one of the best coffee makers for travelers and as portable as a coffee press can get. It’s light, small, and compact. And it’s BPA-free plastic build is virtually indestructible.
It doesn’t require electricity, making it a favorite for camping or road trips (2). You can even fit a small hand grinder inside it for the ultimate coffee-on-the-go setup.
“The AeroPress is the undisputed champion of travel coffee brewers.”
Aeropress released the AeroPress Go a few years ago as an even more travel-friendly option, with a smaller size and included mug. But I still prefer the Original Aeropress for my adventures.
The Go has a tiny brewing capacity that can really only brew one cup at a time and can’t fit a grinder inside. For a coffee geek like me who demands freshly ground beans on the road, the Original is more practical.
Related: Aeropress vs the Aeropress Go.
Is Aeropress Worth The Money?
Yes! The moral of the story is THANK YOU, Alan Adler, AeroPress inventor! Forgive my enthusiasm, but the Aeropress offers so much brewing versatility for its price – not to mention its indestructible build.
You can buy an Aeropress now for less than $40 and brew amazing coffee for decades. It’s hard to complain about that kind of value.
It’s a bit more expensive than the cheapest French press models or the Hario V60 but in the same price range as pour-over coffee makers like the Kalita Wave. And it’s much more affordable than a Chemex or any decent automatic drip coffee maker. Plus, the Aeropress is made in the US and has a 1-year warranty.
You do have to buy paper filters, but they are very cheap, and you can reuse them to stretch your budget. Or you can invest in a reusable metal filter, which produces less waste and yields a fuller-bodied cup (3).
Do NOT Buy the AeroPress If…
- You want to make more coffee – For coffee drinkers who want more than 10 ounces of strong coffee at a time, I recommend the good old French press, which comes in various sizes up to 51 ounces. Or check out the newly released Aeropress XL, which has a 20-ounce capacity.
- You want something to use (and show off) at home – If you aren’t planning to travel, you can choose a more aesthetically pleasing way to brew coffee at home. I love the look of single-serve coffee makers like the Chemex.
- You want a portable coffee maker you can drink from – The Aeropress is easy to carry, but you still need to bring a mug or glass. If you’re looking for a hybrid of a portable coffee maker and a travel mug, check out our Wacaco Cuppamoka review.
- You want real espresso on the go – I’ve already explained that the Aeropress makes something that’s not quite espresso. If you want the real deal, the Wacaco Picopresso is my choice for camping, while the Flair espresso maker is ideal for a hotel or RV.
The Verdict
Whether you use it for an Americano, an almost-espresso, or even a cold brew, this little coffee maker never disappoints. That’s why it’s the single-serve brewer I recommend most to friends, family, and coffee enthusiasts.
I love the AeroPress because it’s simple to use but allows endless room to experiment and improve your barista skills. Its practical and compact design is perfect for travel, even rigorous adventure trips. With the Aeropress, everyone can enjoy a good cup of coffee anywhere.
References
- Marulanda, C. (2019, March 13). The History of The AeroPress, From Concept to Championships. Retrieved from https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2019/03/the-history-of-the-aeropress-from-concept-to-championships/
- Cadwalader, Z. (2019, September 24). These Go To III: Introducing The AeroPress Go. Retrieved from https://sprudge.com/these-go-to-iii-introducing-the-aeropress-go-151461.html
- Cadwalader, Z. (2018, October 16). The Reusable Ameuus AeroPress Filter Is Mighty Fine. Retrieved from https://sprudge.com/the-resuable-ameuus-aeropress-filter-is-mighty-fine-137521.html
