Review of the Aerobie Aeropress

The Aeropress is one of the most popular devices with the manual brewing crowd. But why? Read, our review to find out.

Asser Christensen

Licensed Q Arabica Grader, M.A. Journalism

November 5, 2017

The Aeropress seems like a bit of a toy at first glance. And in fact, the company behind it — Aerobie — is a frisbee producer.

However, the Aeropress is more than capable of brewing delicious coffee.

In recent years, the gadget has proved itself as one of the most popular options among specialty coffee lovers.

Personally, I think most coffee geeks would have a lot of fun, and of course, good coffee with this little gadget.

If you’re thinking about picking up a coffee brewer that is capable of cranking up one or two cups in a hurry, then this thing should be on your radar.

Aeropress Review

Simplicity: The construction is simple, yet brilliant. It’s super easy to clean!

Versatility: You can brew concentrated espresso-like shots, as well as pour over-like coffee with fruity flavors.

Portability: This device is great for travel and brewing coffee on the road.

WHO SHOULD CONSIDER THE AEROPRESS?

One of the Aeropress’ main strengths is its compact size. It’s small and lightweight enough that you can easily fit it into your regular backpack and bring it to work or on a trip.

However, the small size also means that the Aeropress is somewhat limited in its capacity. If you are just brewing for one or maybe even two persons that’s no problem. Trying to serve coffee for larger groups quickly becomes more challenging though.

With that in mind, the brewer seems to fit any coffee lover who needs to brew a quick cup in the morning or on the road. If you have to brew coffee for your family or a larger group you better look elsewhere.

BUILD QUALITY

The Aeropress is made out of PBA-free plastic material. Over the years the material has been slightly altered with each new iteration. The latest model has been a cloudish, greyish semi-transparent material, which not only looks great but also has proven to be very resistant to wear and tear.

The plunger part itself has a rubber seal, which is removable. That means you can easily clean all parts.

Even though the device is all plastic and rubber it’s extremely sturdy. In normal use cases, the plunger is put under quite a bit of pressure, but I have never heard of anyone breaking any parts of the device.

The older models were a bit more prone to scratches, but the new and slightly improved design and material has put an end to that

DESIGN

The man behind the Aeropress is not other than the designer Alan Adler. Before inventing the brewer his main claim to fame was the Aerobie Frisbee.

As mentioned in the section above the brewer is extremely sturdy. But let’s dwell a bit more on the design and some its features. The little coffee maker is capable of brewing in two different ways: Inverted and normal.

First, you rinse a paper filter, insert in the plastic disk.
Then you prepare the device and add ground coffee, followed by an exact measured dose of water.
After that, you plunge.
Voila: You have coffee! Of course, there’s a lot more to making a great cup of joe than that, but you get the basic principle.

The design not only is revolutionary and innovative at the same time, but it’s also quite practical in many ways: The brewer is basically cleaning itself while it’s brewing.

EASE OF USE

The brewer is very easy to use, but there is a learning curve. Of course, you can just start using the typical ‘beginner’ recipes, you’d find online, but at the same time, there are millions of small tweaks you can apply as you go along.

In that sense, the brewer is a great source of fun. It’s easy to get started, but the options are limitless as your proficiency as an Aero-barista grows.

One thing I want to emphasize though is that there are a few techniques and best practices that you should definitely apply in your brewing, which will help you make great coffee a lot faster. It’s easy to make good coffee with the Aeropress… however, making truly heavenly coffee is another matter entirely. That is unless you check out our ‘secret’ tricks to getting the most out of the Aeropress.

This is an Aeropress review only though, so more about that in my other post here.

TASTE

As mentioned before there are a million of different ways to brew, which all have their own impact on taste. However, in general, it’s a device that has more in common with the pour over method rather than espresso or the French press.

This comes down to using a paper filter. A paper filter blocks out many of the coffee oils from entering the final cup. A lot of people actually like this, because it enhances the more subtle coffee flavors. However, some more hardcore coffee drinkers will actually prefer a stronger and more ‘oily’ coffee. If you are one of those persons, you probably already know it.

You should definitely consider investing in an extra metal filter disk and use in lieu of the paper filters. It’s quite cheap and totally alters the capabilities of the coffee maker.

There are quite a few different metal disk filters out there, but essentially they do the same. A cheap one from Amazon like the one on the right will definitely do the job.

Back in the days the Aeropress was ‘marketed’ as a bit of an alternative to espresso – hence the name. However most people today agree that its primary strength lies in more traditional ‘black coffee’.

That being said the Aeropress is an extremely versatile brewer that can do just about anything. Even stuff like cold drip and cold brew can be made with the Aeropress.

The Aeropress seems like a bit of a toy at first glance. And in fact, the company behind it — Aerobie — is a frisbee producer.

However, the Aeropress is more than capable of brewing delicious coffee.

In recent years, the gadget has proved itself as one of the most popular options among specialty coffee lovers.

Personally, I think most coffee geeks would have a lot of fun, and of course, good coffee with this little gadget.

If you’re thinking about picking up a coffee brewer that is capable of cranking up one or two cups in a hurry, then this thing should be on your radar.

Is AeroPress better than French press?

The AeroPress is a lot more versatile than the French press. You can brew all kinds of coffee with it due to its unusual design. Is it also better? As a coffee professional, I will have to say “yes”. The design of the contraption lets you have a lot more control over the brewing process, but this is also the reason that it can be difficult to use properly.

Is the AeroPress really that good?

Both yes and no. In general, it’s not that easy to make a truly magnificent cup of coffee with this device. The kind of cup that rivals the best of pour overs is hard to achieve. However, when you become an advanced AeroBarista, you can make some outstanding cups.

Is the plastic safe?

Yes, it’s made with polyprobylene, which is considered safe and PBA-free.

Is AeroPress good for espresso?

It can make some strong and concentrated shots that will satisfy many people, however, it cannot make genuine espresso. The pressure is not anywhere near 9 bars. You can invest in the special Prismo cap if you want to make something a bit more like espresso.