I saw a coworker using this contraption at work one day, and the
more I read about it, the more I wanted to get one.
The Amazon.com
product description section
includes a very detailed comparison of the AeroPress to other brewing methods,
such as drip brewing, espresso machines, pod brewers, and French presses.
Basically, the AeroPress uses total immersion of the grinds, a short brew
time, and lower temperature water to produce smoother tasting coffee that
is less acidic, plus a microfilter to remove particles. I don't like coffee
that is bitter, tangy, or sludgy, so this all sounded very good.
The thing that interested me most was the inventor, Alan Adler. He's an
engineer, so I liked the way he approached the design and development of the
AeroPress (for details see his
FAQ page,
and well as his
coffee
forum participation).
We've had the AeroPress for a little over a year, and we're very happy with it. It does use quite a bit more coffee (the same amount of grinds produces 8 cups of brewed coffee or 3 cups of AeroPressed coffee), so we tend to drink it as a treat rather than for our morning pot of coffee. Although we do have to confess, we've been "treating" ourselves to some nice AeroPressed decaf almost nightly!
The AeroPress is very versatile. People who like stronger, more assertive coffee can increase the brew time, raise the water temperature, play with the grind, or use a stainless steel filter to let more oil (and sludge) through. You can even invert the AeroPress for much longer brew times.
In fact, there is a World AeroPress Championships (see sample recipes and techniques from some 2010 Japanese competitors as well as the 2013 U.S. champion). Wow. There are some very serious coffee drinkers out there!