AeroPress: The Little Giant of Coffee Brewing

In 2005 Alan Adler introduced to the coffee market a brewing method capable of challenging the heavyweights of the coffee world with its daring novelty: The Aeropress. But what makes this small polypropylene method of brewing coffee so special? Let's start with its main purpose: to make magic happens in 3 simple steps. Coffee, water and pressure. A system capable of creating astonishing coffee with only 2 minutes of immersion allows you to trust a long bike ride to a mid-ride drink full of character while you can carry your brewing kit on your back.

Which brings us to another of the Aeropress’ key features: its versatility. Cold drinks, delicate filtering, extractions close to espresso-style and all this, just using the power of your arms. The Aeropress can respond to the darkest roasts or the lightest ones; it can extract all the power of a single bean with the finest grind, in the shortest time; it can have a paper filter or a metal one; you can play with recipes, methods and its position, allowing you to prepare drinks with startling variety.

So, what of the Aeropress’ competition? For those who enjoy manual brewing the market is overflowing with options. Methods such as the always reliable v60, the classic French press, the moka pot or any number of pour-over devices….

If we are looking for a balanced beverage, with a bright acidity we will look for our friend the V60 to extract these characteristics. If we want to highlight the strength and body of your favorite coffee, no doubt the French press. If we want to control the brew much more and extract a coffee’s unique characteristics, perhaps we’d opt for a Loveramics or April dripper. But if you want to do coffee alchemy, recruit a travel companion, respect your coffee by experimenting with different possibilities, develop your taste, and carry many possibilities in your bag: buy an Aeropress.

The Aeropress’s adaptability is what makes it a truly magical bit of kit: Equally at ease in the woods, campsites, specialty coffee shops, your office, your home…. The Aeropress proves there really is nowhere you could go that a good cup of coffee wouldn’t make better.

Every coffee adventurer needs a couple of extras to make using your Aeropress on the go possible. A good manual hand grinder will make things much simpler on a trip and hario’s Prism is perfect for packing into luggage or small spaces. Plus a reusable coffee cup that you can take everywhere is not only your drink's best friend, but also the environment's best friend.

It looks like it’s time to start planning a new adventure: What will be the next destination for you and your Aeropress?