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Summary
✔ What We Liked
- Bold and rich flavor
- It can easily make espresso-style and cold-brew-style drinks
- The AeroPress is portable and compact, making it ideal for traveling or camping
- Eco-friendly if you purchase a stainless steel reusable filter
✘ What We Didn't Like
- Not ideal for brewing large batches of coffee (the AeroPress XL can only brew up to six espresso-sized servings)
- It can be difficult to push the plunger, so it may not work for those with mobility or strength issues
We think the AeroPress is a great compact, travel-friendly coffeemaker that’s also an inexpensive way to make espresso-style and cold-brew drinks at home.
We recommend it for anyone who wishes to bring along a coffeemaker to a vacation, camping trip, or any other travel plans as the AeroPress is sturdy and compact, comes with all needed accessories, and has an optional carrying tote.
It also produces minimal waste if you opt to purchase a reusable stainless steel filter, which is great for anyone looking to reduce their paper waste. And finally, it’s a great way to make espresso-like drinks at home without needing to have a fancy and expensive espresso machine.
Taste Review
We taste-tested the AeroPress using a light roast Arabica bean and compared it to the same bean brewed in our De’longhi espresso machine. We also tried an extra fine grind and a fine grind when taste-testing.
We made the first cup in the AeroPress using the standard hot water method. It had a strong flavor that hits your tongue at the first sip. The extra fine grind was, of course, stronger and more bitter than the fine grind. Both grinds produced are more intense, bitter flavor when compared to a pull from our espresso machine.
Both Mariana and I generally prefer less intensity, so we preferred the fine grind in the AeroPress instead of the extra fine grind. We both agreed that the coffee brewed in the AeroPress would be a great base for an Americano or a milk-based drink, like a cappuccino.
We also tried the cold brew method using a fine ground light roast Arabica bean. Compared to the hot water method, it produced a super mellow brew. The taste was refreshing, pleasant, and very drinkable. We tasted it both straight from the AeroPress and with additional water mixed in. For some, the taste may be too mellow; but I loved it. Personally, I plan on using the cold brew method more than the hot water method when I use the AeroPress.
Ease of Use
The AeroPress is easy to use once you get the hang of it. However, the instructions were lengthy, and in our opinion, could be simplified a bit. When we used it for the first time, it took a couple of readthroughs of the instructions to understand what we were doing. Once we understood how the AeroPress works, it was simple enough to make a cup of coffee.
The hardest part of using the AeroPress is pressing the water through the filter. If you use an extra fine grind, it requires a strong and steady push. Besides preferring the taste of the fine grind in the AeroPress, we like that it was easier to press. We tried pressing with both one and two servings.
Speaking of serving capacity, both the standard AeroPress and the smaller AeroPress Go can produce between one and three espresso-sized servings or one regular coffee-sized serving. Neither size of the AeroPress is going to brew large quantities of coffee, so it’s not ideal if you need to serve many people.
| Number of steps involved | 9 or 10 steps depending on how you brew |
| Time to brew | 2-5 minutes |
| Supplies needed | Special disc paper micro filters or a reusable stainless steel disc filter available for purchase at AeroPress |
| Coffee grind size | Extra fine to fine grind, depending on taste preference |
| Coffee to water ratio | For coffee style:
For espresso style:
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| Yield | 1-3 espresso-sized servings or 1 coffee-sized serving |
| Ease of cleaning | Easy |
The AeroPress comes with a couple of accessories: a stirrer and a scoop. If you’re an avid at-home coffee drinker, you probably already have these items (and if you don’t, a regular tablespoon can scoop and stir). We wish there was an option to purchase the AeroPress without these items. That said, it makes sense to have the items and the optional tote bag if you plan on traveling with your AeroPress.
Using the AeroPress while traveling or camping is where we think it really shines. It’s not easy to break, it comes with all the accessories you need in a tote bag, and it’s compact. AeroPress even makes a more travel- and camping-friendly version called the AeroPress Go that comes with its own mug.
Cleaning
Cleaning is also a breeze with the AeroPress. Because the plunger has a rubbery end, it squeegees the inside of the AeroPress clean when you press it. Once you’re done brewing, you just need to unscrew the filter cap, push out the coffee grounds, and rinse the edge of the plunger and the filter cap with water. We even think that pushing out the coffee grounds is weirdly satisfying.
Cost
At the time of writing, purchasing an AeroPress will run you between $40 and $50, depending on what type you buy. We recommend taking advantage of the bundles and bulk discounts available on the AeroPress website. You can purchase a new AeroPress Original with one pack of paper filters (350 filters) for $44.95, at the time of this writing.
We think the AeroPress is competitively priced compared to other manual coffeemakers on the market. A mid-tier French Press will run you around $20 to $40 and a similar-sized Chemex will run around $45.
AeroPress’s filters are also reasonably priced, coming to $0.02 per filter and reducing in cost if you buy larger quantities. We love that you can also buy a reusable stainless steel filter to reduce your paper costs and waste if that’s important in your buying decision.
| Cost to buy from AeroPress.com |
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| Cost for supplies |
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Rebecca is the co-founder of First Coffee Then. She has written for numerous publications, including ValuePenguin, Inc.com, Business.com, Christian Science Monitor, StartupNation, and NASDAQ. She loves to get into the nitty-gritty of how things work and applies this philosophy to all things coffee. Her favorite coffee beverage is a cappuccino (though La Colombe Oat Milk Draft Lattes are an extremely close second).
