Super Coffee! The Aero Press

Hi all;   Living in the North West for 40 years I have become quite the coffee snob...  Only very fresh roasted, single origin beans from (MY) roaster (Evans Brothers coffee, Sandpoint ID)  will do.  Ground fresh at home each time we make coffee. Only pour  over coffee, NEVER machine drip coffee.  Years ago I was buying bulk beans from Carravalli coffee in seattle who later became Starbucks coffee. Get the idea ...  A real honest to goodness north west coffee snob.  
My buddy Randy Evans slyly introduces me to Macchiato coffee, very small, very strong with just cream added. Hmm this is interesting stuff. The wife hates it...wants a mocha... Whenever we travel to sandpoint to resupply, a stop at Evans to buy bulk beans and of course have a macchiato...   They really started to grow on me...  I tried to duplicate this at home... Bad Idea... lots of coffee ,little water dripped over ... way way bitter, way to strong. Nothing like randy s  macchaito's.  Hmmm
My next trip to town I cornered Randy and asked "can I make these at home? "  Big smile, Nope, not without a top dollar espresso machine ... unless, you wanted to try out this new single cup coffee maker ,
The Areo Press...  on his word that it would make macchiato's as good as any top shelf espresso machine and way better than all the home owner machines on the market. I bought one. Apx. $25-35 depending where you get one.
OMG ! This is the very best coffee ever ! super coffee!  30 seconds to make a cup ! Try that with a french press! All bpa free plastic , clean up is a breeze . This really is incredible smooth clean coffee! And if you don't happen to enjoy espresso/macchiato style coffee then add hot water to taste, what they call an Americano coffee.
The small paper filter attaches to the bottom , sit on cup, pour 190 degree water on top, quick stir with supplied paddle , insert plunger , slowly push down, lift off cup , take to compost bucket  unscrew filter base , hold over bucket pop the plunger and your grounds pop right out. Quick rinse under water and its ready for the next cup.
Imagine backpacking with one.  Super light ,easy to clean and a REAL cup of coffee while you watch the sun come up over a mountain lake! Oh my !  Of course I enjoy mine in my comfy chair but to each his own.

I have to agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. I have been using an Aeropress myself for over a year now, and it makes even relatively cheap coffee taste great.

A few provisios, but I am sure, Thomas, that you already know all of this, you coffee snob, you.

I already improved the quality of the coffee I was brewing prior to getting an Aeropress by getting a burr grinder as opposed to the cheaper kind that looks like a miniature lawnmower blade. One of the first things I learned in my coffee journey was how much better coffee tasted if you not only suited grind size to the brewing method, but also made sure the coffee is ground to the same size particles, which is what you get with a burr grinder.

I got myself a Bodum burr grinder the Boxing Day before last for about $55, and I honestly couldn't tell you whether that or the Aeropress comes in first as best coffee purchase; I think it's a tie.

I use the Aeropress with the metal screen. I haven't yet tried the paper filter, but I was thinking that all it might do is impart a papery taste and take away some of the essential oils that are the reason I grind fresh.

I have never been entirely sanguine with the fact that it is made almost entirely of plastic, BPA or not. Plastic, after all, was considered perfectly safe until the discovery of BPA's persistence in the body. I am not convinced that similar things won't happen with the replacement plastics featuring other unintentionally mobile chemicals.

But the quality of the coffee I am able to prepare with the Aeropress is amazing, as is the ease of use and cleaning.

-CK

yeah the coffee is ok,

but if you want great coffee you need a siphon coffee maker, it takes longer to brew but its worth the wait.

That does look like a fun gadget Andy, but it probably does not make the coffee any better than it tastes out of the aero press on a backpacking trip by an subalpine lake. I use it at home too sometimes, but aeropress backcountry espresso is a transcendent experience.

Hi Chris;   Yup , been using a burr grinder  for ever. It is an antique tho was given to me by my mother many years ago.   Of course the grind isn't nearly as even as your grinder.  
I will admit though that I never even looked at electric burr grinders (being off grid 35 years will do that). After reading your post I cruised Amazon and yup there was many choices , including one by Bodum.
Many months of a year I work out of town and live in motels or apartments.  I carry an electric tea kettle , a canning funnel , filters , my coffee (if I have too its store bought beans) And ... a lawn mower blade grinder ! Guess what I'll be getting later this year! Thanks for bring my awareness up to the 21st century!

Phil , That looks like quite a machine. I'm sure it makes great coffee. Wouldn't last a week without being broken at my house.  Rough to backpack trip with it as well !