The AeroPress is one of my favorite brewers and has been for years. Whenever someone new to specialty coffee asks me what brewer I’d recommend, it is almost always the AeroPress. There are many reasons, but ultimately it comes down to these five highlights.
1. It’s easy to use (but allows for so much room for experimentation).
You can start brewing great cups of coffee with the AeroPress within minutes with very little practice. Many pour over brewers lead to amazing results, but can have a steep learning curve. I find the learning curve to be very small for the AeroPress. That said, there is incredible room for experimentation (check out all the amazing AeroPress recipes in the brew guides area of the site for some examples). For goodness sake, there are entire competitions around the AeroPress where people spend months perfecting recipes and techniques.
2. It’s versatile.
The AeroPress can make more styles of coffee than almost any other brewer. From cold brew to espresso-style, the AeroPress can almost do it all.
3. It requires very little additional equipment.
With the AeroPress, there are very few additional pieces of equipment needed. With other pour over devices you need a scale, gooseneck kettle, etc. The AeroPress doesn’t need a gooseneck kettle and can instead work with any normal teapot. The number indicators on the barrel can also act as a guide, so you can easily eyeball recipes without the need for a scale.
4. It’s durable & perfect for travel.
With three young children at home, I appreciate a brewer that doesn’t break easily. The plastic structure of the AeroPress makes it extremely durable. This durability, paired with its compact structure (as well as not needing much additional equipment when brewing with it) makes it perfect for travel. There is also the AeroPress Go, which is even more compact and designed specifically for travel!
5. It’s fast & easy to clean.
While the AeroPress is dishwasher safe, it’s not really needed because the AeroPress is so easy to clean by hand. After brewing you simply push out the spent coffee puck and wipe down the various parts to remove any excess coffee residue.
There are other reasons, but the five above are enough to easily make the AeroPress one of my favorite brewers and one I come back to almost daily.