AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker with Tote Bag and 350 Additional Filters - Quickly Makes Delicious Coffee without Bitterness - 1 to 3 Cups Per Press

I'm the only coffee drinker in our house and have been on the search for a coffee maker that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, but it also easy to make one cup at a time. My drip maker made too much, I had a pour over cone, but the flavor wasn't great. I'd tried friend's Keurigs, but the coffee seemed weak and they are very pricey. Finally, I read a review of the AeroPress on a blog and decided to give it a try. One thing to know is that it makes espresso style coffee (as in you're brewing 1-2 shots, not a mug full). You can add more hot water to make an americano, add warm milk to make it more like a latte, be really indulgent and use half and half to make a delicious breve latte, etc. This is not going to give you the exact type of coffee you get from a drip coffee maker. I personally think the coffee I make with the AeroPress tastes better than drip, even when I just make it into an americano. The press is easy to use. Use whatever ground coffee you prefer (I do find the quality of coffee beans as well as freshly grinding your beans can really affect the outcome, but it does for all coffee making methods). Put the filter in, screw on the bottom, and then you simply add the number of scoops corresponding to "shots" you want. I usually do two. Pour in water to the corresponding number, stir, slowly plunge down, and your coffee is ready! To clean up just eject the filter/grounds and rinse. Really simple! Yes, not as easy as a Keurig, but cheaper (per cup, not just the maker) and the taste is better. There is also less waste since I can either reuse or compost the filter and the grounds can be composted (no plastic cups being sent to the landfill here!). The coffee comes out strong and smooth. I love that I can make coffee at home that takes care of my craving for Starbucks - at a fraction of the cost! It is not messy, makes just the amount I want, and is easy to clean up. Plus it is very portable and easy to take along when traveling - no more nasty hotel coffee! If you like your Folgers made in a drip coffee maker, this is probably not the maker for you. But if you like really good coffee that you can personalize, give the AeroPress a try!

I have used them all, the French-Press, Chemex, etc...and none beat the flavor or convenience of the AeroPress. Don't get me wrong, the others were good, but a lot of work was involved in measuring out the right coffee to water ratios for the right flavor. With the Chemex the drip was just too slow for me to bare sometimes and cleanup was a real pain with the French-Press. The AeroPress makes it simple to produce a great cup of coffee. Pros: Flavor/Taste Design Build Quality Portable Cons: Small batches Can't make Folgers taste better The design of the AeroPress is well thought out, everything has a use. For example, the part that you press actually doubles as a water measuring cup. Also, there is a funnel type thing that can be used for ensuring water/coffee get in the press cylinder; but they also made it capable of placing the press on top of it to get your press into a vessel with a smaller opening. The build material appears to be strong and should last forever with normal usage. The only part that might suffer wear is the rubber at the bottom of the press, but mine is showing no wear n tear after about 300+ presses. Cleanup is soooo easy. The ability to shoot the puck into the garbage is an added bonus; a little rinse and you are all done. The paper filters seem to last forever and there is a couple options in terms of the micro-mesh filters too. This thing is portable and won't take up much space in a bag. (the coffee is a different matter) You could take this with you on business trips where you don't want to drink hotel coffee or on camping trips. I'll be taking mine with me ice-fishing. This was the best $60 I have ever spent. (I ended up buying two AeroPress makers; one for work, one for home.) Just make sure you use better quality coffee, if you put Folgers through this it still won't taste good.

There is a very good reason that the aeropress has over 300 reviews with an average of 5 stars. This makes far better espresso than my stainless steel stovetop espresso maker (which I bought for about twice the price of the aeropress). In fact, I spent much of my youth as a barista, working an old-fashioned, fully manual machine, and I would honestly say that this espresso comes incredibly close in quality to the professional-grade espresso I made then - if you drink it in a latte or americano style, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between aeropress espresso and espresso made using a high-end professional machine. I am blown away by the simplicity of the design, not to mention the convenience and portability of this little device. And don't let the fact that it is made of plastic turn you off. The coffee barely has contact with the plastic as it is, and the coffee produced is far superior to that made by any other device I have ever used in my kitchen(and I have used many). I did find the directions a bit lacking, and when I googled how to use the aeropress I found a lot of videos of folks weighing hand-roasted beans and measuring the water temperature. Personally, that isn't going to fly. I make my coffee on the way out the door in the morning, and I don't have the time or patience for such fussiness. Here is how I have been using the machine: Use the scoop provided, and measure out one scoop of ground coffee for every "shot" of espresso you would like. The best grind is about halfway between drip and espresso grind, similar to what you would use for a stovetop espresso maker. Any grind will work, though - a courser grind will yield a lighter brew and a finer grind will yield something closer to traditional espresso. Heat the water - you want it a little below boiling, so either bring it almost but not quite to a boil, or boil it and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. Add the water to the aeropress chamber (I won't bother telling you how to assemble it, because the included instructions should make that pretty clear, and it is quite self-explanatory), and measure just above the number written on the side to correspond to the number of scoops of coffee you added (i.e. - if you added 2 scoops of coffee, fill to just above the "2" printed on the side of the chamber). Use the stirrer provided and stir for ten seconds, then insert and slowly push down on the plunger. Slow and steady wins the race here - don't try to jam it down too fast, but don't worry about whether or not it takes the specified 20 seconds - I never bother timing this part of the process, and I have never ended up with a bad cup of coffee from the aeropress. Once the coffee is pressed out, add hot water to make a traditional cup of coffee to desired strength, milk or soy milk to make a latte, or just drink it straight - it's good enough to stand up on its own as straight espresso! I use this to make iced lattes every morning, and not only is it at least as good as the starbucks iced lattes I was paying an arm and a leg for every morning, but it's actually much, much faster than even the drive-through. Cleanup is so easy it's almost non-existent, and this thing is so portable and durable that you can easily travel with it anywhere. On mornings when I'm literally running too late to even make coffee, I just throw it in the travel pouch provided and then make my coffee at work - as long as you have access to a cup, a water supply, and a kettle or microwave, you are in business. In short, go ahead and get rid of all your other coffee-making paraphernalia and order yourself an aeropress. You won't regret it. June 2016 Update: My Aeropress is still going strong, and in perfect working order. So allow me to add DURABLE to the list of things I love about this product!

Pros: - Affordable - Easy to use - Easy to clean - Grind doesn't need to be "just right". A good blade grinder is perfect. - Really does make very good coffee Cons: - Looks (but function > form for something like this) - More work/effort needed than say, a pod-type or drip coffee maker - Vents needed around the mug platform (see explanation below) This is a fantastic coffee press for under $30. You get even extraction for each cup so your coffee is much smoother and will have less "bite/acidity" then if you brewed the same type of coffee with a drip-style coffee maker. This is because the coffee grinds are evenly immersed and not over-extracted like in the center of the filter basket of a drip-style brewer. It's super-easy to clean - just pop up the spent grounds and rinse. You don't have to have incredibly precise water temperature, or weigh your coffee & water to an exact measurement like some of these "recipes" say. We're just making a good cup of coffee - keep it simple. It works every time for me. Inverted method - plunger on 4. Grind some good whole beans before brewing - just shy of two scoops with the included scoop. I like stronger coffee so I use two whole scoops of beans. A good blade grinder will be perfect. You want it slightly more coarse than espresso/fine grind. Boil some water in a kettle or microwave to boiling and let it stand for a few minutes or pour into another room-temperature vessel to shock the temperature down below boiling (around 175 - 190 deg f.) Add your coffee. Fill water to the "base" (about 1/4" from the filter cap). Wait a few seconds and then stir making sure to wet all the grounds. Add a little more water to bring it back to the base level. Wet your filter, cap it and invert it onto a mug. Do a nice even slow press - about 15-20 seconds tops. I push all the way down to compact the coffee so I get some oils through. Top off with hot water - you want to roughly double the volume. Less water makes stronger coffee, and vice-versa. It's less complicated than this reads. My only complaint is that with smaller mouthed mugs, the press covers the entire mug top. As you press, steam / coffee vapor condenses on the ring around the lip of the mug and can drip down the outside. Some small vent holes in the base ring may help with this. I simply use a wide mouthed mug and make sure the press is to one side so vapor can escape. All in all though this is a fantastic product and this particular one is a good deal with the tote bag and filters.

My Friends, This is it. This is the perfect coffee maker for me. I am traveling constantly and have tried to make a decent cup of coffee from the snow toped mountains of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, all the way to the Congo where I am writting this right now. I just finished my second cup of coffee and had to stop evreything else so I can write this and help you decide on getting this perfect gem! Lets get to the specifics... Delivery was faster than expected and the packaging is perfect and sturdy. The inside product package is a tall box that is of the same shape as the press in the picture above. Everything comes neatly wrapped and packaged inside and in a way that nothing gets broken in transit. All the peices are plastic and STRONG! Nothing is going to break on you, I bet I could give it to a silver back gorilla and he couldn't do any damage at all. As I unpacked it, I went straight to the instructions. I know how to make a coffee using socks, but I figured I wanted to use this gem to the best of it's ability. Someone really put thought into the instructions... they made them Sean proof and easily and freindly understandable. The instructions are written in several different languages and are unfolded into the single front and back sheet, they are perferated so you can easily cut out your language and dispose of the rest. The instructions come with very simple to understand diagrams and instructions.. even a FAQ paragraph that I found helpful. The instructions also mention how environmental the filter disks are and how they are reusable (which I did and had no change in quality). Due to my situation of only moving out in the bush with the bare essentials, I found the blue zip up tote bag extremly helpful in keeping everything together. The coffee scoop and stir paddle are solid but large, and I improvise with other items but in your office or favorite reading corner, they can be useful as directed and look very professional. It comes with plenty of filters wrapped in plastic so they won't get goofy in the environment. The filters also come with a very nice looking dispensor that compliments the chamber/plunger combo. Everything looks very futuristic and ergonomic.. heck.. it just looks cool. I have my own coffee here and as recommended, I use a fine grind. Getting ready to put it into action now... I put the filter on the filter cap, attach it to the bottom of the chamber (a truly solid peice of art here) then set it over my coffee cup. The funnel attachement is very nice and perfect for the home and kitchen, but the top of the chamber is actually large enough that a table spoon is an easy scoop with out getting grounds all over. so now comes the water. The water temperature is very important as outlined in the instructions, but hard to guage using a camp stove. so after it boils... I let it settle down a little and then slowely pour it into the chamber. A little of the water starts dripping through, but as the instructions point out, this is normal.. just like a drip maker at home. As the water fills up the chamber to the right measure. I then stir the coffee/water for 7-10 seconds. I set the plunger above and gently apply enough pressure to slowly lower the plunger, pushing the water through the coffee grounds and filter. That is pretty much it. I usually take a second to admire this little beauty, but then remove the chamber and holding it over a trash container, unscrew the filter cap. The filter is still adhered to the coffee grounds and with just one more gentle push, the coffee puck scores a neat package right into the trash. A slight rinse and the chamber is spotless. this only takes 5-10 seconds.. I set it on a hand towel to air dry and sit back with the perfect cup of coffee. I know some people are sceptics and I was as well. I've tried so many french presses, camp espressos.. all kinds of things and there are some great products out there, but I somehow always get grounds or residue even after the expensive filters and strainers. Cleaning a french press out in the bush can just be a pain sometimes and that is never a problem with this little diamond. The coffee seemed richer and more flavorable without the bitterness. just good clean flavor. no sediment whatsoever in the bottom of the cup. Earlier today I gave away 2 french presses that have seen all kinds of action around the world and I tell you honestly I will never miss them. This AeroPress is by far the very best I've ever had. After I finish this book of a review, I am ordering 10 more for my mates on this mission and then probably 10 more for christmas gifts. Thank you for all your patience and I wish you all the safest journeys and satisfying java time. After a long day.. don't you deserve a great cup of Joe?

This review is for the average coffee drinker, the camper who wants better coffee "in the wild", and/or someone trying to choose between the Aeropress and a French press. Keep in mind that my wife and I aren't coffee-nistas. Me: 16 ounce mug in the morning with sugar and flavored liquid creamer; my wife: 16 oz mug in the morning with regular powdered creamer. Neither of us drink espresso and the menu at Starbucks intimidates me. 'Nuff said. When we would go camping in our small trailer, my wife and I would drink instant coffee because it's easy and not messy, but the flavor and caffeine levels were lacking. We bought a French press and the flavor and caffeine were definitely an improvement. However, the messiness of it put us off: smacking it like an almost-empty ketchup bottle trying to get most of the grounds out, then having to rinse out the rest. Then we heard about the Aeropress. We bought it and tried it at home and while camping. It makes good coffee, but it didn't knock our socks off (sorry, Aeropress aficionados). But we liked it enough to buy another one and give to our son to help him save money from always buying at coffee houses. More recently, we bought a couple of ultra-fine metal filters for the Aeropress on Amazon from Cornucopia Brands. We wanted to see if there was a taste difference between the paper and metal filters for our unsophisticated palates; more on that in a minute. Comparing the French press and Aeropress: My wife and I think they make similar-tasting coffee and both are better than our drip machine and light years ahead of instant (granules or bags). IMO, the French press is easier for making the coffee (scoop coffee into the cylinder, pour boiling/very hot water in, wait a few minutes, press plunger down, pour coffee out) while the Aeropress directions can be rather. . . fussy: scoop coffee into chamber (some buffs measure it by the GRAM!), shake chamber to level coffee, pour 175 degree F water (185 degree F if using light roast) to level 2 in the chamber (buffs pour in a little water, let the coffee "bloom" for a few seconds, then pour the rest in; also, some buffs measure the water by the ml, possibly by the cc), stir ten seconds, then insert plunger and press gently for 20 to 60 seconds. [There's also the "inverted method" which we use that allows the coffee to brew longer.] Realistically, you don't have to be so exact to end up with really good coffee and experimentation is encouraged to discover what works best for you, but the French press is still easier up to this point. When it comes to clean-up however, the Aeropress wins by a landslide: unscrew cap, hold over trash can, and push plunger all the way to expel the paper filter and "puck" of grounds, and rinse the plunger's rubber tip. That's it. Also, the Aeropress is at least twice as quick to make coffee which is important if you're the one waiting with bleary eyes and blurred brain. I slightly prefer the French press taste (possibly because the paper filter supposedly restricts many of the beans' oils from reaching the mug) while my wife slightly prefers the Aeropress. However, for camping, it's definitely the Aeropress because of the easier clean-up. The oils question caused us to buy the Cornucopia Brands metal filter on Amazon to try them out--for two filters at that price, how could we go wrong? In a taste test with my wife, our son, and me, we all tasted a small difference between the paper filter and metal filter. Our son and I preferred the metal while my wife preferred the paper. So we gave one metal filter to our son and I kept the other one. With the metal filter, you have to remember not to push the filter into the trash with the grounds and that it's one more thing to rinse off. Of course, those that reuse the paper filters to save natural resources or money have to do the same. So, for these two coffee rubes: we think both the Aeropress and French press make better coffee than our drip machine (forget about instant), but not so much that we don't use our dripper several times a workweek due to laziness/time; we think the Aeropress and French press make similar tasting coffee although I think the French press has a fuller body to it because of the oils (albeit with higher cholesterol, too), but that using a metal filter in the Aeropress makes up some of that difference; and, finally, the French press is easier in set up and brewing while the Aeropress is quicker in brewing and easier in clean-up. A final consideration is that a French press uses more coffee per serving that a dripper and the Aeropress uses more than a French press. For us, it's 2.5 teaspoons vs 3 t. vs 4 t. per serving. Not a huge difference, but it's there. BTW, before we got an Aeropress, I'd heard of cappuccinos, but didn't know what they were; now, I've even made a couple when I needed a little boost in the afternoon. Thanks Aeropress for making me feel a little more worldly.

I have been grinding my own coffee and generally enjoying coffee at 3 to 7 or so cups per day for over 30 years. It happened that while Christmas shopping I had a chance to escape the crowd and buy a cup of super coffee and I usually try something a little different - well I tried a triple Espresso Latte and settled down to look at some leather chairs with it. Could not have enjoyed it more. Hit the spot, and seemed to me that it was "doing the job" of 3 or so diluted cups of my usual coffee. Well, welcome to the world of Latte! This from a guy that would always take my coffee black - and add nothing. That stuck with me as I was doing some online Christmas shopping and I started researching the market fairly carefully and reading the reviews on the AeroPress and other gizmos and gadgets that allow a person to do build just about anything for coffee without paying extra for the coffee, with a low cost to this new world of old fashioned coffee, and guess what? AeroPress had great reviews. There are some pluses and minuses. Pluses: Low cost, Sturdy built, Simple, Low cost for filters, Compact, non-electric, Makes great coffee, Very versatile - you can vary the water temperature, the Grind, the Amount of Coffee, the Stir time, the Amount of Milk if any and you generally have total control per your mood. Frankly I have found the coffee is so good that I'm willing to use cheaper Coffee. Frothing?! - don't tell anybody but I tried a turkey baster and it worked well. It's well built with pretty much (no vinegar cleaning, nothing to plug up) nothing to go wrong that I'm aware of. Minuses: Its manual - you will be pretty busy making and cleaning for at least 6 minutes, but this includes washing and having it ready to use again. You can not walk away once you start without throwing off the process. Maybe it gives you too many options, I never felt that way. (My experience is that I use more coffee beans on a weekly basis, the process I have settled in not as efficient, this is totally my choice however...) Note about Milk Frothing: I could not think why I enjoyed frothed 2% milk when I don't enjoy 'cream' and never did. Then it came to me - the frothed milk sits perfectly on top of the slightly more bitter coffee and imparts a sweet taste to every sip! Every sip gets a sample of both flavors - and it really does make coffee drinking a more interesting, and flavorful experience. Note: when my regular coffees would get cold I would have to reheat - drinking luke warm, or room temp coffee just never appealed to me. No more. I now make 2 large Lattes per day (6 to 8 espresso shots) and I'm glad to sip at any temp.....but it seldom gets cool, these days my coffee is as good as anything made at the fancy shops.

I was at a weekend retreat where friends brought the AeroPress coffee and espresso maker. The coffee it made was so good that everyone used it! I had to try it, of course. Wow!!! The coffee was rich, smooth and not bitter. The first time I tried using it by myself I didn't screw the bottom in right, so it sort of "exploded" on me when I poured in the hot water. What a mess! I figured out what I did wrong (totally my fault) and haven't had a problem since. I immediately went online and bought my own AeroPress .... I could hardly wait for it to arrive! The AeroPress is so easy to use and clean, and I love the espresso/coffee it makes so much more than using a French press or my espresso machine. My only regret is that I haven't been able to figure out how to use it to make the crema part of the espresso. I'm not sure why some folks have had some difficulty pushing the cylinder down. It's never been a problem for me. Follow the directions and slowly push down. I also heat my water to 175 degrees as they recommend. If people are having problems maybe they are trying to push down too fast or maybe the water they use is boiling hot. It could also be that they are using too much very finely ground coffee (I use two scoops) making it very hard to push the water through the ground coffee. I grind whole coffee beans and have experimented with how finely I grind the beans.It handles it all very well. I usually do more of an espresso grind; it's great because none of the grinds get into the coffee, too. One other thing: I like to savor my coffee, so my coffee does cool down on me. I heat it in the microwave and it still tastes fresh, rich and with no bitterness. Anyway, I loved it so much I'm giving it as a Christmas gift to folks who appreciate great coffee!