The Aeropress has taken on a well-deserved life of its own lately. Not only are there about a million recipes and “how to brew” options floating around on the internet, there’s even a World Aeropress Championship. In fact, a regional championship was just recently right here in Chicago! (I know – coffee nerds, right?)

The Aeropress is very often confused with a French Press. Aside from the fact that they both have the word “press” in the name, they are very different coffee brewing methods. The Aeropress brews more like espresso because it extracts the coffee under pressure. The French Press (or plunger as it’s known outside the U.S.) uses the press to filter out grounds. It doesn’t use it as a means of extraction.

So what’s the big deal?

Here are a few of our favorite points about the Aeropress:

• It’s super easy to use
• It’s all plastic so it travels well
• It’s small and stores easily in a desk drawer or a suitcase
• It’s super forgiving when you brew – not a lot you can do to mess this up.

I take my Aeropress with me whenever I travel – be it by car, by plane or when I’m camping. I like it because it fits in my backpack. It’s also lightweight and doesn’t break easily. There was a period of time when brewing a super fresh Aeropress on an aero-plane was a thing (get it?).

So How Does this Aeropress Contraption work?

Quite Simply – there are 4 steps to brewing a perfect cup of coffee:

1. Insert the filter into the filter holder and attach it to the bottom of the Aeropress.
2. Grind 2 scoops of coffee really fine – I use a setting around 10 on my Baratza Encore grinder. Your milage may vary. Pour the freshly ground coffee in the Aeropress.
3. Pour hot water slowly over the grounds up to the number 2 on the press. Use the wand to stir the grounds for about 10 seconds.
4. Insert the plunger, set the press on top of a sturdy cup or mug and press down S-L-O-W-L-Y on the press. It should take between 20 and 40 seconds to fully press down to the bottom.

That’s it! Enjoy some great coffee. Some people like to add a bit of water to their Aeropress coffee to make a kind of Americano. Warmed milk makes a fantastic latte if you’re so inclined as well.

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