ScarMcDyess Senior Member Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 1 Location: St. Louis, MO Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 5:11am Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress
I've been following this thread since the AeroPress was on Digg.com and ordered it right away. It seemed exactly what I was looking for since I have never really been happy with my French Press.
I finally got it in the mail yesterday, and the first thing I noticed is that this would be perfect for a soldier, camping, fieldwork, etc. It is so cool to see that jehallahan is enjoying his.
Secondly, how surreal is it that the guy who made the Aerobie's I had as a kid, (I had the regular long distance one and the triangle boomerang) now makes my coffee? And now I am talking to him on the internet... Ha. Anyway I love the Americanos I have been making with it.
Alan, do you think that the increased pressure of the AeroPress over a French Press has any effect on the caffeine or oil levels in the espresso? What amount of pressure do you think is being generated?
MightyMik Senior Member Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 45 Location: Berkeley, CA Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Espresso Grinder: Melitta MEBG8B (modified) Drip: Melitta 4 cup Roaster: FreshRoast Plus 8
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 7:22am Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress
I have a Gaggia Espresso, and am using a modified Melitta grinder. Dispite being under budgetted, i *am* able to get a decent espresso with crema out of it. Now...keep im mind that right now, all i have are stale beans...i'm not getting stuff thats as rich or as 'oily' out of the Aeropress...*yet* Even so...i'm getting probably some of the best coffee out of it now that i've ever had. Very 'clean'...no sediment, and when mixed w/ sugar and half and half...a very good cup. I won't be roasting till next week at the earliest, so it can only get better from here. I have some Kenya AA and some PNG i'm dying to try. I just woke up, time for coffee.
I have done a 3oz 'double' (one scoop), into my espresso mug, but that's not enough to have any idea.
definately blows away any drip style i've even made.
nicepants Said:
Just wondering how the Aero shots compare to the ones from your machine....and curious what type of machine you have.
CaliforniaBear Senior Member Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 18 Location: San Mateo Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Le'lit PL041 with PID Grinder: La Pavoni PGC Vac Pot: Aeropress Roaster: Moksha
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 10:26am Subject: Unsatisfactory results with Aeropress
I received my Aeropress this week. I'm pretty dissatisfied with the results. I get excellent cappuccinos and lattes using Trader Joe's Colombian beans using my $50 Krups and my $13 aluminum Moka Pot. Both of them require pretty much the same amount of coffee and provide a good, hearty cup of coffee with full flavor, smoothness, and just a hint of an edge. It took me a while to figure out how to use the Krups espresso machine but it certainly does a great job now, with crema and all. (Hint: the enclosed instructions don't do the trick).
With the Aeropress, I find I have to use a lot more beans per shot. Furthermore, as soon as I add some water and begin the plunge, diluted coffee starts dripping out below. I've experimented with different grinds and it's all the same. The resulting coffee is very diluted and lacking any edge whatsoever. In the end I get far less volume in my latte, with an ultrasmooth flavor without much edge. Some beans yield a very sour taste too.
Any hints to improve? I've tried different water temperatures, different quantities of water, steeping time, etc. It doesn't make much difference.
nicepants Senior Member Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Kansas City Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Hamilton Beach Grinder: KYM Manual
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 10:36am Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress white Chocolate Mocha
Alan, you've made me a believer!
So for those of you who are as addicted to the *bucks White Chocolate Mocha as I am, I thought I would share. When I go to a restaurant and have a dish that I like I'm all about figuring out the recipe at home, and the White Chocolate Mocha is no exception.
After receiving my Aeropress, this was the first drink I wanted to master. (Saving me $4 per drink!) I made one of these that turned out PERFECT. I let 2 friends try it. One is a barista at *bucks, the ther is addicted to their WCMs and they both thought it was incredible.
Here's the recipe for those interested:
Iced White Chocolate Mocha
1 oz white chocolate chips (I used nestle) 3 Tablespoons (roughly) of Sweetened Condensed milk (I used nestle) --Microwave this mixture in a mug for 10-25 seconds...just enough to warm it so that the chocolate melts...don't overdo it!
2 Scoops Espresso Ground Coffee - (I happened to be using espresso blend from Wild Oats Market) 165-175F water filled up to the center of the "2" on the aeropress (Gives almost exactly 2 oz of extraction)
Mix the espresso with the white chocolate mixture until smooth.
Prepare a glass (2.5 Cup Capacity) 75% full of ice. Fill halfway with milk of your choice (i like 2%) Add espresso/chocolate mixture and stir, top with milk.
Hopefully that's not too confusing. I don't have any way to froth my milk right now but I like the iced drinks better anyways. The resulting drink is incredibly smooth, sweet, and delicious. I don't know if it tastes exactly the same as *bucks but I don't even care because I like it BETTER!
I've been telling all of my coffee-loving friends about the aeropress...except the ones who will be receiving it as a birthday gift ;-).
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 5:46pm Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress
Hello Everyone,
First of all, I want to heartily thank twalker294, MightyMik, Graydon, ScarMcDyess, and nicepants for making me feel so good. Your positive reports made my day.
ScarMcDyess asked: "Alan, do you think that the increased pressure of the AeroPress over a French Press has any effect on the caffeine or oil levels in the espresso? What amount of pressure do you think is being generated?"
I think that the flavor, caffeine, and coffee oils are all extracted while the grounds are stirred in the hot water. And the pressure simply serves to shorten the filtering time or "wet time". It's the short wet time (combined with the moderate temperature) that makes AeroPress brew smooth and low in acid.
I think the optimum push is about fifteen pounds. Pushing too hard is counterproductive because it compresses the bed of coffee and impedes the flow. That's also true in a French press. I've tried pushing softer (ten pounds is about the minimum) and much harder. There was no significant difference in flavor or crema.
In the AeroPress, fifteen pounds of push produces a quarter of a bar (atmosphere) of air pressure. (Fifteen divided by the bore area divided by 14.7PSI). With most French presses, which have slightly larger bores, the pressure is lower, but not hugely lower.
At rawman's suggestion, I AeroPressed for the Home Roasters meeting at Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara, Calif this morning. Rawman instantly noticed that my demo had far less preliminary drip-through than his. He also said that my brew tasted a LOT richer than his. We talked about his method and he said he's been stirring with a spoon rather than the AeroPress paddle. The wide handle of the paddle prevents the tip from tearing the filter. We suspect that he may have been tearing his filter. That would cause a huge increase in both drip-through and sediment and an equally huge reduction in flavor. But hopefully we'll hear more from rawman in a few days.
While at Barefoot, I got a bag of their Guatemala Peaberry Hermosa. That stuff is YUMMY!
Dribbling the water in slowly for the first few seconds allows the coffee to wet and swell and thus reduces drip-through. A double (or larger) has less drip-through than a single. But don't worry about drip-through. It doesn't impact the final result significantly. During the initial phase of AeroPress development I stirred the coffee and hot water in measuring cup, then filtered the slurry in the AeroPress. Of course that had zero drip-though. After a few months I realized that there would be one less item to clean by stirring right in the press. Both methods produced the same flavor and same brew strength, as measured by my Brix meter.
CaliforniaBear is not obtaining good results. I'll give him a phone call and see if we can debug the problem together. My goal is 100% satisfaction.
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 6:18pm Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress
AlanAdler Said:
Hello Everyone,
First of all, I want to heartily thank twalker294, MightyMik, Graydon, ScarMcDyess, and nicepants for making me feel so good. Your positive reports made my day.
ScarMcDyess asked: "Alan, do you think that the increased pressure of the AeroPress over a French Press has any effect on the caffeine or oil levels in the espresso? What amount of pressure do you think is being generated?"
I think that the flavor, caffeine, and coffee oils are all extracted while the grounds are stirred in the hot water. And the pressure simply serves to shorten the filtering time or "wet time". It's the short wet time (combined with the moderate temperature) that makes AeroPress brew smooth and low in acid.
I think the optimum push is about fifteen pounds. Pushing too hard is counterproductive because it compresses the bed of coffee and impedes the flow. That's also true in a French press. I've tried pushing softer (ten pounds is about the minimum) and much harder. There was no significant difference in flavor or crema.
In the AeroPress, fifteen pounds of push produces a quarter of a bar (atmosphere) of air pressure. (Fifteen divided by the bore area divided by 14.7PSI). With most French presses, which have slightly larger bores, the pressure is lower, but not hugely lower.
At rawman's suggestion, I AeroPressed for the Home Roasters meeting at Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara, Calif this morning. Rawman instantly noticed that my demo had far less preliminary drip-through than his. He also said that my brew tasted a LOT richer than his. We talked about his method and he said he's been stirring with a spoon rather than the AeroPress paddle. The wide handle of the paddle prevents the tip from tearing the filter. We suspect that he may have been tearing his filter. That would cause a huge increase in both drip-through and sediment and an equally huge reduction in flavor. But hopefully we'll hear more from rawman in a few days.
While at Barefoot, I got a bag of their Guatemala Peaberry Hermosa. That stuff is YUMMY!
Dribbling the water in slowly for the first few seconds allows the coffee to wet and swell and thus reduces drip-through. A double (or larger) has less drip-through than a single. But don't worry about drip-through. It doesn't impact the final result significantly. During the initial phase of AeroPress development I stirred the coffee and hot water in measuring cup, then filtered the slurry in the AeroPress. Of course that had zero drip-though. After a few months I realized that there would be one less item to clean by stirring right in the press. Both methods produced the same flavor and same brew strength, as measured by my Brix meter.
CaliforniaBear is not obtaining good results. I'll give him a phone call and see if we can debug the problem together. My goal is 100% satisfaction.
Alan: The overriding negative question seems to concern "acidity" (in the best sense). I've seen some responses from you using the term "edge" By this,are you referring to the zing we refer to as "acidity"? Thanks, Barry
Posted Sat Jan 28, 2006, 7:49pm Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress
Hi Barry,
In my prior post I was referring to acidity as measured by a pH meter. I mixed an AeroPress Americano to Brix=1.5, the same strength as my Krups drip maker. The AeroPress pH measured one fifth the acidity of the Krups drip.
Perhaps the flavor characteristic that cuppers call "acidity" differs from what I call edge. Kenneth Davids wrote in his book "Espresso" (on page 63),
"In the dark brown roasts used in most American espresso cuisine, the acidy sensation will have been almost entirely roasted out of the bean".
I drink primarily dark brown roasts and make lattes with them too. Yet my wife and latte connoiseur says that she prefers lattes that I make with 185F water over those made with 175F water. She says that the "edge" comes through just right at 185F. Yet Ken Davids says the acidy sensation has been almost entirely roasted out of these dark brown beans. So perhaps we have two different parameters here.
Incidentally, my wife prefers her straight Americanos brewed with 175F water.
At the 2005 SCAA convention in Seattle, Ken Davids gave a seminar in which we cupped three brews. They were all from the same beans, grown on the same coffee farm in Australia. They were roasted identically and brewed in identical drip brewers. But the beans had been processed by three different methods. I recall that one sample had a very acidy zing, yet another was fairly mellow. You would have sworn that the beans had come from different corners of the world!
So, if you're as puzzled as I am, just look at the bright side. If coffee were simple to understand, we wouldn't be so fascinated by it.
jerseysteve Senior Member Joined: 22 Jan 2006 Posts: 58 Location: OH Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Sun Jan 29, 2006, 8:12pm Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress
Alan - Thanks a ton the americano is superb. I put my BUNN in storage. Also the machine makes excellent tea (as per your instructions in a previous post) I think you should add that to the instructions.
I have a coffee/tea retail and webshop in Europe, so I contacted Aerobie, via the web site, and received an email back from Alex. Unfortunately we are probably too small as a single shop to distribute Aerobies throughout europe, so I sent him details of a couple of local distributors who might.
He did promise me a sample, so I hope to test it soon. And I hope that Aerobie gets a local distributor, or offers us a reasonable trade discount, so that I can start selling them.
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