Should I buy an AeroPress?

[DandyLyon]

Are they better than a cafetière? Is it a real faff? I need to save money on takeaway coffee but can never get it how I like it at home. Don't want to buy an AeroPress for it to end up in the cupboard but am sorely tempted! Or would a posh cafetière be better? Would love to hear from fellow coffee lovers :-)

Yes! They’re great.

Way less faff than a cafetière I reckon, as the coffee grounds get compacted into a neat little block that you can just push out straight into the bin/compost, rather than tediously swilling grounds out.

It’s also super portable so always good coffee on offer!

We have one, and yes it's better than a cafetière, but for us it's not as good as a machine (we have an espresso machine) or even stove-top pot coffee.

And do you use pre-ground coffee? I have an amazing shop close to me that grinds the beans for you. But is this a no no with the AeroPress?

Yes! Bought DH one for Christmas year before last and it has been used every single day. Much more use than any of the cafetières we own.

Yup, pre-ground. I mean, you can grind your own beans if that’s what you like, but I am lazy!

I love you all for enabling me! I have to do it....

Aeropress produces more reliable coffee than a cafetiere and is much easier, although I personally prefer my cafetiere. A good old fashioned filter is also pretty reliable and arguably the least mess because the whole lot dumps straight into the compost.

For camping, we've just tried a Wacaco espresso pump. It's amazing! It produces crema and everything. A worktop machine is more convenient, but if storage space or initial cost are an issue maybe it would work. It's certainly much much better than a stovetop moka/biletti pot.

Yes - I'm just about to squeeze mine now. It does require a little bit of strength.

We grind our beans fresh, but we've used preground when we've bought it accidentally, it's fine. I'm sure your coffee shop will know the right grind setting.

I've toyed with an aero press but I'm happy with my cafetière mug all in one thing at work and I have a one cup filter machine at home that is very compact.

A good old fashioned filter is also pretty reliable and arguably the least mess because the whole lot dumps straight into the compost.

We gave DD a v60 filter to take to uni as it's the simplest, can make more than one cup at once, and easiest to clean up.

The other thing is how you buy your coffee. Pre-ground supermarket coffee is ground so that it will be ideal for filter or aeropress. It's too fine for cafetiere and too coarse for espresso. If you choose a different coffee apparatus, you will be better going to somewhere like Whittards or a fancy coffee place where they grind it to spec, or buying a good home grinder, but that will push the price up!

Yes. They are superb.

We have one and have found it disappointing. The quality of the coffee it produces is okay but it’s just a faff to make and then to clean afterwards.

We usually just use supermarket ground coffee. We also have a metal reusable filter which we like.

it’s just a faff to make and then to clean afterwards.

I agree that the technique takes a bit of practice but what is the hassle with cleaning? You unscrew the end, fire the puck of coffee grounds and filter paper into the bin and then rinse it under the tap. I don’t think I could spend more than sixty seconds cleaning it if I tried.

I love mine!

I think they're great, and not a lot of faff. Was given mine in 2012, and still going strong, though have replaced the rubber plunger top in that time. A quick estimate would suggest that it's knocked out over 3000 cups of coffee easily in that time! I just buy supermarket pre-ground stuff, but fresher/nicer beans would probably be better I imagine. There are different ways to use it, so might be worth a quick Google/YouTube. I prefer the inverse method, so upside down on worktop, coffee in, water in, stir, then invert and plunge into mug. Just press the grounds/filter into bin/compost.

And yes, I just rinse under tap after, and stick in dishwasher occasionally, so no hassle to clean, literally seconds.