My Favorite Way To Make Coffee

https://aeropress.com/

It's not a gimmick or trend. It's not trendy pour over. Nothing to plug in. No glass or mechanical systems to break. It's a manual press. Just need hot water.
They have a repeatable/dependable recipe:specific water temp, amount of water, amount of ground coffee, steeping time. You can tweak it to your personal taste.

All food safe plastics, hand washable. Camping, hotel, boat, tailgate, office, home.

I've been truly enjoying the best coffee every day for three years now. I've had all kinds of coffee makers, some very good.

What's your favorite method?

Nespresso. Several different vendors to buy quality capsules from.

Ted

Those look pretty slick all right.

I use a one cup stainless steel bodum...no paper filter needed

- two slightly rounded tablespoons coffee
- pour boiled water in from about 18" above bodum to introduce air
- stir 8 times, let settle
- stir 8 times again
- let sit for no longer than a minute
- push mesh screen to bottom of bodum slowly
- pour into mug from about 18" to introduce air
- enjoy!

I'm a strong coffee person. +1 on aeropress. Compact, easy to clean, and makes a dynamite cup of coffee. Only makes a single cup at a time, but I drink in a vacuum mug so it stays hot for a couple hours.

I buy Bustelo or Pilon fine grind cuban coffee in vacuum bagged 10 Oz bricks. Easy to carry several months supply aboard.

Works for me

Peter

I'm about to purchase an aeropress to try it out. I am nervous about it because I only drink coffee in the morning with breakfast, and as measured accurately, I drink four cups of coffee during this time. I'm not sure how much I will want to put up with making four cups of coffee every morning with it.

Here for your watching and brewing pleasure:

rsn48 said:

I'm about to purchase an aeropress to try it out. I am nervous about it because I only drink coffee in the morning with breakfast, and as measured accurately, I drink four cups of coffee during this time. I'm not sure how much I will want to put up with making four cups of coffee every morning with it.

Here for your watching and brewing pleasure:

Click to expand...

Rsn48 - it may not be for you if you make multiple cups. I drink two 10-Oz cups in the morning about 1-1/2 hrs apart in an insulated cup. I use an electric tea kettle so takes about 2-mins to heat the water.

I bought it as an alternative to Keurig K-cups to reduce waste. Works well for me. My wife isn't crazy about the added nuisance to make a cup. She prefers a super automatic coffee maker which is the size of a small Volkswagen.

Peter,
What is wrong with having to pull a dinghy full of specialty coffee makers and supplies on your travels, as long as it keeps the Admiral happy?
We only drink one cup each per day, and use a small conical shaped filter and boiled water. Works great for us. We do buy a good quality coffee, often grinding our own.

I'm currently trying to retire from contract aviation, a profession that runs primarily on caffeine and popcorn with whatever can be shaken from a vending machine to supplement. As such, I've sampled everything referred to as coffee from the fancy machines to the venerable Bunn commercial. My favorite has always been the simple French Press. I never leave home without my stainless FP with integral sippy cup lid and plug in heating coil.

Having said that, I've never been introduced to the AeroPress! I'm actually looking forward to conducting experiments in my pseudoretirement with this promising new piece of gear.

For me, ease of use is the primary consideration. The gold standard is of course the plumbed in Keurig. Insert cup, push button; done. My go-to nowadays in my Tassimo T-disk machine because it will make a 14oz cup. Compared to standard 10oz cups I can cut the number of cups I consume per day by around 30%.

Thanks for the tip!

The aeropress is same principle as French Press, just a smaller scale. It's much easier to clean and easier for me to get a consistent cup of coffee with the included measuring scoop. The pressed "Puck" pops right out and just needs a simple rinse to clean vs disassembling a French Press.

When I was delivering, my gear bag included a double-wall SS French Press and either Peets or Starbucks French or Italian Roast. I can put up with a lot of compromise as long as I have decent coffee in the morning.

I started down this path about 10 years ago. Until recently, I traveled every week, and often went to either my boat in SF or my cabin in CO on weekends instead of home. I'd arrive late at night and get up early. Any coffee I'd left from previous trip was old and undrinkable. So I went with K-cups which seem to have a very long shelf life. I then realized just how impractical they are in terms of storage and landfill. I them went to Nespresso which makes a very good cup of coffee.

When I found the Aeropress and the vacuum packed espresso-grind Cuban coffee (Bustelo or Pilon), well, that solved everything. Very easy to store on my boat.

Peter

PPandE said:

I'm currently trying to retire from contract aviation, a profession that runs primarily on caffeine and popcorn with whatever can be shaken from a vending machine to supplement. As such, I've sampled everything referred to as coffee from the fancy machines to the venerable Bunn commercial. My favorite has always been the simple French Press. I never leave home without my stainless FP with integral sippy cup lid and plug in heating coil.

Having said that, I've never been introduced to the AeroPress! I'm actually looking forward to conducting experiments in my pseudoretirement with this promising new piece of gear.

For me, ease of use is the primary consideration. The gold standard is of course the plumbed in Keurig. Insert cup, push button; done. My go-to nowadays in my Tassimo T-disk machine because it will make a 14oz cup. Compared to standard 10oz cups I can cut the number of cups I consume per day by around 30%.

Thanks for the tip!

Click to expand...

Congrats on upcoming retirement. As a way to fill my free time, I purchased a Gene Cafe electronic coffee roaster, electric burr grinder, the Aero Press and 4 varieties of green beans from a local roaster. The roaster was quite pricey but as a hobby, not a never-ending collection of additional gear and money like some hobbies can be.
The roaster came with several tested time/temp combinations that are precisely repeatable and also allows for adjustment for your own recipe. I had fun for about a year with different green beans and roasting recipes. I then settled on Costa Rica beans from a particular estate/farm. So I don't do much experimenting any more. I've found that a 6 oz baggie of freshly roasted beans is a perfect gift for friends, family and other people in your life that you appreciate. Always a big smile and excitement from the recipients.
It's been almost five years and the roaster comes out once a week to roast a batch of beans. When it dies, I won't replace it. I'll buy from the local roaster in small batches.

Swfla said:

Congrats on upcoming retirement. As a way to fill my free time, I purchased a Gene Cafe electronic coffee roaster, electric burr grinder, the Aero Press and 4 varieties of green beans from a local roaster. The roaster was quite pricey but as a hobby, not a never-ending collection of additional gear and money like some hobbies can be.
The roaster came with several tested time/temp combinations that are precisely repeatable and also allows for adjustment for your own recipe. I had fun for about a year with different green beans and roasting recipes. I then settled on Costa Rica beans from a particular estate/farm. So I don't do much experimenting any more. I've found that a 6 oz baggie of freshly roasted beans is a perfect gift for friends, family and other people in your life that you appreciate. Always a big smile and excitement from the recipients.
It's been almost five years and the roaster comes out once a week to roast a batch of beans. When it dies, I won't replace it. I'll buy from the local roaster in small batches.

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Yea, about that retirement... I've been trying for years now but the darn phone keeps ringing! Another plane in the wrong place and gotta be moved! Oh well, good thing I enjoy it!

What an awesome gift idea! I love giving and receiving gifts that can't be bought. In this age of Amazon anything you can imagine on a whim it's hard to shop for those you care about.

I can just barely remember my grandmother's older sister roasting coffee beans in an iron skillet. Quite an aroma but I was too young to appreciate it.

Ignore the kale soup.

Press that makes two cups at a time. A "5" or "6" on the burr grinder, and we're off to the races. On the weekend, when big projects are required, a second round is made.

I've been eyeing the aeropress for a while. Lots of good reviews, but we always make a minimum of TWO cups at a time.

And for beans, "Ravens brew, dead man's reach" when we think to order it. Otherwise the local stuff, peet's major dickasons, or charbucks sumatra will suffice.

O C Diver said:

Nespresso. Several different vendors to buy quality capsules from.

Ted

Click to expand...

+1

Rob

It's easy enough to make two cups with aero press. You can run hot water trough the same grounds twice. Just use a bit more grounds. Because you're using 175 degree water, there's plenty of coffee goodness to extract twice. There's a slight difference between 1st and second cup. But nowhere near the difference you'd expect. For 4 cups, it might make more sense to use a large thermal french press. But if storage space is at a premium, like hotel room or camping, aero press wins for compactness.

I have an old picture of my grandparents on a luxury cruise drinking Sanka instant coffee. My how times/tastes have changed.

French press for me

I have turned the coffee making over to Mr Coffee. I use 6 scoops and water for 10 cups.
My cup holds about 2 1/2 normal cups.... Sometimes I drink the pot and sometime almost drink the pot.
Taste? No idea. Most of my taste buds were surgically removed as a possible treatment for sleep apnea.
I doctor my coffee with canned milk and canned milk. (a trick I learned when working in logging camps in northern Alberta, Canada)
Coffee grounds? Pretty much what ever is on sale.

OldDan1943 said:

I have turned the coffee making over to Mr Coffee. I use 6 scoops and water for 10 cups.
My cup holds about 2 1/2 normal cups.... Sometimes I drink the pot and sometime almost drink the pot.
Taste? No idea. Most of my taste buds were surgically removed as a possible treatment for sleep apnea.
I doctor my coffee with canned milk and canned milk. (a trick I learned when working in logging camps in northern Alberta, Canada)
Coffee grounds? Pretty much what ever is on sale.

Click to expand...

That's the recipe for a pot of good coffee. Didn't know about taste bud removal for sleep apnea. Hope it made a difference for you. I always keep a couple cans of sweetened condensed milk for backup to my 1/2 and 1/2.

OldDan1943 said:

I doctor my coffee with canned milk and canned milk. (a trick I learned when working in logging camps in northern Alberta, Canada)

Click to expand...

So I guess the secret is the double application of the canned milk?

Lollygag1 said:

I have an old picture of my grandparents on a luxury cruise drinking Sanka instant coffee. My how times/tastes have changed.

French press for me

Click to expand...

Plenty of places in the world where Nescafe or Sanka are the height of coffee drinking.

Like at home, we have an espresso machine and grinder on the boat. From previous threads, as do plenty of TF members.

Milk in coffee is an abomination.

49 grams of Kirkland espresso beans, burr mill and 8 cups, simple Melita pour over, $20 unit. Not trendy. Been around forever.

JDCAVE said:

49 grams of Kirkland espresso beans, burr mill and 8 cups, simple Melita pour over, $20 unit. Not trendy. Been around forever.

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After reading your post, I found a ceramic Melitta in my cupboard at home. They have been around a long time. Even the coffee bars that do pour overs have been around so long that they're no longer trendy either. I'm just out of touch. LOL.

Swfla said:

https://aeropress.com/

It's not a gimmick or trend. It's not trendy pour over. Nothing to plug in. No glass or mechanical systems to break. It's a manual press. Just need hot water.
They have a repeatable/dependable recipe:specific water temp, amount of water, amount of ground coffee, steeping time. You can tweak it to your personal taste.

All food safe plastics, hand washable. Camping, hotel, boat, tailgate, office, home.

I've been truly enjoying the best coffee every day for three years now. I've had all kinds of coffee makers, some very good.

What's your favorite method?

Click to expand...

UPDATE: This old codger admits that home pour overs (Melitta) have been around a long time and aren't trendy.

My favorite way to make coffee is have someone else make it. 2nd best is use something like Mr Coffee. If Joltin' Joe DiMaggio was still around, he could make it.

A SS expresso unit is been home and boat favorite, as it calls when the coffee is ready.

The "4" cup size makes 2 normal sized cups.

BTW - long trips sometimes means difficult to get decent coffee among the way (Bahamas for example). As mentioned in prior post, the ground Cuban coffee bricks have a very long shelf life and are compact. Easily carry a 1-year supply in the back of a cabinet.

Aeropress in the middle steeping.

I guess I'm the only guy that uses an old fashioned percolator? Not the electric kind. The stove top kind.

At home, I grind my own beans (Baratza Virtuoso) and brew with either an Aeropress or a Chemex depending on my mood that day.

On the boat, I haven't gotten fancy. It's usually pre-ground coffee in a small single-cup coffee maker. I'll probably get a better coffee maker for the boat at some point, but I'm not sure I'll go beyond that. Partly just due to simplicity, available space, etc. Plus, heating water on the stove takes more power than the coffee maker, so powering it from solar / battery would be unlikely and I'd be stuck with running the generator for coffee when away from shore power (which I want to get away from).

rslifkin said:

heating water on the stove takes more power than the coffee maker, so powering it from solar / battery would be unlikely and I'd be stuck with running the generator for coffee when away from shore power (which I want to get away from).

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How about a compact electric tea kettle such as THIS ONE for any of the pour-over methods (Aeropress, Chemex, Melita, French Press, etc)? Will easily run off inverter and boil water in less than 2-mins. Would consume around 50-watts (4 Amps @ 12V). Appears to be pretty small, so easily stored.

Peter

As a very big lover of delicious coffee, I cannot live without coffee for one day. It's great when the Trawler has a good coffee machine but no coffee machine. I make Turkish coffee. This coffee is very quick and easy to prepare