Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/07/go-go-aeropress.html
I’ve been writing about the Aeropress coffee maker for years, an ingenious, compact, low-cost way of brewing outstanding coffee with vastly less fuss and variation than any other method. For a decade, I’ve kept an Aeropress in my travel bag, even adding a collapsible silicone kettle for those hotel rooms lacking even a standard coffee-maker to heat water with.
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For #2, you could always try the inverted method, that is, turn the Aeropress upside-down and stir before putting on the filter and cap
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I bought one of these. I’ve not taken it for a spin yet on the road but my biggest complaint is I now have no where to store my porlex-mini grinder. Also when I bought it I didn’t realize the aeropress would be a different size. I already feel like my regular aeropress makes a barely adequate amount of brew for one cup, I feel like the smaller size will be far too small and I’ll have to resort to maybe doing a batch and a half somehow.
The cup they give also isn’t great, it doesn’t come with any lid you can drink from either so if you’re holding it on the street and get bumped you’ve got coffee all over. I’ve never had a problem with the cheap paper cups that hotels give. I’ve wished they were a little larger sometimes, but I’ve never had problems with size of opening or with the cup being crushed. I do prefer to also travel with a plastic “keep cup” which is delightful to use and can also be refilled from other coffee vendors at airports (like Starbucks)
I do promise to take this product on a proper test drive, but I feel like the problems they tried to solve they didn’t solve all the way (no lid for cup, the cup is not that pleasant to hold or use). And by solving the problem of “also need a cup” they ignored all the users who use the inside space of the packed aero press to house their grinders. I would rather have a killer fresh grind in a paper cup than pre-ground beans in a sturdy plastic cup. That also brings up another thing they’ve neglected: bean storage. I like that they’re trying to think of better, fully integrated solutions, but don’t like the compromises they’ve made here.
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A friend of mine does this. Aeropress is his daily coffee driver so he makes a lot. He also noted that he knocks the whole inverted thing over maybe every other month or so, so YMMV. That’s a clever solution to the paper tearing problem though.
I promptly lost my original stir stick on my aeropress (left it in a hotels room) and bought a camping plastic spoon/spork. It works well. I’ve never torn a filter. I use some lines in my porlex grinder to measure coffee since the scoop was attached to the stir stick.
Inverted method here as well, didn’t know people still do the ‘normal’ way. Why let the coffee start draining before its been fully brewed? Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever knocked it over. To each their own.
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My biggest complaint would be how similar this looks like a BONG. Amirite?
For less than 10 bucks, you can get a metal filter, and never worry about those little pieces of paper again. Also, I have to mention another nice use of the Aeropress that I’ve found - it’s great at filtering out vegetable matter from melted butter, especially with said metal filter!
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created an account JUST to mention the metal filter option! beat me to it. 
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Let me know when they come out with a Wildcard Poker feature.
You can mostly circumvent this by putting the plunger in so it’s a centimetre deep then pulling it back half a centimetre while it steeps.
Wouldn’t the expanding steam cause a problem if you aren’t holding it down? I have had it explode on me once before that way… very lively way to start one’s morning. Didn’t even need the coffee after that.
"But Jerminate, why would you need to strain vegetable matter out of your carefully melted butter? "
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Can’t say I’ve had that happen, tho I usually leave my hand on the top while I’m waiting for it to steep. Generally any problems I’ve had have either been from it exploding due to using too fine a grind, or from turning the press over faster than necessary when using the inverted method.
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I can tell a pretty big difference between paper and metal filtered coffee and I prefer paper.
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The product name may also be a touch unfortunate. Sounds like “air oppress”.
Interesting. Do you use bleached paper or non-bleached paper?
Also, I own 3 different metal filters (one mesh type and two drilled), and I believe the drilled ones makes better tasting coffee, IMHO all of them beat the taste of paper.
I never conducted a proper blind test though, so I am not entirely sure.
This is my travel setup:
Since taking this photo it’s been upgraded with a Rhinowares handgrinder that (minus the crank) fits exactly inside the Aeropress. I don’t need a scoop (I just fill the grinder to the max) or a stirrer (I brew inverted and I just swirl a bit after I add the water).
The only things that go outside of the pitcher are the Rhinowares crank and some beans.
The pitcher is great, it helps me control the water temperature better (at home I have a thermometer, on the road I just eyeball it) helps me control the delivery of the water better (a enthusiastic pour already stirs the coffee quite well), I brew into the pitcher, this lets me easily split the brew into two cups if I want to make a brew for 2 people and lastly it functions as a nice container for most of my gear when I pack it.
I don’t see any things in the Aeropress Go that would make me want to switch to it over my current setup. Sure it packs smaller but that’s also it’s main downside, it makes less coffee.
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For aeropress I use their regular bleached paper. At home I use unbleached paper in a technivorm drip machine. I cannot detect any “paper taste” with either. Metal filtered coffee comes off as harsher to me, i’m not sure why. I listen to gastropod and they did an episode about different materials to make spoons out of and came to the conclusion that the metal did make different things taste differently so perhaps there’s a minor reaction going on with the metal that I don’t like https://gastropod.com/episode-1-the-golden-spoon/.
Either that or the paper removes something that I don’t like (maybe it absorbs some acid or oil or something). I’m honestly not sure. I just know that definitively I don’t like metal filtered coffee.
I haven’t used my Aeropress in many years. But as I recall, the paper absorbs some of the oils* that the metal lets pass. I had planned to use the metal filter to avoid the waste of the paper filters but like you, didn’t like the taste when using the metal filter.
* That’s what I read online at the time. Not sure how scientific those opinions were.
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Might also have something to do with the brand of coffee and the roasting.
OTOH I found several mentions of “paper taste” in brewing guides [1][2], where it is recommended to use hot water to wash out the paper taste, which would indicate something’s present in at least some brands of the paper that can be removed.
[1] https://thebarn.de/pages/brewguide-aeropress
[2] How to Use an Aeropress [Coffee Brewing Instructions] - Hungry Huy
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