Aeropress / budget coffee nerd questions

I have had a Krupps burr grinder for I honestly couldn't tell you how long, I had a basic blade grinder but I always ended up with too fine a grind.  The Krupps has taken the guesswork out for me, does it mean I make a better cup of coffee, err I don't know!

I'm also embarrassed to say I was given an Aeropress for xmas a few years ago and haven't taken out of its box even though I was the one who wanted it! I keep thinking I must give it a go.  I'll do it tomorrow! I've hit the maximum dose of caffeine for today!

Yeah. I have had a basic blade grinder for budget reasons for a while but for some reason I stuck with it. 

If you are careful with a blade grinder -- that is, you shake it uniformly every couple of seconds and for a fixed amount of time-- you can get a fairly even grind, actually. But the nature of the grind you get tends to clump in the aeropress regardless.

So I am looking at these new Kingrinder models and their competitors, which now have a variety of immensely clever, CNC-cut steel burrs and appear to be amazingly good value for money, not exhausting to use, and a cut above the classic Hario things.

Allesandro B said

I'm also embarrassed to say I was given an Aeropress for xmas a few years ago and haven't taken out of its box even though I was the one who wanted it! I keep thinking I must give it a go.  I'll do it tomorrow! I've hit the maximum dose of caffeine for today!

I love mine; it fits with a fairly laissez-faire, non-obsessive approach to coffee. I'm only looking at a burr grinder for the smallest upgrade in grind consistency. 

All I can say is, don't let anyone sell you on the "inversion" method, which is foolishness. You will eventually knock it over and you may scald yourself.

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

I'd guess that my first aeropress lasted about the same time, and I'm number two - clear instead of smoked plastic, otherwise identical. 

I have a subscription to a service which sends me different coffees ground for the aeropress every month, so I get variety (some really nice, very rarely a bum one) rather than consistency. The German electric grinder that I've had for 30 years isn't seeing much use and I can't really comment on the latest grinder tech, except to say it may increase your enjoyment of process - don't knock that - but will probably make very little difference to the coffee. 

Unfocussed Mike said

Yeah. I have had a basic blade grinder for budget reasons for a while but for some reason I stuck with it. 

If you are careful with a blade grinder -- that is, you shake it uniformly every couple of seconds and for a fixed amount of time-- you can get a fairly even grind, actually. But the nature of the grind you get tends to clump in the aeropress regardless.

So I am looking at these new Kingrinder models and their competitors, which now have a variety of immensely clever, CNC-cut steel burrs and appear to be amazingly good value for money, not exhausting to use, and a cut above the classic Hario things.

Allesandro B said

I'm also embarrassed to say I was given an Aeropress for xmas a few years ago and haven't taken out of its box even though I was the one who wanted it! I keep thinking I must give it a go.  I'll do it tomorrow! I've hit the maximum dose of caffeine for today!

I love mine; it fits with a fairly laissez-faire, non-obsessive approach to coffee. I'm only looking at a burr grinder for the smallest upgrade in grind consistency. 

All I can say is, don't let anyone sell you on the "inversion" method, which is foolishness. You will eventually knock it over and you may scald yourself.

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

I had read that the inversion method was a pointless hack.  I'm not obsessive about coffee making at all as long as it's a bean or blend I like.

Like a lot of people I've tried quite a few gadgets over the years, I've had a Delonghi bean to cup, which was fantastic until it broke and was uneconomic to fix, a Gaggia classic which made a mess and eventually also broke, a variety of french presses which I do like and use regularly, a Moka pot which I can't be arsed with and we now have a small Nespresso machine which gets a lot of love in the house in the morning because it is so damn simple (albeit expensive) to use and a basic filter coffee machine which when combined with a smart plug is a bit like a modern day teasmade (I have one of those as well that I inherited!)  Sorry I've done the classic PP and gone off topic!

CalmNudes said

I'd guess that my first aeropress lasted about the same time, and I'm number two - clear instead of smoked plastic, otherwise identical. 

I think it's mostly the plunger cap in mine that is the issue? Too many slips and skids when plunging. I've been able to reshape it a bit (you get it hot, roll the edge on a hard surface) but that's not working anymore either.

Having said that, the inside of the tube is now a little bit rougher. Years of a few sharper grounds being pressed against it by the plunger, I guess, because I tend to fill it up rather than do the shot-plus-water thing. So maybe that is also affecting the seal.

I am wondering about replacing the whole shebang, now.

I am very reluctant to add process to coffee making, and I really like the "leave it two or three minutes, it barely matters" aspect of the Aeropress; even James Hoffman's recipe is like, ehh, you can't really mess it up. I think that's what it has always been for; the simplicity of good-enough results. I reject all that Aeropress-competition, overoptimisation nonsense. 

Though I am going to sort out cheap scales with a reliable tare function, and a better grinder, because sometimes when it is good it is very very good, and a tiny bit of improvement over hit rate would be worth it.

As to beans: Sainsbury's Kenya and Brazil, and if I am treating myself Union's Yayu Forest, Gaja Mountain, Bobolink and their Yirgacheffe orModern Standard's Konga Collective.

But I do experiment. At the moment I actually have Caffe Nero's single-origin Brazil, which makes a surprisingly good Aeropress, albeit slightly more comforting with milk. But it's mostly because I'd run out and it was convenient.

Allesandro B said

I had read that the inversion method was a pointless hack.  I'm not obsessive about coffee making at all as long as it's a bean or blend I like.

I can see why it might work. But the reality is the device is not designed for it, and it's dangerous. Every now and then someone posts on a coffee group about the third degree burns they received to their fingers. And once you've knocked it over once, you're never going to do it again.

You can just put the plunger in the top, gently, to create enough suction that it won't drip through at all. Though this might contribute to the plunger seal weakening over time. Part of why those flow control devices are so interesting, and now Aeropress have an official one I might look at it.

I am quite interested in those Picopresso/Nanopresso/Micropresso things, TBH. But the simplicity of the Aeropress is like black and white film development: a tiny bit of preparation, warm enough water, and whatever you do, do it consistently.

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

I don't drink a lot of coffee whilst at home or at work. But I do drink coffee whilst pursuing leisure activities away from home so I keep an aeropress and a grinder (as well as light cooking gear) in a box in the back of the truck. The aeropress came with a (Portman?) ceramic grinder which I used for some time, but a kayaking mate turned up with a 1zpresso with stainless burrs which was appreciably faster and felt more positive and less of a 'grind' to use. So I now have one of those in the truck instead. I wouldn't say the coffee tastes any better though, just that the grinding process is less of a fag.

FiL said

I don't drink a lot of coffee whilst at home or at work. But I do drink coffee whilst pursuing leisure activities away from home so I keep an aeropress and a grinder (as well as light cooking gear) in a box in the back of the truck. The aeropress came with a (Portman?) ceramic grinder which I used for some time, but a kayaking mate turned up with a 1zpresso with stainless burrs which was appreciably faster and felt more positive and less of a 'grind' to use. So I now have one of those in the truck instead. I wouldn't say the coffee tastes any better though, just that the grinding process is less of a fag.

Yeah -- lots of people saying good things about the 1zpresso, specifically about how much easier it is to grind.

I only drink one or maybe two cups at home every day and it's just me, so the Aeropress is the right sort of deal; even a V60 might be too much nonsense.

(Porlex?)

Edited by Unfocussed Mike

Unfocussed Mike said

FiL said

I don't drink a lot of coffee whilst at home or at work. But I do drink coffee whilst pursuing leisure activities away from home so I keep an aeropress and a grinder (as well as light cooking gear) in a box in the back of the truck. The aeropress came with a (Portman?) ceramic grinder which I used for some time, but a kayaking mate turned up with a 1zpresso with stainless burrs which was appreciably faster and felt more positive and less of a 'grind' to use. So I now have one of those in the truck instead. I wouldn't say the coffee tastes any better though, just that the grinding process is less of a fag.

Yeah -- lots of people saying good things about the 1zpresso, specifically about how much easier it is to grind.

I only drink one or maybe two cups at home every day and it's just me, so the Aeropress is the right sort of deal; even a V60 might be too much nonsense.

(Porlex?)

Could be. I tried to find it as it should be kicking around in the office kitchen, but there's no sign of it. It was the one everyone seemed to recommend at the time I got the aeropress.

Lovely to read a thread about coffee. It makes a pleasant change from some of the old chestnuts that regularly appear.

My aeropress is only two years old so hopefully a few years to go before the plunger thingy wears out.

I still occasionally use a coffee grinder made by Peugeot in the 1800s. It belonged to my great grandad who came from Vienna.It still works well though I tend to use an electric grinder most days as my arms, like the plunger thingy, are not as strong as they once were.

The aeropress is a great piece of kit and certainly easier to clean than my old mokka.

Edited by Bergman Greenstreet

Edited by Bergman Greenstreet

We're still using a basic Beko Chinese-made bean-to-cup machine that I was given by a grateful customer back in 2019. Apart from giving it a bit of a clean every now and then, it's been trouble free. And it's dirt-cheap to run. Beans at around a tenner per kilo. Water at £3 per m³. Put water in one hole and beans in another, press a button, wait a few seconds, then strong, aromatic, piping-hot black coffee pours into my mug.

Meantime the myriad of tiny critters that have made their home in our composters go bonkers for the waste grindings.

Perfect. :-)

Edited by waist.it

Ordered a new plunger cap and one of the popular cheaper stainless-steel-burr grinders, for now.

Scales, metal filter and flow control cap thingy can wait; it's silly to change too many variables at once!

Unfocussed Mike said

So, after five or six years of service and I would guess about 1100-1200 coffees, my Aeropress needs a new plunger cap thingy at the very least.

While I was looking online I discovered:

1) Aeropress now have their own flow control unit (like the Fellow Prismo)

2) In the last 18 months or so the budget manual coffee grinder world appears to have changed utterly with amazing new CNC'd stainless steel burrs in things like the Kingrinder manual grinders*

Has anyone tried these? I'm not really in the market for electric burr grinders or coffee machines, but despite my excellent blade-grinder game I am considering these modest upgrades...

* hinting at a major change in the cost-effectiveness of five-axis CNC, I guess

I'm not sure how much I believe the hype around burr grinders but at the moment I use an ancient Gaggia 64mm for espresso and it does a pretty decent job in terms of consistency and not charring the grounds.

I keep looking at Mazzers but even the bigger grind wheels don't seem like much of an improvement.

Few things more satisfying than a complete puck falling out the end of the barrel 😊

I use one of these ...

Burr Coffee Grinder Electric, FOHERE Coffee Bean https://amzn.eu/d/6ZjmNO1

It's not bad; I feel like I get a consistent grind and weight, although I've not done anything scientific to prove it.

I've got a hand cranked burr grinder too ... only problem with it is that by the time I've finished grinding by hand, my desire for a 'fresh' coffee has changed in to anything but 'fresh coffee.

Aeropress and v60 are great if u don’t want espresso basss drinks. You are not going to get anything better value for money.

For aeropress and v60 where u don’t need to fine a grind any half decent burr will probably do and in that sense any of the Kyocera/porlex ceramic ones are probably the best bang for buck. I wore out the drive shaft of my Kyocera before I wore out the burrs. If u ever want to enter the espresso game, that when u need to get better grinders to get consistent and fine enough grind. That’s a hell of a rabbit hole to go down and I would advice just buying once and buying right. I got a used mazzer super Luigi for £150 and it’s lasted me through 3 different espresso machines (from basic gaggia to now a top end rocket) and I’ve never once looked at another grinder.