In typical new blog fashion, it’s been 4 months since my last post. That just sounded like a confession. So forgive me, blog, for I have lapsed. And I think that in this case, maybe I’ve been daunted by the narrow categorization I set up. But then I started thinking the other day… part of what really delights me about design is finding it everywhere—surrounding myself with it and appreciating it. Filling the minutia of everyday life with good aesthetic choices informs good design thinking and makes life in general more pleasurable.
So… Coffee.
I’ve always appreciated the aesthetics of a good old French press, as well as the strong-as-you-want-it coffee it makes. But when I go to a coffee shop, I order espresso. An Americano to be exact. And I’ve never wanted to drop the cash it takes to get a home espresso machine with the aesthetics and quality that match the price tag.
Randomly, some time last year, I read an article that mentioned the AeroPress in a blurb on home espresso. It looked like it might fit the bill for clean, simple design, and at $25 the price was right, so I ordered one. I made a cup of coffee with it the afternoon it came in the mail, and I haven’t used the French press since.
Every time I use the AeroPress, I appreciate the simple, efficient design. And it makes an extraordinary cup of coffee. A cup of espresso that is, without exaggeration, tastier and smoother than probably 9 out of 10 café espressos I have ever had. With another 6 or so ounces of water added, it’s the best Americano I’ve ever had. I tell people about this thing on a regular basis. It’s simplicity meets design meets coffee.
It’s just a simple acrylic tube with a filter cap on one end, into which you insert a paper filter disc. There’s a matching acrylic plunger with a rubber gasket end (this is where it starts to make sense that the product is made by the people who make the Aerobie flying disc). You add coffee with a measure scoop, add water to a fill line, stir for ten seconds with a stirring paddle, and press with the plunger. That’s it. You’ll see in the picture, it makes a beautiful frothy-topped cup of espresso (what’s that called? The crema?). And when you’re done, you remove the end cap, push the plunger through to eject the coffee plug into the trash, rinse the end, and pull the plunger back out, which simultaneously wipes the interior of the coffee chamber clean.
Simple, clean, well designed. There’s nothing extraneous here. And most importantly, it makes a damn good cup of coffee. Which is helping me write this blog right now.
Simple tools for the best espresso I've ever made at home.
Adding coffee to the AeroPress.
Adding water and stirring with the paddle.
Plunger in action.
Here you can see the compressed coffee, the filter end cap, and the foamy head on the coffee.
The neat little coffee plug (which usually goes in the trash).
A perfect Americano.
This entry was written by , posted on November 4, 2009 at 11:37 pm, filed under design everywhere, product review. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.