# Aeropress beats French Press?



## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

Hi.

I have used a Bodium French press for years.

What advantage if any is there to buying an Aeropress?


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

The main one for me is a cleaner brew, no bits in the bottom of your cup! It can also be used lots of ways with different brew methods, very portable and robust. Oh and its only £25


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

Thanks for the reply!

What do you mean, 'different brew methods?'


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

varying grind size, steep time and inverted versus regular. Can create 'espresso type' short extractions or longer , more delicate, 'full immersion' brews.

Can also do pour over at a push


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

I mean you can leave it to steep like a French press 3-4 mins then plunge, the standard method add grinds and water stir leave 30 seconds then plunge, there is also a drip method I believe. Anyway its very gary has explained better than me!

check out http://brewmethods.com/ for some suggestions on how to brew they even have some methods you might want to try out in your French press! But you really do want some nice fresh beans freshly ground to get the best out of any method.

I would use the aeropress more but it really is a one cup device and Mrskikapu always wants a cup when I want one so we use the v60 02 at the moment.


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

Great info and links, many thanks!


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

Many thanks.

Now I just have to find out what 'inverted' is!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

DaveMart said:


> Many thanks.
> 
> Now I just have to find out what 'inverted' is!


It's a technique ideal for redecorating your kitchen ;-) You place the plunger in the top of press about 1cm deep, turn it upside down, so that the plunger now becomes the floor of the brewer. Add your water & coffee, then flip it back the right way up (watch the drips!) to express (espress?) the coffee. The benefit is for longer steeps & prevents the water from running out. I do it over the draining board.


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

I've come across a comparative taste test:






I can't really agree with the conclusion about grounds, as if you scoop them off they are no problem in a French Press, so it was bad usage IMO.

The more concentrated taste of the Aeropress sounds attractive, but I have messing around with paper filters.

Do the metal ones do the job on their own OK?


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

S/be: 'hate messing around with paper filters'


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

They produce quite different results in the cup.

The metal filters are OK, but most people prefer the paper.


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## coffeechops (Dec 23, 2013)

aaronb said:


> They produce quite different results in the cup.
> 
> The metal filters are OK, but most people prefer the paper.


Really? I hate the paper filters, I think they remove lots of flavour, all the body/mouthfeel and are a pain to wash. Kaffeeologie s-filter for me every time.

Colin


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## oracleoftruth (Jan 15, 2014)

I definitely prefer the metal one. So easy to clean and use.


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

I think that is the only one I might be tempted by, but having looked at a few videos and so on I will probably just stick to my French Press.

I will buy a double walled jug though, so that I can brew more and put it to keep warm in that instead of continuing to brew in the press even tamped down if I keep it warm over a candle light.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

what about a Chemex?

You can get various sizes, produces a very nice clean brew, looks cool, easy to do, no risk of over-steeping.


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

I used to use a drop through jug.

Couldn't be bothered with the filters, and preferred the brew from a press.

I may get an Aeropress to experiment with, but not a Chemex.


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## CrazyH (Jan 14, 2011)

After a brief stint with the aeropress as my main method I've gone back to standard french press. I like the aeropress but although I an get a brew faster from it I just find it a bit of a faff, and for most coffees prefer the feel of a french press, so although it takes longer it doesn't require much attention and I once it's going I can go off and sort out the rest of breakfast. So now it's primarily used for bright coffees which I don't want any sediment in, concentrate which I dilute with hot milk, emergency quick cups.

Definitely worth owning one, even if not as a primary method.


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## DaveMart (Mar 10, 2014)

CrazyH said:


> After a brief stint with the aeropress as my main method I've gone back to standard french press. I like the aeropress but although I an get a brew faster from it I just find it a bit of a faff, and for most coffees prefer the feel of a french press, so although it takes longer it doesn't require much attention and I once it's going I can go off and sort out the rest of breakfast. So now it's primarily used for bright coffees which I don't want any sediment in, concentrate which I dilute with hot milk, emergency quick cups.
> 
> Definitely worth owning one, even if not as a primary method.


Sounds reasonable.

I may get one, but I am a bit reluctant to have (yet more) rarely used kitchen equipment, when I have not got room to spare in my flat.

The Aeropress would not have a good life up in the loft, so I don't want to offer it a bad home! ;-)


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## Going banana's (Apr 8, 2014)

No-ones mentioned the cholesterol problems from the french press!


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

> No-ones mentioned the cholesterol problems from the french press!


Do tell, I wasn't aware of this.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Lipids are filtered by paper but not a screen ....or so they say


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

Coffee oils go straight through the mesh however I'm not convinced paper filters stop them all either when you look at the top of a filter cup in the light


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

FACT: Not all lipids are bad for you, in the same way that eggs are now definitely not bad for your cholesterol levels. My Father has to be extremely conscientious about these matters as he has genetic Hypercholesterolemia and keeps himself thoroughly up to date on this stuff and then, even though I seemed to have dodged this genetic bullet, lecture me about it frequently.


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## Going banana's (Apr 8, 2014)

Geordie Boy said:


> Coffee oils go straight through the mesh however I'm not convinced paper filters stop them all either when you look at the top of a filter cup in the light


on another forum alan adler showed results from when he got a lab to test the paper filter for the amount of Cafestol (from what i remember) that passed through and the fresh paper was 0.1mg (compared to about 3-4mg in french press) rising to to 0.3mg after 20 pressing. when filter was then washed it reduced to 0.2mg. adler himself reuses the filter 10-20 times so i guess he got this done for his peace of mind, but the paper filter has been shown in many other studies to filter nearly all of it out.

i dont know what the slick is on top of the aeropressed coffee but it seems it isnt be related to the cholesterol raising oils.


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## Going banana's (Apr 8, 2014)

urbanbumpkin said:


> Do tell, I wasn't aware of this.


theres loads on the internet, this is the basics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafestol

http://www.livestrong.com/article/441424-high-cholesterol-coffee/

basically in the 1990's they found a significant and repeatable effect on drinking so called unfiltered coffee (french press, turkish) and raising cholesterol. Now its established scientific consensus and the standard medical advice is not to drink more than 3 or so cups of unfiltered a day.

As my family have a history of heart problems, this was enough for me to retire the french press in favour of the aeropress.


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## Going banana's (Apr 8, 2014)

Charliej said:


> FACT: Not all lipids are bad for you, in the same way that eggs are now definitely not bad for your cholesterol levels.


thats true, probably most have have no effect but it seems cafesterol is one of the ones that does have a repeatable bad effect.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

Going banana said:


> thats true' date=' probably most have have no effect but it seems cafesterol is one of the ones that does have a repeatable bad effect.[/quote']
> 
> The interesting thing is, though, a lot of the research into lipids and their effects during the 1990s has since been debunked, e.g. the whole eggs are bad for you as they are full of cholesterol. Combine this with the fact that Italians in general have a very low rate of heart disease and drink a lot of coffee. Due to my familial issues with heart disease and cholesterol I was put onto statins not long after my 43rd birthday as a preventative measure, I now drink a lot more coffee than I did back then as I'm at home all day and my cholesterol levels both LDL and HDL haven't budged at all on my yearly blood test


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

If you're worried about the oils in steeped coffee in a French press, or Sowden, pour off the first half, or quarter, cup off the top of the brew. You can filter the remainder too through a Filtropa white paper & truncated cone.

Steeped brewers with permanent filters, that drain through the bed (inverted Aeropress, Brewt & some vac pots) should be pretty good regarding filtering of oils, as the grounds bed itself does the filtering.

It's not for any perceived health reasons, but I like to keep (what I can detect by sensory means as) oils out of the cup. Which is one reason why I like to add the water first when steeping, it doesn't seem to trap as much oil amongst the bed, which means that the end of a French press might get siltier, but not thick & slimy, for inverted AP/Brewt (Clever Dripper) it means that the oiliest part of the brew is last out & hopefully trapped in the grinds bed - not the first part out into your cup.

I've had paper filtered brews that were perceptibly more oily than some metal filtered steeps that drain through the bed.

But, basically, what I'm saying is that if the oils bother you, there's more than one way to skin a cat.


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