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> French press - much less chance of mess

This makes no sense to me. The aeropress is the least messy coffee device I’ve ever used (after use just eject the puck of compressed grounds straight into the compost bin, and if desired give the parts a quick rinse), except maybe for those k-cup machines.

> Tastewise I've tried it with both metal and paper filters and regular and reverse method, as well as different types and grains of coffee - there's no tangible difference to a decent French press.

Taste depends on grind size, water temperature, water-to-coffee ratio, and steep time (and the paper filter).

If you use a very coarse grind and a metal filter, you’ll get approximately the same results with a French press vs. an aeropress.

If you use a very fine grind (or even a medium grind) then the French press does not work because the filter is too coarse (unless you want your coffee to be full of grounds). That takes out a huge part of the available parameter space.

Personally I like steeping very finely ground coffee at moderate water temperature (80–85 °C), for not too much time. I use the paper filters. It is not possible as far as I can tell to obtain similar results with a French press.

I use mine in a similar way and feel the same way you do. It is the least messy way I have used.

And pressing the little puck into the rubbish can is gratifying and fun.

Camping friendly is a serious plus. I have one in my camp trailer. Anytime someone goes with us, I end up making another Aeropress convert.

It is stupid simple, robust, easy, fun.

(Except when you press too enthusiastically and miss the trash can completely)

Been there. Clean up time. When I miss, I miss badly. Broken puck.

Regarding finer grind sizes with the French press, you let it sit. Just wait. Give the press a slight tap at the earliest after 4-5 minutes, so the grinds that floated up to the sieve and that are stuck there with the co2 will also start to sink.

After gently pushing down the plunger give the coffee another minute to let the fines sink down which the push stirred up from the bottom.

The plunger thus rather keeps the sunk grinds and fines down when slowly pouring, it does not filter the coffee.

An excellent cup from the French press takes 5-7 minutes.

It's like French food: best enjoyed slowly.

I can’t imagine this would taste anything like a typical cup of AeroPress, where you can use pressure instead of brew time to extract more flavor. It gives a very different result. The awesome thing about AeroPress is that it’s so easy to experiment with all the parameters: brew time, pressure, water temperature, and different grinds. Fine grind, short brew, high pressure and hot water and you get something more espresso-like. Coarser grind and longer brew time and it’s more like French press.

The aeropress just uses moderate pressure to get the liquid out past the paper filter. You don’t need to push very hard to make it work, and pushing harder doesn’t really accomplish anything. To use an aeropress you mix the coffee grounds into the water (like pour over or French press), you don’t start with a compacted puck of coffee and then force boiling water through it. The pressure involved doesn’t change the flavor. It’s not an espresso machine.

The thing distinguishing the aeropress from pour over or French press is that by using the plunger you can still get water through the filter even with finely ground coffee beans. By using a finer grind, you can extract more flavor from the coffee with less water, lower water temperature, and/or shorter time, and thereby get stronger coffee while avoiding some of the more bitter larger molecules.

1. No grounds or lipids at all with aeropress, due to the paper filter. Even a good french press will let some grounds into the coffee, and all of the lipids. You can remedy this by popping a paper filter under the plunger, but that's kind of hacked together.

2. You should actually be stirring coffee with a french press as well. If you don't stir with a french press you may as well not stir with an aeropress, they both brew in similar containers.

3. No fine metal parts or glass so it's ideal for hiking, don't have to worry about something shattering in the pack.

4. I prefer the volume and taste of aeropress coffee over espresso or moka pots.

Anyways I'm not saying there's a perfect solution or a right way to prepare coffee. These are just the reasons I like aeropress, even if I do make a lot of french press as well.

In the traditional Indonesian coffee preparation, grounds are a feature, not a bug.

Turkish/Greek coffee as well. Australian coffee is all espresso based (though "hip" cafes also provide pour-over, siphon, cold drip, etc). American coffee from what I gather is mostly just filter.

American coffee was traditionally all filter, and ordering "a coffee" will invariably get you filter coffee, but these days espresso is available and common at every coffee place save the convinience oriented lowest tier.

You can get metal mesh filters for AeroPress. My paper filters have been sitting there for years.

Depends on who you speak to. My French colleagues look at Italian "fast" coffee in horror - they think it's tantamount to abuse of the grounds.

> much less chance of mess

French presses are much more annoying to clean afterwards though. It's nigh impossible to get all of them out of the press without eventually getting some in the sink. I really like that you can just pop the puck of grounds out of the aeropress straight into the compost bin, and what's left on the plunger is almost a paste that can be rinsed off.

The key French press cleaning trick is a _fine_ kitchen sieve, not too small, at least 3" wide:

Pull out the French press plunger, add water and drain the resulting mud through the sieve.

A normal small 2" coffee sieve is too small in diameter, it will clog.

The 3" (4" is better, especially for the larger 1L press) allows the water to pass in a fast pour. And make sure it's a fine sieve, so the grinds stay in.

The grinds mud then goes from the sieve straight to trash.

In store the sieve at the sink with the other cleaning utensils. In direct access storage, so to speak, a local cache even.

Well if there's one thing I hate cleaning more than a French press it's a sieve! Or do you have a sieve specifically for the press? That seems like a good idea.

That’s funny. When I worked with Italians and I wanted them to teach me Italian swear words I’d ask them about French coffee. :D

Personally I like both but mainly drink espresso.

I’ve also got an AeroPress I used for years before I got the espresso maker. I still like it but it’s coffee is nothing like espresso.

why would you take care to NOT get coffee grounds into the sink/drain? Its a feature, the grounds remove some of that fat/etc. that builds up in any kitchen sink/drain.

I myself just wash out my French press with water and let all of that go down the drain, makes it the easiest to clean. Not to mention there is no need for onetime filters like with many other methods (same for Bialettis/espresso maker)

I find the Aeropress much easier to clean than a French Press. I just pop the grounds and paper into the trash/compost when I'm done and quickly rinse the 3 pieces and my stirrer.

Maybe I'm just bad at cleaning a french press but I always felt it took way more effort.

I also only drink one cup of coffee in the morning so an Aeropress is great. I keep a larger French Press around in case more people want coffee though.

Fill your French press with 3-4 inches of (hot) water and pump it up and down a few times. Most of the grounds will come out of the presser into the liquid. Repeat if needed.

I'm also an espresso fan, and agree that it is no contest between the Aeropress and a proper lever or pump espresso machine.

For camping though, I've used a couple of different moka pots and recently got an Aeropress, and I think the Aeropress is better.

With the moka pot you're sort of crossing your fingers hoping that the tamp and heat are right and the water is getting shoved through the grounds just fast enough to make them expand and make the brew happen, rather than whizzing through or coming out painfully slowly or even blocking up everything so the rest of the water goes out the steam valve.

With the Aeropress (or another similar item I've seen with two arms sticking out), you just shove it through. And for cleanup, you don't have to wait to unscrew two blazing hot metal pieces.

Moka pots are pretty lackluster for making coffee. Some tips that James Hoffmann and others recommend that make it better:

* Put hot water into the basin prior - don't heat up from cold water, the coffee will cook and be bitter if you do.

* Once it starts to pass air through (gurgling) take it off the heat and quench the bottom so the brew stops.

* Don't grind like an espresso - it'll be too fine and overextract.

* I also use an aeropress filter in my 6 cup bialetti and it really reduces the bitterness.

Or just stick with your aeropress, that's what I would do :)

> Tastewise I've tried it with both metal and paper filters and regular and reverse method, as well as different types and grains of coffee - there's no tangible difference to a decent French press. And of course both are far far far away from a proper espresso as you'd expect in a proper Italian or Portuguese café.

I daresay that espresso is a very different style of coffee for people who are used to immersion brews. Espresso drinkers would prefer what they're used to. To each their own.

Most espresso shots end up being sour and unpleasant for me, but I've had a few (most recently, at Pablo & Rusty's in Sydney) that absolutely blew my mind.

> Most espresso shots end up being sour and unpleasant for me

Most are, even in cafes. I didn't realize this at first, and I bought an espresso machine to be more convenient than starbucks. But, it took me at least 2 months of owning an espresso machine before I was able to get the grind, tamp, extraction temperature and extraction time right to pull a good shot consistently. Honestly, it was two months of pain. But, it's been heaven ever since.

I don't mean to be a snob about it, but I used to enjoy starbucks espresso drinks -- not as much anymore. They're slightly bitter or sour most of the time, and once in awhile they're completely undrinkable. I live between two starbucks and I travel a lot, so it's not like it's just one bad location. I still go to starbucks once in awhile, but only if it's for a social reason... not for the coffee. My wife was not convinced at first, but now she agrees that my lattes are better and more consistent than Starbucks.

I think anyone who likes coffee will have the same reaction as you... their mind will be blown when they have a proper shot of espresso and they will probably hate it until that time. So, if you enjoyed it more than coffee, you could take the plunge too. It's like a lot of things though, if you want to do it right you often have to do it yourself.

Similar experience here. I'd say maybe 2% of the cafes around me make pretty average/below average espresso. The ones that do (my favorite ones), are oh so good.

I started delving into espresso and it is both immensely frustrating and immensely rewarding. It's really hard to pull a good shot. But once you do you can't go back.

I have an espresso machine but I use the default settings. What changes have you made to get a better cup?

it depends on the bean, how old it is, the humidity, your machine etc. It'll be hard/impossible to get a great espresso shot from a lot of machines as they just don't have the power. Compound that with the quality of grinder.

Some beans are very forgiving and give a decent espresso with a wide range of parameters. Some beans are very picky on getting the settings right.

I've had a range of machines - and my current machine is the only one that I can get a decent cup from (BES920).

To your question, you need to adjust depending on the output from your machine.

I see. But you basically only tweak grind fineness and amount per cup? or does your machine lets you adjust other parameters?

I'd never seen Moka spelled as Mocha, but it's unsurprising that they come from the same word. Mocha was basically synonymous with coffee for three centuries. What a different world it must have been when a city could completely control the market on it's specialty crop.

Here’s a French map from 1764 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Bellin_-...