Hacker News Reader

Comment by intopieces | Hacker News Reader

For a single cup of coffee, I'm partial to the AeroPress. It takes a bit more work, but the strange looks I get from my coworkers is worth it.

View on HN

Call me paranoid but I refuse to drink hot liquids out of plastic containers of any kind. A glass french press is the way to go.

I think it's a losing battle. The water in your kitchen tap has likely traveled through miles of PVC piping.

Cold PVC pipe, not hot (slower leakage). Plus the leakage has diminishing returns (it cannot leak the same amount forever, it is physically impossible).

Strangely, I heard somewhere recently that french press coffee has toxins in it that would normally be filtered out by the paper filter...

seems like responses here were assuming you meant the french press somehow had chemicals, but you're saying that the coffee beans have substances that maybe a filtration system removing from the coffee makes it better? Can you source that, because people have been drinking coffee a long time and I don't think that's a concern. After all, coffee is a plant material harvested then burned grinded up and suspended in water. Like most plants it probably contains substances, which in great quantities could kill humans, but if it were toxic we'd know by now. Plus the fact that you can buy chocolate covered espresso beans, where you consume the bean entirely. That would surely be the most toxic no? Never seen a warning on those.

that'd be the cholesterol, and there's not a good link between it and blood cholesterol

No, it's Cafestol, which unlike dietary cholesterol does substantially increase serum cholesterol. Whether it's the harmful kind (LDL pattern B), I've been unable to figure out.

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

As someone who owns (and regularly uses) an aeropress, may I ask why? Simply out of of curiosity, not out of disagreement.

long story short, transparent plastic containers tend to imbue their contents with a chemical called bisphenol-a (aka bpa), which is a compound similar to estrogen which may impact human physiology in a wide array of ways[0], or chemicals that are structurally related that aren't well studied but could be similarly damaging[1]. this applies to all transparent plastics and isn't specific to aeropresses

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Health_effects

[1] http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/tritan-certic...

The Aeropress has been BPA free for years now.

http://www.aeropress.ca/faq/

That may be true, but unfortunately research is showing plasticizers of many varieties (including those used in "BPA Free" plastics), are endocrine disruptors.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016648014...

Here's another article about it (same content, but easier to digest):

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/04/bpa-free-does-not-mean-...

TL;DR: Just because plastic is BPA free, doesn't mean it is safe or even better.

Leaching chemicals. Here's an article I found after a quick google search, http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/04/bpa-free-does-not-mean-...

It doesn't mention heat, but I presume leaching increases with heat.

I think it's because it is possible for materials in certain plastics to break down in the presence of heat.

The Aeropress makes the best coffee I've ever had at home. I've tried moka pots, regular coffee brewers and French presses.

The Aeropress is better than all of those hands down.

I like Aeropress better than everything you listed, but I think a pourover with my glass V60 has to beat even Aeropress. I still use my Aeropress once or twice a week, but nothing beats a solid pourover, especially pourover iced coffee.

Have you tried a Chemex or other pour over?

Yep, it was an immediate upgrade when my wife wanted coffee after our second child was born. When I found out my dad was pressing two cups through the Aeropress every morning to take to work, I couldn't buy him a Chemex fast enough.

On the subject of leaching dangerous chemicals into coffee, moka pots are definitely bad idea. The coffee absolutely picks up a lot of aluminum.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com