Inventor of Aerobie also invented the Aeropress | Hacker News Reader

Inventor of Aerobie also invented the Aeropress

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30 pointssteven18 comments

This is an especially bad HN title because the Aeropress has been coffee-famous for years and years now. There are Aeropress competitions, an Aeropress aftermarket, and cafes that use the Aeropress.

The right title --- even though I don't like it either --- is the article's: "The Invention of the Perfect Cup of Coffee".

Very true. I do love my Aeropress, but I have been loving it for several years. And I'm pretty sure it was fairly old news when I discovered it.

"Inventor of Aerobie flying ring created innovative coffee maker in 1994"

BTW, I think that the author (or Alan Adler) has the invention date of the AeroPress wrong. I copied the date 1994 from the article, but I think it should be 2004 of 2005. (And the Aerobie ring was invented around 1984.)

Otherwise the period between invention and mass production and sales is over a decade. I remembered that I ordered a box directly at Aerobie in the USA in 2006 because the AeroPress was not yet for sale in The Netherlands.

Alan Adler is an amazing human being. I had the great pleasure of interviewing him last year. If anyone is interested, this covers his life's work:

http://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-aeropress/

Sorry, but if you are after optimal extraction, as nice a cup as the AeroPress can make, it cannot compare to a proper, temperature-controlled pour-over using a system designed for proper extraction (Hario V60, Kalita Wave, or even Chemex if made in sufficient volume).

The reason is simple: It can't handle the temperature because it's made of plastic. Anyone could make a cup of coffee in a pour-over that tastes the same as the AeroPress. However, those who put the time into making a proper pourover know better.

The best cup of coffee, for most of us, is supposed to have a certain amount of those bitter elements that the AeroPress is too cool to extract. Optimal extraction occurs between 92 and 96 degrees C. 74-80C is just too cool for optimal extraction. I've tested the SCAA findings in countless experiments. Their research, based on double-blind taste tests, is well done, and in my experience, quite accurate.

The information on the AeroPress FAQ, which talks about the grounds on the bottom of the bed brewed using traditional methods being much cooler, is just plain wrong. Ridiculously wrong, in fact. Just measure the temperature of the finished product. If proper preheating is done, it's going to be closer to 90C, probably higher.

To each his own, but the "Perfect Cup of Coffee" it is not.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that the aeropress can't handle the temperature. The plastic has low heat capacity (it takes little energy to heat, compared to eg water). I usually pour water from my water boiler directly in -- and while I haven't used a thermometer, it must surely be close to 100 degrees. And if you're so worried, just prehat the acrylics, and use the "reverse method"[1].

That said, I'm not going to claim any one method makes the "best" coffee -- I've not tasted them all, and I don't use a thermometer or other extreme quality (in the industrial sense of reproducible brew) measures.

I much prefer a proper espresso, and I've also tried "cold brew" method -- and while I can see why some people would prefer that -- that's not for me.

Anyway, for something used to prepare food for oneself, I'm not sure how relevant blind tests on other people are. I really don't care if 9 out of 10 people disagree with me on how they like their coffee. Why should you? I could see the value in doing blind tests on oneself (with help, obviously) -- but if the differences are so minor that you can't tell without blind testing -- do you really care?

[1] http://ineedcoffee.com/upside-aeropress-coffee-brewing-tutor...

Did you read the part where I said: "To each his own"? If you love your Aeropress, then fine. But when people make claims like, "The perfect cup of coffee" or put BS in their FAQs, as Aeropress does, then I'm calling them out on it.

I have the creds to do so. I have tried every brewing technique you care to name. I do quantitative measurements, right down to the composition of the water, TDS, and pH. I have lab-grade equipment. I also am developing a cheap solution for making an ideal coffee brewing water to SCAA specifications. This is not my first rodeo.

Now to your "where did you get the idea": This is a known issue with the Aeropress (google for Aeropress crazing). Because it is plastic, it cannot handle the higher brewing temperatures required for proper extraction. The plastic starts to warp and crack.

The recommended "solution" is to use a lower temperature. This produces a different cup of coffee than higher temperatures would. You may like this cup. I prefer a cup that is properly extracted. To each his own.

But when people are publishing BS, I'm gonna call it out.

I've cracked my aeoropress, pushing a plunger through a cold ... holder? That other thing that's not a plunger. It was by accident, and not related to making coffee.

I regularly use boiling water, and I see no issue from that.

As for claims of a "perfect cup of coffee" -- I agree :-)

It's a nice device, but it doesn't make enough. It's only perfect if you're alone and you want ~8oz of coffee (They recommend you to water down the Aeropress's output, but I don't know why. It's not strong enough, like espresso, to water down.)

Good timing of this article: recent research suggested that there is a health benefit tied to drinking as much as five cups of coffee each day: a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Article in The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/21/i... , now on the HN front page.

and, sadly (at least in my case) a greatly increased chance of gastric reflux :(

Who does the PR for these people? It's astounding! This keeps showing up on news sites all the time. The Aeropress has been around for years, and while I use one, I definitely wouldn't use any superlative to describe it. Please, PR agency, how can keep pawning this off as news? And how can I hire you?

As for everyone else: if it looks like and ad and smells like an ad, for the love of all that is holy, don't post it.

It's cheap, you're not really buying into much more than a $20 tube of plastic. If this is about making a quick buck off suckers falling for good PR, they should charge more.

> Eventually I developed a little ridge on the perimeter, [like an airfoil].

I think he's referring to the little lip around the outer edge?

Anyway, nice interview. Stories like Mr. Adler's are inspiring, it's hardly an accident that he comes up with two paradigm-shifting inventions in two completely different fields.

The office coffee geeks had a discussion of coffee-making devices (hardly a panel of experts, so take it for what it's worth) and the consensus is that the best way to make coffee is an espresso machine. This is a pretty neat device, but it's fiddly and slow and has lots of failure modes. Some of the better espresso machines (such as mine) are almost foolproof, and you can go from beans to coffee in less than two minutes (using a separate grinder).

Oof, no. It's fairly the opposite: A high-quality espresso machine is a fiddly little beast. You have to backflush it daily; you have to cafiza it weekly; and it's going to lose a temperature or pressure regulator every few years. An aeropress is trivially cleanable, and mine's been functional for years now with no problems. After about five years, the plastic might start getting a little crack-y and the rubber plunger bit gets loose, and then you spend another $30 and you're good to go.

A good espresso machine makes substantially better coffee, though, assuming you like espresso.

(I have an aeropress + very nice grinder for home, and an assortment of espresso machines at work. I prefer the espresso machines, but I don't want to deal with the hassles and expense of one at home. The grinder, on the other hand, lasts almost forever and saves a ton of pain.)

My espresso machine (which is about five years old) makes good coffee despite not having any of the maintenance you describe. I imagine it would be better if it did, but I'm lazy. When it finally gives up the ghost, I will buy a new one.

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