There are some manual brewing devices that have been around for over a century like Melitta Benz’s revolutionary paper filter and pour-over brewer (circa 1908) and there are some that are classics like the iconic Chemex.

It is a rarity to find a manual brewer that is so original that not only does it warrant it’s own brewing method, it sparks creativity and innovation to sweep through the coffee community. The Aeropress is that brewer.

What is The Aeropress?

The Aeropress is an immersion brewing device that has gained an immense amount of popularity and support across the third wave coffee community. The brewer is a simple but ingenious design. It is made of hard plastic and consists of a cylindrical tube where coffee is brewed, a screened cap for holding the filtering medium and a plunger that pushes the slurry through the filter. It is kind of like a cookie press for coffee.

The Aeropress also features some genius design innovations with include a hexagonal shape at the base to prevent rolling, easy clean-up (it is nearly self-cleaning) and inexpensive filters. The brewer itself is quite affordable and durable.

Typical extras that are included with the Aeropress are a funnel, a plastic stirring paddle, a nylon storage bag, approximately 1,000,000 filters (implied hyperbole here, I think mine came with 700) and a plastic filter storage bin.

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