Coffee: Branching Out to Store-bought Solutions

What?!? Store-bought coffee? (insert audience screams here) What is this world coming to when a hardcore coffee DIYer goes store bought??? No no, my friends. The coffee brewing system was store-bought. Not the coffee. There there. Breathe easy. I'll probably make my own version anyway. Feel better?

The story: I was walking down Church Street in Burlington, frittering away an afternoon, when I decided to stop in my local mom 'n pop kitchen supply shop. It's lovely and shiny in there with gadgets as far as the eye can see. Well, as I browsed through my favorite aisle, something especially shiny and gadgety caught my eye. Ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you the Aeropress...

Now take a second to look at this packaging. This box claims that the miracle contents inside are indeed a "coffee making breakthrough" that make the "richest - smoothest - purest" coffee. In fact, Lewis Singer of Cooks Junction claims "It makes the best cup of coffee I've tasted in my entire life". Would I dare doubt such a reputable source as Mr. Singer? Not likely. So $30 poorer but an aeropress richer, I ventured off to try my beloved new possession.

Upon opening the box I found:

I was confused, a little scared - but sure, I'll admit it, I was curious. So I did what any good DIYer does: I threw away the directions and took it apart. Now, dear reader, my apologies for not having a mess of fantastic photos of the deconstructive process. The truth is that I was distracted by the task at hand and the prospect of a new toy and forgot to photograph it all. However, I found that basically it's a french press that plunges through a paper filter instead of a strainer directly into a coffee cup:


First step - coffee. So I went to my trusty hand crank flour grinder posing as a coffee grinder and ground some beans:




Step two - set up. I filled the tiny carafe with coffee and added water:


Step three - wait a minute and then plunge.


Overall it made a decent cup of coffee. I found I had to repeat the process to get enough coffee to fill my super big mug (then, upon reading the directions to make sure I hadn't missed anything I found out that it's supposed to be a concentrate to which you add hot water, not another batch of coffee... oops). Considering I like my coffee strong, I enjoyed it.

Oooh, and the best part was the very last bit when I 1) didn't have to clean out a french press and 2) got to plunge the solid disc of coffee grounds into the trash with a big WHOOSH. That alone was worth the $30.

I give it one and a half thumbs up. I have other methods I prefer to this one, but the aeropress wins for convenience. I think Mr. Singer was either very sheltered in his previous coffee consumption, or very well compensated for his remarks, but either way, I'm glad I bought it.