AeroPress is one of probably the most beloved manufacturers and occasional brewers in all of coffee-dom. A part of it’s because the brewer is so distinctive. Alan Adler invented it. He’s the identical man who invented the Aerobie, a flying disc so aerodynamic that you may chuck it out of a stadium, and he appeared fairly completely satisfied along with his two-product product line. Years after its debut, it nonetheless feels intelligent and makes nice espresso. Pour sizzling water over grounds within the brewing chamber, stir, wait a beat, then use a plunger to push the espresso via a filter and straight right into a mug. It is like making espresso in an enormous syringe.
After the AeroPress Unique got here the chic Go, a compact mannequin beloved by vacationers and campers the place all of its elements pack right into a cup held along with a rubbery pink lid. Each make excellent espresso. Whereas followers clamored for extra, it was additionally laborious to think about what that will be. For some time, they did not get something. After a 2021 investment by the Canadian agency Tiny, extra AeroPress gear appeared. The Clear appeared like it will be a pure improve of and substitute for the Unique, but the plunger in early fashions related to the bottom in a means that was slightly too wobbly for me.
The XL was indeed big—twice as giant because the Unique—however the further dimension introduced further peril, which is further unhealthy contemplating that whereas AeroPress spills are uncommon, they’re a real sizzling mess. In addition to, should you already owned one other AeroPress, including one other one did not make loads of sense. Lastly, a flow-control cap and a metallic filter left our testing crew unimpressed. This put a humorous quantity of strain on two new arrivals. The marginally retooled Clear now is available in a mini-rainbow of colours, and there’s now a full-size brewer and journey mug combo referred to as the Go Plus. I ordered an enormous bag of espresso and acquired to testing.
Rainbow Shiny
First up was the Clear, which is manufactured from BPA-free Tritan plastic. It first got here out in late 2023 and since then has been subtly reworked. It additionally is available in a model new set of colours. Usually, colours aren’t actually my factor, as a result of I’m extra eager about efficiency. The brioche and chiffon pink Dutch ovens from Le Creuset carry out the identical as their basic reds and oranges.
However the AeroPress coming in numerous colours may open doorways. For years, their Unique has been produced from an opaque grey plastic that will be proper at house in a lab- or plumbing-supply store. The Clear is available in a transparent and clear grey, however it’s not a lot of a stretch to assume that cheery colours like pink, inexperienced, blue, and purple can change rather a lot there.
{Photograph}: Amazon
The espresso it produces is equivalent to the superb espresso the Unique and Go make. Additionally it is simply as neat and tidy as they’re. After you depress the plunger, you’ll be able to take away the cap and push out a neat little puck of spent grounds straight into your compost bin. There’s barely any mess.
This is not an issue unique to the Clear, however I want they might have used the transfer to Tritan because the time to clear up a difficulty the place the filter cap does not hook up with the brewing chamber simply, a course of that the corporate calls “participating.” It turns into extra noticeable when utilizing the inverted brewing methodology, the place you stand the plunger on the countertop, mount the brewing chamber on it, add the grounds and water and agitate, then placed on the filter and cap, rigorously flip it onto your mug, and depress.
On the flip facet, AeroPress appears to have cleared up a difficulty with the Clear the place the tip of the plunger did not match as snugly into the tip of the brewing chamber as I might like, however I want they’d repair that engagement for all of its brewers.
