It’s not just about speed, it’s about quality.
The search for that cup has filled my head with a lot of miscellany. Information about coffee beans, grinding methods, the ideal temperature of extraction, and so much more. After going through a drip coffee machine and a french press, I have arrived at the Aeropress. Created by American inventor Alan Adler, it is like a large plastic syringe that makes outstanding coffee. This fits in great with the strategically lazy morning routine.
While it looks similar to a french press, it uses air pressure to extract two shots of powerful espresso. With a real espresso machine you need 9 bar of press, which is a lot, but the Aeropress produces excellent results comparable with a moka pot, which is a stovetop espresso maker. If you aren’t ready to spend hundreds of dollars on a legitimate espresso machine, go straight to the Aeropress. It costs about $25 on Amazon and produces far better coffee in 30 seconds than the Krups coffee machine you find in most kitchens.
One thing I noticed immediately was that I could taste the subtle differences between different beans for the first time. To improve taste, I got fresh Yunnan Province coffee beans which were harvested within the last 45 days, along with a Hario hand grinder. The hand grinder is important because it yields a more consistant grind and doesn’t heat up (burn) the beans like an electric grinder does.
8 Steps to 90 Second Coffee
- Wake up and put water into an electric kettle, turn it on
- When the water has boiled, turn the kettle off and set my watch timer
- Grind a small handful of beans in the Hario grinder, looking at my watch
- After one minute has passed, put the beans into the Aeropress, fill it 20% with water and stir
- Slowly press the coffee by hand, which takes 20 seconds and produces two shots of espresso
- Add water to make an Americano, add milk if you like
- Eject the spent coffee “puck” into the trash and rinse the Aeropress
- Enjoy