TOOLS
First of all, coffee tools need to meet several criteria. Ease of use (as another blogger noted, you have not had coffee yet, so simpicity is required), unbreakable, forgiving, easy to clean, flexible enough to play with all the coffee beans out there, but consistent enough so when caffeined goodness is dialed in you can enjoy perfection time after time. The first to
ol is the Aerobie AeroPress which is the only coffee maker meeting all criteria. You can read the reviews which say this hunk of plastic rocks. It has exceeded my expectations and, after a lifetime of bitter coffee from a variety of home coffee makers and commercial vendors, it has delivered the goods. My aeroPress came from ThinkGeek via a Christmas gift certificate from daughter Anna.
Second, the water you use needs to be a certain temperature (I didn’t know this until I read the AeroPress stuff). On one forum the poster, Goldilocks, said that the water shouldn’t be too hot or too cold but… well yo
u know the rest. So how do we get that easily?
I had been thinking about the Aerobie but couldn’t conceive an efficient way of getting the water at the right temp without a lot of fuss.
I was introduced to the Sunbeam Hot Shot on a visit to my parents house in CA. They have the ancient model, similar to image, but the top is missing and there is a patina of dried beverage drips; IOW its charming. Coming from a strict kettle on the stove tradition, I was enamoured with the hotShot’s ease of use and speed. Stumble to the sink, find and fill a mug, get the water into the top ( I have kept the top on even though it means flipping the lid up) and find the Earl Grey within the 30 seconds it takes to get the water to temperature.
So when I returned to NC, I went on eBay and obtained one, a wedding present from the 80’s placed in a newlyweds attic to age. With that provenance I was willing to go to 12 bucks but snagged it for 10.
COFFEE
meh: A&P Breakfast Blend, KrispyKreme Bold, various and sundy blends from Fresh Market. Allie came home from Wally World with a bag of Juan Valdez coffee. Its
balanced, whatever that means, but more importantly I think it is ground perfectly for the aeroPress. It took several mornings to dial it in but I have found Nirvana.
TECHNIQUE
Use a good sized hand thrown ceramic mug to get the water to the hotShot. Clean up a dried used filter (the 350 they send with the aeropress are going to be part of the legacy I pass on to my heirs), screw it on the aeropress and place it on the mug. Use 3/4 of a scoop of the JuanValdez. Use a plastic one cup measure to get the water to the aeroPress and stir with the official aeroPress stirrer for 10 seconds. Get the rest of the water in. Press it slowly (20,30 seconds). Unscrew the bottom, peel the filter off, put it on something absorbent to dry, push the puck of used coffee into the compost pile, and rinse aeroPress off. Put in whatever contaminants you like in your coffee and do your notes on NoteBuilder.