As soon as upon a time, each AeroPress was one of the best AeroPress. However the humble AeroPress espresso maker has since multiplied. It has turn out to be varied. The previous half decade or so has introduced an explosion of recent variations of AeroPress: a plastic-free premium AeroPress (7/10, WIRED Recommends), a big AeroPress, a small AeroPress, a red AeroPress, a blue AeroPress.
However at its coronary heart, the AeroPress stays a compact and ingeniously easy espresso maker, utilizing strain utilized by hand to extract a easy however richly flavorful and fragrant cup. Famously created by a Stanford-educated inventor previously known for improving the aerodynamics of the flying disc, every AeroPress seems to be a bit like a fats syringe that injects brewed espresso via a filter and into your ready mug. It would not seem to be it ought to make espresso nearly as good because it does. And but it does, attaining a end result someplace between French press, espresso, and filter espresso. Be happy to observe the recipe on the field. However the system additionally permits a outstanding quantity of management over your espresso as you modify grind, brewing time, agitation, bloom, and filter of alternative.
The AeroPress has impressed cultish fandom since its introduction in 2005, to not point out a burgeoning aftermarket of equipment and mods. And but it took until 2019 for AeroPress to launch a second mannequin, a barely smaller journey model known as the AeroPress Go (9/10, WIRED Recommends). After fairness firm Tiny Capital acquired a majority stake in AeroPress in 2021, the portal to the AeroPress multiverse was thrown open. Aeropress now makes alternate filters, flow-control caps, gadget organizers, and a scorching pink AeroPress (as a result of why not?). A few of that is advertising and marketing. Some’s an actual enchancment—or at the least an alternate imaginative and prescient for an already quirky espresso maker.
Here is our greatest recommendation on which model of AeroPress to get, and our favourite equipment from AeroPress and different makers.
Be sure you take a look at our different espresso guides, together with the Best Coffee Grinders, Best Drip Coffee Makers, Best Coffee Bean Subscriptions, and Best Espresso Machines.
Up to date April 2025: We’ve added the AeroPress Premium, Fellow Prismo, AeroPress Journey Filter Holder, AeroPress Stainless Metal Filter, Hexnub Bamboo Organizer, and Coffeesock wool filters. We’ve additionally retested earlier AeroPress gadgets, and up to date hyperlinks and costs all through. The unique model of this information was written by WIRED contributor Joe Ray.
Greatest AeroPress Total
The WIRED group has lengthy admired AeroPress. Reporter Steven Levy profiled its inventor in his Palo Alto workplace a decade in the past, when AeroPress mania was first reaching fever pitch. However like loads of low-cost, handy issues, the unique AeroPress is manufactured from (BPA-free, pthalate-free, licensed food-safe) plastic. And microplastics are a priority that’s rapidly rising in scope and importance, amid some real health questions.
At a little bit of a worth premium, the brand new plastic-free AeroPress Premium is the reply: a steel-and-glass AeroPress with sturdy building and the identical nice capability to make AeroPress-style espresso. WIRED commerce director Martin Cizmar, a longtime AeroPress fan, has stowed his beloved unique AeroPress along with his tenting gear in favor of the new Premium as a home device. Be aware, nevertheless, he had intermittent points with espresso blowouts on one overview pattern, a “manageable quirk” he solved through the use of AeroPress’s chrome steel filter we focus on beneath.
Prettiest AeroPresses
Magnificence is not free. It prices $10 additional. The brand new Clears and Colours (that are additionally thought of Clears) are just about the identical system as the great old school AeroPress Authentic. They only occur to be better-looking, brighter, extra varied, and barely dearer. Some AeroPress lovers respect that the Clear enables you to see the brewing course of—although if I’ll be sincere, espresso slurry is not precisely a fireworks present. The actual advantage of the brand new designs is that you simply get to decide on a colour that matches your shirt, your kitchen decor, or your complete vibe.
Greatest Price range Traditional
For those who’re a longtime AeroPress proprietor, likelihood is that is the one you have received. You most likely really feel nostalgic and deeply connected, and rightly so. That stated, the unique Authentic AeroPress colour was truly clear. This “smoked” colour was added in 2010 to scale back notion of espresso staining, again when AeroPress was made with a distinct materials. Now, this smokiness has developed right into a design hallmark. Amid the proliferation of AeroPress sizes and colours, the Authentic’s design has remained principally unchanged for 15 years. And lately it is $10 cheaper than the newer bright-colored and clear AeroPresses, which work the very same method. Shopping for the Authentic marks you as a sensible one who cares not for frippery.
Greatest for Frequent Fliers
The travel-friendly 8-ounce Go (9/10 WIRED Recommends) is, on the one hand, only a barely smaller AeroPress. On the opposite, says WIRED contributor Joe Ray, it is an “ingenious” improve he might desire to the unique, nestling inside a mug for simple transport to a campsite or a resort. Voila: no extra unhappy resort Okay-cups. Grind no matter beans you’ll be able to earlier than heading out tenting—or in case you’re in a brand new metropolis, purchase a bag and ask them to grind for AeroPress. (Though, in case you actually wish to go for it whereas tenting, attempt our favorite hand grinder, the Kingrinder K6, at a grind setting between 60 and 90 clicks.)
AeroPress additionally launched an up to date journey AeroPress known as the Go Plus ($80), however this one’s a little bit of a dud, based on Ray: It is made for an insulated journey mug whose magnetic slider makes it disagreeable to drink from. The Go Plus can be too small to make use of with standard-sized mugs at house, limiting its use case significantly. Follow the usual Go.
Greatest for (Actually) Huge Boys
AeroPress followers have been clamoring for an even bigger model of the basic brewer for years, principally as a result of the Authentic’s 10-ounce capability signifies that making espresso for a couple of particular person generally is a ache within the butt. These followers received their want with a mannequin that is twice the dimensions of the unique. However larger doesn’t appear to be higher. In reality, larger appears just a little extra harmful. Whereas the Authentic, Clear, and Go all use the identical dimension cap and filter, each bit of the XL is bigger. It has its personal filters, and also you brew into the carafe it comes with, as a result of the XL’s bigger diameter makes it too huge to brew straight into most mugs. It additionally good points loads of top. With the plunger prolonged and related to the barrel, and all of that sitting on the carafe, it is 19 inches excessive. In our testing, 5’3″ Seattle barista Reyna Callejo from Olympia Espresso Roasting Firm stood on a stool to get it to work, a balancing act involving scorching liquids you seemingly won’t wish to be doing earlier than your morning espresso, or ever, actually. Utilizing the inverted methodology additionally feels extra perilous—that is half a liter of scorching water you are perching excessive above your countertop, legs, and non-public components. For those who actually love AeroPress, need an additional cup’s price each time you brew, and are not delay by the potential perils, go for it, however most of us who crave extra espresso would seemingly be higher off with a distinct form of brewer. —Joe Ray
Put a Lid on It?
The Fellow Prismo, initially launched in 2020, was a revelation, although not for the explanation it was marketed. The large thought is that by changing the usual filter cap with a cap outfitted with a pressure-actuated valve, you’ll be able to pave the way in which to make precise espresso along with your AeroPress. You do that by grinding your espresso finer after which pushing actually, actually exhausting on the plunger. In observe, this can be a little little bit of hooey. Your arm is just not creating the 9 bars of strain required to supply espresso, regardless of how exhausting you lean. However by grinding positive, utilizing much less water, and pushing the brew via the tiny holes of the Prismo’s chrome steel filter, you’ll be able to certainly make a robust and espresso-like substance with some crema. It’s kind of extra astringent than espresso, to my style. However right here we’re.
For me, what made the Prismo terrific was that its valve mounted the gradual leak via the AeroPress’s normal filter cap. The usual model dribbles a bit whereas steeping, inflicting aficionados to do bizarre stuff like brew “inverted,” and then flip over a column filled with boiling hot liquid earlier than plunging. The Prismo avoids the necessity for such early morning adrenaline, and in addition stops your valuable elixir from dribbling into your mug earlier than you plunge the AeroPress. I just about solely use the Prismo or AeroPress’s movement management cap, for this exact motive. And although the chrome steel filter is required for the Prismo to work, you’ll be able to add a paper filter atop it for extra readability of taste.
AeroPress now has its personal model of flow-control filter cap known as, catchily, a “Movement Management Filter Cap.” The unique movement management had an inclination to leak, based on some on-line experiences, however AeroPress appears to have mounted this difficulty within the meantime: I’ve not had the issue. The Movement Management Cap prices the identical because the Prismo, and each are equally profitable at stopping the AeroPress from leaking earlier than its time. So the principle distinction between AeroPress’s and Fellow’s filter cap is as follows: The Prismo comes with a stainless-steel filter on the similar worth, but additionally requires that you simply use the metal filter. (The rubber O-ring on Prismo’s metal filter stops the system from leaking.) So in case you like a stainless-steel filter? Use the Prismo. If not, roll with AeroPress’s model.
Additionally, here is a tip for many who cannot determine how you can expel espresso pucks utilizing the Prismo or Movement Management with out making a large number. Pull again the plunger just a little after brewing. This may create a vacuum and suck the espresso puck again up with it. Then take away the filter cap, and plunge out the espresso puck into the bin. You are welcome.
Filtered Outcomes
AeroPress makes reusable metal filters in a number of colours as a substitute for disposable paper filters. Some individuals pitch this as an environmental choice, in lowering waste. However provided that paper filters are small, and also you’re utilizing water and cleaning soap to rinse espresso oils off this metal filter, it is all seemingly a little bit of a wash (see what I did there?). The actual distinction is choice and taste. The metal filter will provide physique that is a bit extra like French press, with extra espresso fines and oils within the espresso, however to some (together with me) the flavour will style extra diffuse or muddy. The metal filter may even provide you with a little bit of satisfying crema in case you push positive espresso via it with the Prismo or Movement Management Cap. The usual paper filters will provide extra readability of taste and take away all sediment and loads of the espresso, however will not have the physique of the steel-filtered stuff. However be aware for the heart-conscious: Research going back decades present that unfiltered espresso accommodates chemical substances known as diterpenes which can be related to a big improve in LDL ldl cholesterol. Paper filters have been proven to take away these chemical substances. Metal filters haven’t.
One other theoretically environmentally pleasant choice is cotton-wool filters, not not like the filter used within the basic Toddy to make cold brew. An Austin, Texas, firm known as CoffeeSock makes reusable woolen filters for chilly brew, pour-over, AeroPress, you identify it. A 3-pack goes for $15. I did not overwhelmingly like the flavour I received utilizing woolen filters on my AeroPress—it was just a little muddy-tasting, and perhaps even just a little gym-socky—and it is loads of work rinsing and drying and principally doing laundry on my espresso filter. However perhaps you may prefer it greater than I did.
The Greatest AeroPress Caddy
The AeroPress is each a remarkably easy espresso system and a tool with loads of humorous little components. There is a scoop in case you’re a scooping kind, a funnel in case you’re a grinder and pourer, a tamper in case you like to combine up your AeroPress whereas it brews. There are filters. There is a filter cap, and perhaps your alternate valve-modulated filter cap. Thank goodness for Hexnub, a British firm based by former F1 racing gearheads, which makes by far essentially the most compact and downright handsomest resolution I’ve discovered. This little bamboo caddy sits properly on a countertop, with slots for an AeroPress and all of the . It sports activities equally good-looking little silicone mats to catch stray liquid. AeroPress makes its personal stainless steel countertop organizer ($100) for its devices, in case you’d fairly a cyberpunk vibe.
Taking the Case
Every AeroPress used to return with just a little vertical stand on your filters. That is now not true. As an alternative, this compact little journey case is offered individually. Do you want just a little filter-holder? I dunno. But it surely would not value so much, it is compact in case you’re taking the AeroPress on the go, and it seems to be undeniably nicer than a ziplock baggie. It additionally removes the prospect you splash all of your paper filters with water out of your sink. What I can say is that I am just a little happier now that I’ve it.
When You’re Having Funnel
This can be a funnel. It additionally used to return with the AeroPress however now not does. For those who pour fresh-ground espresso into your AeroPress fairly than scooping, you may most likely respect having this. It is also good for not spilling water whereas pouring rom a kettle. Funnels are good for not spilling stuff, typically. A couple of firms make knockoffs, however the ones we have seen aren’t even cheaper than the one from AeroPress. And this funnel says “AeroPress” on it, which is classier.
