Why does good coffee taste bad when you are away from home?
Because almost none of it is the bean's fault. Most bad coffee is a brewing failure, not a roasting failure, and the two most common failures are water at the wrong temperature and coffee left sitting on heat.
A lobby urn holds coffee for hours. An office pot has been cooking since shift change. A gas station carafe is somewhere between the two.
Heat keeps pulling compounds out of the grounds long after you wanted it to stop. That is where the bitterness comes from, and no roaster can protect a bag from it.
The most common thing people write in our reviews is that our coffee is smooth and not bitter. The fastest way to lose that is to hand it to a machine that overcooks it.
What is an AeroPress and what does it actually do?
It is a two part plastic cylinder. You put a paper filter in the cap, add ground coffee, pour hot water in, stir, and press the plunger down through it.
The whole thing takes about two minutes including cleanup, and it needs no electricity. All it needs is hot water from any source you happen to have.
AeroPress calls it 3 in 1 brewing, and the three parts do specific jobs. Fast immersion limits over extraction, gentle air pressure pulls out body and finish, and the paper micro-filter takes out the grit.
The result sits between three brew methods you already know. Full bodied like a French press, clean like a pour over, and rich enough to pull espresso style shots.
The brewer only matters if the coffee is worth brewing.
Fire Watch is the Colombian medium roast most people start with, and it is the one our reviewers keep calling their go to.
It behaves well in anything, which makes it the safest first bag to press.
See the lineup →Why would a roaster sell a brewer it did not make?
Because we control the coffee from green bean through roast, bag, and your front door, and then we lose it. The last four minutes belong to whatever machine is standing there, and that is where most of our work gets undone.
We named this company after resupply. A resupply is not finished when the pallet lands. It is finished when the person who needed the thing can actually use it.
The AeroPress is us closing our own last mile. It is not our product and we do not pretend otherwise, which is exactly why we looked for the best one instead of building a worse one with our logo on it.
It also happens to make the specific thing our customers already say they like. Their word is smooth. AeroPress engineered the whole device around removing bitterness. That is the same sentence written two different ways.
Which AeroPress should you get?
Pick based on where you drink it, not on price. All three make the same coffee, and the only real difference is what the coffee lands in and how it packs.
| Model | Price | Brews | What it lands in | The job it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | $39.95 | 10 oz, 1 to 2 cups | Your own mug | Lives on your counter |
| Go | $49.95 | 8 oz, 1 cup | Included 15 oz mug with lid | Lives in the bag and packs into itself |
| Go Plus | $89.95 | 10 oz, 1 to 2 cups | Insulated steel tumbler, magnetic lid | Brews into the cup you are already holding |
The Original is the one that started it all and the cheapest way to the same cup. It is made in the USA, it weighs almost nothing, and it assumes you already own a mug.
The Go packs its entire kit inside its own mug, so it is the one that stays in a go bag or a desk drawer permanently. It is on order and lands in the store shortly.
The Go Plus is for people who drink coffee while moving. It brews straight into a double wall insulated tumbler that fits a cup holder, so the cup stays hot for the rest of the drive.
AeroPress Original Coffee Maker
What we sell. The original 3 in 1 press. 10 oz capacity, 5.25 inches tall, dishwasher safe on the top rack, BPA free, one year warranty. Designed in Silicon Valley and made in the USA.
Why it helps you. It is the cheapest honest upgrade to your morning. Two minutes, one cup, no pot sitting on a burner turning bitter while you get dressed.
How to buy. $39.95, one time purchase, ships from Charlottesville with the rest of your order.
Shop the Original →AeroPress Go Plus Travel Coffee Maker
What we sell. The full travel system. A clear shatterproof Tritan press that brews 10 oz, a double wall vacuum insulated 18/8 stainless tumbler with a built in filter holder, and a magnetic splash resistant lid that fits a car cup holder. Everything repacks into the tumbler.
Why it helps you. This is the one that ends bad hotel coffee, bad airport coffee, and bad jobsite coffee. Unpack, brew, repack, and walk out with a hot cup you actually chose.
How to buy. $89.95 in cream, one time purchase. Currently on presell, so order now and it ships as soon as stock lands.
Shop the Go Plus →How do you brew ARC coffee in an AeroPress?
Grind finer than you would for a drip machine, closer to table salt than to sand. The press runs short, so the grind has to do more of the work.
Use the scoop that comes in the box, fill to the level you want, and pour water just off the boil. Stir for about ten seconds, cap it, wait, then press slowly until you hear air.
Press slower than feels natural. Rushing the plunge is the single most common thing people do wrong, and it is what makes an AeroPress cup taste thin.
Here is the part that matters from the roasting side. A short brew is forgiving of dark roasts that turn harsh in a drip machine, which means the roasts most people are told to avoid are the ones that improve the most in this thing.
| Roast | Why it works pressed |
|---|---|
| Fire Watch | Colombian medium. The everyday cup, and the most forgiving if you are still learning the press. |
| Spectre | Dark espresso roast. Built for short shots, so it is the one to reach for when you want espresso style. |
| 15W40 | Dark Italian. Heavy and rich, and the short brew keeps it from going sharp. |
| MOAB | Double caffeinated. Same two minutes, considerably more consequence. |
Good gear does nothing for you if the bag is empty.
The press only pays off when there is something worth pressing sitting in the cabinet on a Tuesday morning.
- Pick the roast that matches how you actually drink it.
- Set it to resupply on a schedule that matches what you go through.
- Stop thinking about it. You do not hit zero again.
Subscriptions take 30% off the first order automatically. No code, nothing to remember. One time orders take 15% with WELCOME15.
Set up a resupply →Questions people actually ask
Is an AeroPress better than a French press?
They make different cups. A French press has no paper filter, so it lets oils and fine grounds through and gives you a heavier, grittier cup. An AeroPress presses through a paper micro-filter in about two minutes, so you get body without the sediment and less time for bitterness to develop.
Does an AeroPress make real espresso?
Not technically. Real espresso needs around nine bars of pressure and an AeroPress makes a fraction of that. It does make a concentrated espresso style shot that works well as the base for a latte or an Americano, which is close enough for most people at home.
What grind size should I use for an AeroPress?
Finer than drip, roughly the texture of table salt. If your cup tastes thin or sour, go finer or press more slowly. If it tastes harsh or the plunge is very hard to push, go coarser.
Do I need electricity to use one?
No. All you need is hot water from any source, which is why it works in a hotel room, a barracks kitchen, a truck, or a camp. There are no cords, no batteries, and no parts that can fail on you.
Can I put ARC coffee in an AeroPress if I buy it ground?
Yes, though our standard grind is set for drip machines and runs a little coarse for a press. It still works. You will get a noticeably better cup if you buy whole bean and grind it finer yourself.
Why does ARC sell AeroPress instead of its own brewer?
Because AeroPress already makes the best version of this and we are not going to put our logo on a worse one. We are a roaster. Our job is the coffee, and this is the tool that protects it after it leaves us.
